Hello! We are the Oxendale Family. Jacob, Eden, Weston, and our foster daughter (10) and foster son (4).
If you know us, you know we have been foster parents for 3.5+ years. We felt this calling on our lives to open up our hearts and our home to provide temporary care for foster children back in 2020. Shortly after, we began the process to become certified in our state and were officially licensed in February of 2021. Our goals were to keep sibling groups together and to support biological families in healthy reunifications. If we have had the honor of having you walk closely in our fostering journey the past 3.5 years you know it has been anything but easy, straight forward, or to plan!
Well our "plan" has changed drastically and we have found ourselves in a place of needing to raise funds for legal representation, and pretty quickly! Our kiddos plan is moving toward adoption and we have agreed to be their adoptive placement. Without going into great detail (in order to protect the privacy of their case) the decision to hire an attorney was not made hastily, easily, or without seeking a lot of wise counsel from multiple professionals, family, and friends. Even though adoption through foster care is supposed to be "free,” we have found ourselves in a unique situation where it is going to cost us 50k+.
If you have the pleasure of knowing our two blondies, you know they have both been with us (off and on) since almost the beginning of our foster journey. For the past 4 years of their lives they have spent it in and out of the foster care system all that time uncertain of what the future holds. Sadly, the state has not done a great job at advocating or protecting our sweet girl and boy's best interest. Because of this, permanency being solidified truly looks like a far off destination with DSS having no timeline or solid plan. Therefore, one of the biggest reasons we were advised to seek legal assistance is to get the state to do what they are supposed to be doing in order for our kiddos to FINALLY know for certain where they will spend Christmas, know where they will grow up, be able to start a school year knowing they will finish the school year in that same school, plan a birthday party without fear of being moved, maintain a healthy relationship with their biological family, make deep friendships without fear of losing them - overall, be given the freedom and innocence of childhood that they both have yet to experience.
We are asking that you prayerfully consider giving financially to support our family in this unexpected season we find ourselves in. We have seen God move mountains in our kid's lives the last (almost 4) years and we believe He's not done yet!
