High atop a hill in northeast San Diego County sits a sprawling home with panoramic views of distant mountains. A pastel sunset marks the end of the day. From outside, it is a quiet and serene setting – until the front door opens.
The home of Angels Foster Family of the Month, Lezli and Janetta (also known as “Doc”), is a busy place, bustling with a lot of life. Six years ago, the couple adopted 11-year-old Taya, who is Doc’s biological niece. Lezli, a stay-at-home mother, and Doc, an Army medic, adopted two other family members as well. Breyden joined them as a teen and is now enlisted in the Army. Skyler was 18 years old and didn’t need to be formally adopted, but wanted a place to call her home. Doc’s mother Karen and her husband Larry live in a granny flat on the property. They recently relocated from Florida to be closer to their family. And for the last year brothers “Nix” and “Z,” toddlers who are two years apart, have been fostered by the family.
But wait, that’s not all. The close-knit family also includes five dogs, 12 chickens, and two rabbits. They’ve had alpacas and goats in the past, and may again. Every morning “Z” collects eggs from the chicken coop just before Taya teaches him his letters, numbers, and colors. After their schooling and chores are complete, the children can jump on the full-size trampoline and play with any number of toys and puzzles. “It’s always a circus like this,” Doc says. In other words, it’s a child’s paradise, filled with adults who laugh easily with one another and clearly enjoy spending time together.
Both Lezli and Doc’s childhoods helped prepare them for serving as a resource family for Angels Foster Family Network. When Lezli was 11 years old, her parents passed away and she was separated from her two younger siblings. One of the reasons the Angels mission resonated with her is that she understood how important it is to keep siblings together.
Doc had a different experience entirely. She watched her mother Karen, who was a single mom at the time, open her arms to a 6-week-old quadriplegic baby girl with cerebral palsy. “A woman brought a child into the church nursery where I worked and said she could not care for her baby and needed to find someone who could,” Karen explains. “Out of my mouth came, ‘I’ll do it’.”
Doc says she deeply admires her mother’s capacity to care for Angela, who is now 34 years old and living in a group home for adults with special needs. “I grew up seeing the selfless service of my mom and how she put the needs of others above her own,” Doc says. “She gave her unconditional love to Angela and the child’s mother, who was always welcome to visit.”
When Lezli and Doc considered serving as resource parents, their childhood experiences came into play. Because of her own emotional scars, Lezli feared she would be unprepared to foster infants and toddlers in crisis. “I wondered if I would be able to deal with their trauma. You want your relationship to be healthy and open,” she says.
“I was all in, but I wanted her to take the lead,” says Doc, gesturing toward Lezli. “I said let’s go to the information session because I knew they weren’t going to just hand you a kid and say ‘good luck.’ At the first class we learned about all the resources available.” The couple agrees that the training and continuing education Angels offers helped prepare them for their fostering experience.
They have been fostering for three years with Angels and the two brothers who now live with them are their second placement. Their first placement was also siblings who were with them for nearly a year. They were heartbroken when it was time to say goodbye. “It was a huge upset and we almost didn’t come back to fostering,” Doc says, choking up.
They’re glad they did, though. Larry adds, “I’m so proud to be part of this family that is so committed to caring for children who need a loving home. The children add a lot to our lives.”
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