CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Across the state, foster programs are desperately seeking families to bring kids into their homes.
Since the pandemic, foster care advocates say there has been a 23% drop in families across North Carolina opening their homes to kids in need.
In Gaston County, county leaders have put out an urgent plea. They say there are almost 400 children in foster care, but only 78 licensed homes in the family.
Which is why families like Shonda and Mike Hibbs are encouraging other adults to think of opening their homes.
Shonda Hibbs is like any working mom, with a never ending list of housework.
“I have learned to become the Tetris master,” said Shonda Hibbs as she loads the dishwasher. “The object is to get as many darn things in here as possible, and still have them get clean so that I have less loads to do. Most of this gets done middle of the night, you know, when everyone else is asleep.”
But unlike most other moms, Hibbs has had 54 children come through her door to stay in her home.
“I have absolutely no privacy,” said Hibbs. “Most of the time. I have to hide in the bathroom if I want any semblance of privacy. And even then, you know, there’s knocking on the door and little finger sticking under, ‘Mommy, Mommy, you locked it?’ Yes. I locked it because I would like to go by myself.”
For the last seven years, Hibbs and her husband Mike have been foster parents. While she tries to keep everything organized as kids come and go, she describes her home more like organized chaos.
“Everybody has a laundry day for the week,” said Shonda. “This is the menu for the week. Yeah. Everybody over 12 has to do their own laundry. And if you miss your day, too bad for you.”
While the house may not always be perfect, there’s no question it’s bursting at the seams with love.
“We take a picture of every kid that comes to our house, and we put it on our family photo wall because every kid deserves to be on a family photo wall,” said Hibbs. “So we put them on ours.”
As their wall has grown, Shonda says so has their mission to encourage other families to open their homes as well.
“The thing we hear most often is I could never do that. I would get too attached,” said Hibbs. “Well, one, it’s not about you. And two, if you don’t get attached, you are not doing it right.”
A mission that is at its all time highest need, as more and more children need safe homes to stay.
“When COVID hit, people weren’t taking kids because we didn’t know what was going on,” said Hibbs. “And we were because even if it’s just for a night, why not let them sleep in a bed instead of in an office chair at the department? You know, if that one night of kindness is going to help them eventually get a better life, why not?”
And while it may not always be easy.
“We’ve had arguments,” said Mike Hibbs. “Just because we’re trying to get them to understand, you know, I’m not right. They’re not right in the middle. We’re both wrong, but we have to come to a common deal. Every kid is different. Every kid has a different background, every kid has a different reason why they were in the system.”
Shonda says it’s the compassion and love that the kids need the most.
“These children need love. They need somebody to show them what good love looks like, what healthy families look like, what healthy fighting looks like, what recovering from a downfall looks like,” said Shonda Hibbs. “And you can’t do those things if you’re not attached to the child.”
A mission she hopes will encourage others to pay it forward.
“It’s not about can I save these kids?” said Hibbs. “It’s can we impact them? So they want to impact other people in a positive way.”
The Hibbs say the main goal through fostering is to make sure kids can be reunified with their families if possible.
She encourages anyone that is interested in becoming foster parents to reach out to their local county services to take the next steps, and to get approved.