“I grew up in Mobile. My grandma lived behind us, and I watched Oprah with her in the afternoons. My favorite episodes were the makeovers. I realized how much haircuts and color change how a woman feels about herself. After high school, I went to Bishop State for cosmetology school.

I worked in someone else’s salon for ten years, then opened Cara & Company to care for my clients my way with extras such as Christmas cards and monthly promotions. Currently, we have 14 stylists and follow the Summit Salons program providing a pathway to success for them to make a good living. Some of our stylists are single women supporting their families.

I had three daughters, but felt there was something missing. I researched adoption but was led to foster care. Dauphin Way Baptist Church hosted an event for foster parents with church members babysitting the kids while the foster parents got education hours. I had a misconception of foster kids as bad kids, then I met them. They are precious, and it is not their fault they are in foster care. I kept asking my husband about fostering, and he kept telling me no. I finally told him he needed to pray about it. He went to the foster parent classes with me and became the star student. By the third week, he was on board.

Our first placement was a little boy. In a house full of girls, a boy was a new experience. I think the first placement is the hardest. They told us not to get attached, but I did. I loved him like he was my own, knowing he was going back home. Over the last four years, we have fostered five children and adopted a daughter who is now four.

I wanted to do more for foster kids, so we partnered with Fostering Together Gulf Coast for seasonal drives to provide duffel bags and pajamas.

Our pastor once preached on fostering and how everyone can do something. He told a story about a man who owned a barbecue restaurant. He couldn’t be a foster parent, but he could provide barbecue for functions. It hit me that I have a hair salon—now we provide free haircuts for kids in foster care. They get the full treatment with their hair washed, blow-dried, and styled. We treat them like regular clients, and they love it.

These kids just want to be loved and acknowledged. They want to know that someone is excited to see them when they get home or proud of their grades or their artwork. They enjoy the daily routine of eating dinner together, bath, and story time. Kids thrive on predictability because it helps them know what to expect that day.

We need more foster parents. The last time I checked, there were more than 500 kids in care and only about 110 foster homes. Fostering is hard, but we need good families who love kids and do this for the right reasons.

Being a foster parent has given me a better understanding of the vicious cycles of life. Birth parents were often in foster care or didn’t have good examples teaching them how to parent. They parent the way they learned, and the cycle continues.

My mom’s family were nurses, my aunt was a missionary in Africa, and my grandmother had Sunday dinners with anyone who wanted to come.  They all planted seeds in me of caring for others.

I am learning how to speak up for kids who have hard lives that they don’t deserve. Foster parents are more than babysitters, and we can be their voice. I will always advocate for my kids and show them love, no matter how long they are in my care.

One of my favorite Bible verses is Proverbs 31:8-9: ‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy’.”

Cara

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Cara’s story is a part of a series about the Weavers—people stitching our communities together, solving problems, and showing how to care for our neighbors. Send a message to Our Southern Souls to suggest a Weaver from your community to be featured on Souls.