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When Shannon's family started fostering in 2018, they initially said they would never accept teenage foster placements. 

“Life laughs when you make plans like that,” says Shannon. “Because you get a call asking for help, and you can’t say no.”

Soon they started getting requests for teenage girls to stay with them for short periods. 

“We ended up being this weird little bed and breakfast for teens,” says Shannon. 

Then 16-year-old Nevaeh was placed with their family, and what was meant to be a temporary stay became long-term when they saw how well she fit in with their family. 

Foster Village helped make Naveah’s transition into care a little easier by providing the family with practical support. 

“Naveah came into care with nothing – literally the PJ pants, sandals and shirt she was wearing,” says Shannon.

The family realized they needed to get her a whole wardrobe. Foster Village was there to provide Naveah with a Kohls gift card to buy new clothes.

“That gift card was a financial weight off for us,” says Shannon.

“We went together to Kohls and I remember her buying a super cute dress. She came out of the dressing room feeling girly and twirly like a normal teenage girl. I was glad she got to do that. It helped her settle in with a few things that could just be hers. I don’t think she’d gotten to do anything like that before.” 

"She came out of the dressing room feeling girly and twirly like a normal teenage girl...I don’t think she’d gotten to do anything like that before." 

Foster Village also provided Naveah with a Welcome Pack containing bedroom decor and art supplies, including journals and writing tools, which helped Naveah process what she was going through. 

“That’s kind of the way she healed herself in the beginning, through art,” says Shannon. “It was nice to have someone show up the next day and do something to help her make her feel special during a really tough time for her.”

"It was nice to have someone show up the next day and do something to help her make her feel special during a really tough time for her." 

Today, Naveah is 19. She is preparing to graduate from esthetician school in the spring. In May, she’ll age out of the foster care system, and then Shannon and Eric will adopt her.

“We started talking about adoption about one year ago. It started with a lot of little conversations. Then one day I just weirdly and awkwardly asked her in Walmart. She said ‘yes, absolutely!’ instantly,” says Shannon.

“We involved the case team and kept it a secret until Christmas, when Naveah wrote a letter to my husband asking to be adopted. He cried. It was a sweet moment for two people who rarely show their emotions.”

“She knows she’s our daughter, we didn’t need to go through anything formal, but we let her know that if she wanted to we would. It’s really about what she wanted.”

After the adoption, Naveah plans to live with the family through the summer while she adjusts to working and figuring out her budget. Then, she’s preparing to move out around the time she turns 20. 

“There’s a lot more that goes into aging out than I even knew,” says Shannon. “The biggest wakeup call is that we thought there’d be more assistance. There’s help with rent and starting out on her own, but a lot of that will fall on her or us in order to get her set up and prepared to live independently.”

"There’s a lot more that goes into aging out than I even knew...The biggest wakeup call is that we thought there’d be more assistance."

“For anyone starting out, so much comes from their village. Many of these kids don’t have one. I always assumed there would be more services to make sure they’re set up for success. While there are a few, it’s far less than I imagined.”

Naveah was a sophomore when she came to live with the family, but she should have been graduating that year. She did almost three years of high school in less than two years by doing summer school and online school, and then went on to secondary education.

“It’s incredible, considering she’s been through a lot,” says Shannon. “If you met her you would have no idea what she’s dealing with. These are her accomplishments and I’m so proud of her.”

Foster Village provides clothing gift cards valued at $150 to each teen to help relieve the financial burden on foster families while giving teens dignity and choice.

Give today to help fund our teen gift cards.