NOM BLOG

Evangelical Couple Who've Fostered for 20 Years Concerned about Threat to IL Catholic Charities

 

The Chicago Tribune interviews Becky and Stan Wilhoit, who have been foster parents for nearly 20 years, and worry they will have to give up providing a good home for kids if Illinois kicks Catholic Charities out:

From Becky Wilhoit's perspective, [Judge] Schmidt's ruling [to give both sides more time to argue their case] buys the three sisters — ages 6, 7 and 9 — in her home a little more time to heal before they return home.

Thrust into the foster care system just six months ago, the girls' caseworkers and counselors haven't yet gained their trust to pinpoint roadblocks and help them overcome their challenges, said Wilhoit, 39, of McLean. Transferring them from Catholic Charities could turn back the clock, she said.

It's enough to make Wilhoit and her husband, Stan, reconsider their calling to be foster parents 18 years ago.

"It's a very small issue to shut an entire agency down that's doing so much good in a community," said Becky Wilhoit, an evangelical Christian who is not Catholic. "We specifically chose Catholic Charities as the agency we wanted to work with knowing they were religious and that they had resources to provide what we needed for our family. We know other agencies in the town can't provide that for us. It becomes an issue for us to continue fostering."

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