The Gibsons were made to be a foster family. Leah and her husband John have been fostering for six years, welcoming more than 30 children into their home with open arms and open hearts. It all started when the couple wanted to have another child of their own, adding a fourth child to the Gibson clan.
“We had discussed possibly having more children, but after about a year or two, it never happened,” says Gibson. “I thought, ‘Maybe God has other plans for us.’”
Kaitlynn and John Gibson with the Gibson family’s first foster sibling. Family requested to not identify the child.
She began researching how to become a foster parent, requesting informational packets from multiple organizations and diving deep into the internet. Once Gibson realized how serious she was, she approached John with her idea.
“I handed him one of the packets, and he was like, ‘What is this?’ And I said fostering,” says Gibson. “He was like, ‘No way! I’ve been talking with one of my friends at work, he and his wife do this, and we’ve been talking about this for a while.’ So that was like our calling.”
As the Gibsons soon learned, becoming foster parents isn’t easy. Parents are required to complete a minimum of 60 hours of in-person training, which can take months to complete. And they had to get their kids prepared, too.
“When we talked about fostering, we decided to do it as a family,” says Gibson. “So, because the kids obviously couldn’t go to training with us, every time we would come home from a training we would go over it with them.”
Trainings included tough topics like the difficult situations foster kids may have experienced before being placed with a foster family. Despite the heaviness of the topics, Gibson knew it was important for her kids to understand what someone may be going through.
“I just felt like if we were going to bring children in the home, it would be fun for (my kids), right? But it’s a little bit more in depth than that,” says Gibson. “I really wanted them to try to understand some of the trauma, like if we got a baby that was born addicted and just cried all the time. I really wanted them to try to understand these things.”
The Gibsons’ three children, Angel, 21; Kaitlynn, 16; and John, 12 were ready to open their arms to foster siblings. The Gibsons say they have each grown through the experience.
“They’ve been very helpful, encouraging and welcoming of every child,” says Gibson. “They’ve always been very caring of others and their feelings, but I feel like (fostering) really made them aware of other situations. Life situations.”
The Gibsons have been supported by the Grove City community despite living outside city limits. Grove City Christian School (GCCS), where the Gibson kids attend school, is an incredible backbone of support.
“Everyone has always been extremely supportive. GCCS is so welcoming of all the babies. When the babies have gone home, it can be really tough on us, and they’ve made it a point to reach out to us and the kids, even at school,” says Gibson. “It’s been really nice, like having a second family.”
What makes the Gibsons stand out as a foster family is their support for the kids they foster.
“I advocate for my kids,” says Gibson. “That’s what I’m here to do. I’m their only voice right now.”
The Gibsons go above and beyond in caring for their foster children’s families, too. Gibson says the end goal of fostering is to reunite families. In the meantime, she does what she can to make the separation easier on everyone.
The Gibsons include all their kids in everything the family does, including family photos!
“From the beginning, I’ve been a pretty big supporter of the bio parents. I’ve made an effort to do extra FaceTimes, I’ve had a couple that I even invited over to Thanksgiving, we’ve done family birthday parties, that kind of stuff,” says Gibson. “We just want (the parents) to come and enjoy that time with (their kids).”
It’s not just about supporting the parents’ relationship with their child, though. Oftentimes, the parents need support of their own, too.
“I could not function every single day without my kids, you know?” she says, “and so, if I can help in any way, make their day to day easier, whether it’s just being clean or going to counseling, I’ve taken one parent to a job interview, whatever I can do to help them, I will.”
The Gibsons are currently fostering three kids: an 18-month-old girl and 20-month-old boy, both of whom they’ve fostered since birth, and a 17-year-old girl. Gibson is ready to welcome more kids to the fold.
“We’re actually in the process of building a bigger home, because I want a houseful,” she says. “I just want to be able to help as many kids as we can for as long as we can.”
At the end of the day, beyond the challenges, hard work and how difficult it is to say goodbye to a child they’ve fostered, the Gibsons find joy and reward in their calling.
“The most rewarding thing is being able to know that we are positively impacting each child that we get to welcome into our home,” says Gibson. “If we have provided love and, of course, the basic necessities, but also if we’ve been able to make them smile and happy and laugh on a daily basis, then I know we’re doing it right.”
Sarah Robinson is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
