Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Boyd.
Amanda, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I began as a foster parent to three children, the oldest of which was very challenging. We had to learn how to navigate the foster system and manage her behaviors with very little outside help. I then began to work in the field of foster care with the hopes of helping other parents to take in traumatized children and keep those children stabilized and in a safe home. With more than five years of experience in the field, and now I have the research and the team in place that believes there is a better way to do foster care. That is how we came to start The Sanctuary Foster Care Services. The mission of The Sanctuary is Impacting the foster care system using Trust-Based Relational Intervention to promote healing and permanency for children and families in Texas. My husband Nick and I have fostered seven kids (with one on the way!) and adopted 5 of them! So this is very personal for me and I bring passion and a burden for foster children to The Sanctuary and is dedicated to supporting the families that care for them.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We have struggled as a family through navigating the foster care system ourselves and through learning first-hand how to manage the behaviors of traumatized kids. I have struggled in the field of foster care where there are typically not enough resources to truly support the foster parents who bring in these children. And now, we are working hard to raise the funds and get everything in place so that The Sanctuary can do things differently.
Please tell us about The Sanctuary Foster Care Services.
The Sanctuary Foster Care Services is a different kind of Child Placing Agency. What makes us unique is that we are trained in Trust-Based Relational Intervention and offer wrap around services to our foster families including 24/7 crisis intervention, counseling services for both the children and families in our agency and a fierce commitment to stand behind the children and families in our care. Our mission is simple – once a child enters into our care, we make a commitment to work with that child towards healing until they are either returned to their families of origin or to permanency, such as adoption. We stop the cycle of multiple placements that so severely hurt the children in care.
What were you like growing up?
This is what my mom says: “When she turned three years old she said ‘I am three now and I do not have to sit in a chair anymore.’ She knew she could do whatever she was called to do. Amanda has strong feelings about right and wrong and had a strong commitment to do right. If she was going to be even a little late getting home at night she called to let me know. She told me she was not concerned about the discipline-she just did not want me to be disappointed with her. She was a true friend and her friends knew of her strong character. I remember when one of her friends was on a date in a bad situation. Amanda was concerned about her and we made connections with others until we had a general location and then drove and searched until we found her and took her home. Amanda has loved the Lord since a young girl. Like Solomon, she prayed for wisdom and God heard her prayers and gave her wisdom well beyond her years. During her elementary years, she would bring home animals that her homeless. Her theory was that we would find them a home. Now she applies that same principal to children, she will find them a good, permanent home.
Contact Info:
- Address: 18218 Lakeside Lane, Houston, TX 77058
- Website: sanctuaryfostercare.org
- Phone: 409-539-0170
- Email: aboyd@sanctuaryfostercare.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sanctuaryfostercare/
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