Stories of Love - Families For Kids

Stories of Love...

UIATF Honors Their Foster Parents
By Miguel Gomez-Acosta, Families for Kids Regional Coordinator

My wife and I have been foster parents for almost 5 years. Within that time we have had our share of foster kids, Christmas Parties, and appreciation dinners. Like all other foster parents we tend to enjoy those things because it validates our work with Washington State children. I must admit however that as much fun and rewarding these others were, I have not felt more honored as I did on the afternoon of December 18, 2005, when I attended, along with my daughter, the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation Honoring Ceremony for foster parents.

We were new to United Indians in 2005. We had been licensed with another private agency in previous years, but decided to change our license to UIATF after the adoption of our daughter, who is Native. Since neither my wife nor I are native we felt a little odd asking if we could try to switch our license, but we were reassured that even though we weren’t native, our commitment to cultural competence to raise our daughter and appreciating her native culture was enough for us to qualify. As it so happens we are not alone in this status---4 out of 36 licensed homes through UIATF in 2005, are not native.

Since this was our first year at UIATF, we, along with 7 other families, were going to be honored at the 8th Annual Foster Parent Honoring Ceremony. The party was like others we have attended with food and gifts for the kids and parents. But what made this ceremony special was a special time that was set aside for honoring the parents. Now it’s difficult for me as a non-native person to get the full spectrum of the significance of this, but new families were called up to the front. Then the staff of the foster care program wrapped each new family with a brand new Pendleton blanket. People would then clap and allow the foster parent to say anything they felt moved to say. When I inquired about the significance of the blanket I was told that blankets symbolize warmth and friendship. Blankets are given as a symbol of respect in a variety of occasions from births to deaths¹. Every high school student who graduates from the Muckleshoot Tribe receives a Pendleton blanket². Needless to say this blanket was not just another gift, but a gift of respect that had generations of traditions behind it.

Miguel and his daughter wrapped in the warmth of our new friends

When it was my turn to go I asked my daughter to go with me, but she was being shy, so I went by myself as the representative of my family. I must admit that I first I couldn’t quite comprehend the symbolism or significance of this, but when the staff wrapped that blanket around me I had a eureka moment. While wrapped in this blanket I was warm, and the texture of the fabric felt comfortable on my skin. There was a feeling of home and family that was being transmitted with the simple gesture of wrapping someone in a blanket. For that brief moment in time I no longer felt as a non-native foster parent caring for native children for a native agency, but felt like a human being helping my brother or sister human being care for our children together as village should.

UIATF has been honoring their foster parents in this fashion for 8 years, a tradition started by the former foster care program director Roxanne Finney. According to Lynette Jordan, licensor for UIATF, the staff of the foster care program have made the ceremony extra special by actually driving down to Pendleton, Oregon, to the Pendleton Woolen Mills, to purchase the blankets personally; adding a personal touch to the gift.

As a foster parent it sometimes feels like no one understands you, maybe just other foster parents. It is a privilege for my family and me to be a part of an agency that honors its foster parents in way that goes beyond just doing the stereotypical appreciation gestures; that instead honors in a personal way that makes us feel like family. UIATF makes sure to share native culture and traditions with all its foster parents, including those who are not native. This willingness to share culture and traditions has made my job raising a native child easier.


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