After incorporating Hope & A Future in November 2004, not much happened until the summer of 2005.
We still needed board members, create bylaws, have an initial board of director meeting, and complete an extremely tedious application with the IRS. And above all, figure out what exactly Hope & A Future would do for foster children.
I needed at least two others board members, so I asked two friends who volunteered with me at Royal Family Kids Camp: Greg Capps and Kelli Freeman
I know the details I gave them were vague, but the mission was the same – how can we help these foster children beyond their one week at summer camp? Could we host a Christmas party? Could we do quarterly events? Provide college scholarships? Host a teen camp? I didn’t have answers, but I knew more could be done and we’d figure it out along the way.
On June 22, 2005, Hope & A Future held its first official Board of Directors meeting at the home of Greg & Emi Capps. At this initial meeting, we approved bylaws and finalized the application to submit it to the IRS. I remember Emi telling us that she envisioned children entering a Hope & A Future building one day and we’d be able to walk them down a hallway to offices where we could help and encourage them.
That night I also learned I was allergic to salmon as Emi had prepared a wonderful dinner for us. What started out as a headache, turned into an elevated heart rate, sweating and trouble breathing. A trip to the drug store for Benadryl was in order with some humor mixed in about Will Smith’s allergic reaction in the movie Hitch. It was a hilarious scene in the movie that I seemed to be recreating…perhaps mostly for Kelli’s entertainment.
The next day, I mailed the application off to the IRS. I was told it would be about a year before we’d get approved, so the waiting game began.
Since it was summer, Royal Family Kids’ camp was held in July and another group of foster children 7 to 11 years old would attend. The camps are unique: every adult counselor is assigned only two children. This summer I remember two 11-year-olds being assigned to me: Josh and Adrian. Another counselor in the room was Jeff Benedict and he was assigned to Raylee and Jerrod. Raylee and Jerrod were veterans of camp as they had attended since they were 7. However, this would be Josh and Adrian’s first and only time attending as they would be 12 the next summer.
Adrian made quite an impression on me that week. Boundless energy! He was the first up and the last to go to bed. He was the first to leave for activities, but most definitely the last to arrive! It reminded me of a Dennis the Menace cartoon as we’d end up exploring everything else at camp before arriving at the next activity.
During the week of camp, we celebrate a birthday party for all the kids. Often a child’s birthday is forgotten as they move around in foster care. So, we celebrate their birthdays at camp with them! After the party, I remember Adrian saying, “This was the best night of my life! I wish we could be at camp all summer long!”
The weeklong camp ends on a Friday. It’s a difficult day for everyone. For the kids, the reality of going back to a group home starts to set in. For volunteers, it’s saying goodbye to the kids that you won’t ever see again – as this was the case with Adrian because he’d be too old the following summer.
The hardest part of the week of camp, quite honestly, is what I call the “Friday bus moment.” Saying goodbye to the campers as they get onto the bus and head back to their world of foster care. Any volunteer knows exactly what I’m talking about. It’s an emotional moment saying goodbye because the kids leave such an impression on you as well. As Wayne Tesch, the founder of Royal Family Kids’ Camp says, “Camp is a ministry for foster children, but a secret ministry for the volunteers…. they just don’t know it yet.” This is so true as camp impacts the volunteers just as much as the kids!
So, as Adrian is getting ready to step onto the bus, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a rock. He looks up at me, hands the rock to me and says, “Here. This is for you. I wrote my name on it so you won’t’ forget me.” He gave me a big side hug, told me that he’d miss me, got onto the bus and then waved goodbye to me though the bus window. This would be the last time I’d would ever see Adrian again.
As the bus pulled away on the dirt road leaving camp, there were a lot of tears.
At home that evening, while looking at Adrian’s rock sitting on my table, I just kept thinking how we needed to do more for these kids as they became teenagers and young adults. I wasn’t sure what, but at a minimum, we needed a summer camp for teen foster children.
What did that look like – I had no idea. However, I really didn’t want more Friday bus moments where we would say goodbye and never see the kids again. We couldn’t do much until we heard back from the IRS, but that night I was determined we would do something more.
As for you, Adrian…. I have not forgotten you.
Your rock sits on my desk today at the Hope & A Future office and serves as a daily reminder not to forget children like you who, no fault of their own, live in foster care.
Michael Brewer
President, Hope & A Future