Making Dreams Come True
By Meral Prewitt

Sonia*, a 40 year old single mom and high school drop out was tired of trying to find money to support her twin daughters. She was tired of dealing with their wants and needs, and now that the girls had turned 13, she didn’t want to manage them anymore. Sonia has had mental health issues and is unable to parent her daughters. After the twins were born she was resentful of them and was constantly angry. She expressed her anger openly by yelling and swearing and telling the girls they were worthless. She often threatened to leave them.

One afternoon that’s just what she did. She left them with the Bridgeport Department of Children and Families.

A DCF volunteer with our Adopt A Social Worker Program, Social Worker Kim Soto, received the case and she immediately gained assistance for the girls from her matched Fairfield church, Greenfield Hill Congregational.

Kim said, “When I first saw the girls they were afraid of being separated and scared of what would happen next. They had many bad memories from the thirteen years they lived with their mother and their eyes reflected the sadness, disappointment and rejection they were feeling from the inside out.”

Kim looked for a foster home and hoped to keep the girls together. She said, “I needed a foster mother that would recognize these girls had probably internalized many messages sent by Mom. Emotionally abused, at 13 the girls would be facing a time of major challenges in their lives regarding sexuality and choices for their future. I knew they would need a lot of guidance.”

Luckily, Kim found a patient, tolerant, nurturing foster parent where both girls could live and gladly leave the chaos and misery of their past behind them. Shy and quiet since they had been constantly rejected by their mother, they had low self-esteem and few friends. They were teased at school because of their dirty or ill fitting clothes and they had to ask their teacher for school supplies.

As an AASW faith-based organization, Greenfield Hill Congregation members readily provided new clothes and book bags filled with school supplies for the girls. “This helped brighten their spirits and gave them hope that things were going to get better. All the gifts from the church helped strengthen my relationship and helped the girls realize they were important. It all contributed to building their self-esteem,” said Kim.

With this new support system the girls began to flourish. Both girls had a positive attitude and worked hard to overcome their past. As they continued to live in foster care and receive help from Kim through her AASW matched church connection, they were shown ways to enjoy life and cope with the stress of their new lives. They had the best holiday they had ever had when Kim brought holiday gifts from her church. Kim explained, “The gifts from my (matched) church gave them a meaningful holiday. For the first time Denise and Danielle really began to understand there were people who valued them. They grew happier and more confident. They also began to realize they didn’t want to make the same choices their mother had made and they started trying harder in school and it was easier for them to have friends.”

“It was about that time I asked these girls if they wanted to be part of the DCF Youth Advisory Board which helps build confidence and self-esteem. They were both eager to join and saw this as a way to help other youth in foster care,” continued Kim.

As a member of the board, the girls would be sent to a conference in Los Angeles, California to learn life skills that would prepare them for life out of foster care. Kim had an idea for after the conference ended and asked the church if they would like to send the girls to Disneyland. Her liaison, Marisol Lombardo, Rev. Alida Ward and the entire congregation stepped up without hesitation. They eagerly purchased Disneyland tickets for Kim and the twin girls and one other foster girl and social worker who were also attending the conference in California.

“When I first told the girls about the gift the church had given them they were exited but hesitant, because they knew nothing about Disneyland which just shocked me". I thought everybody knew about Disneyland and how safe and fun it is. This is how deprived they were. These girls just had no idea as to what Disneyland was all about. Once they heard about meeting Mickey Mouse they were ready to go!” said Kim. .

“However, it’s not just because they rode Dumbo and met Mickey Mouse that their lives have turned around,” she explained. “Of course, they learned a lot of things at the conference, but these girls have also learned from the generosity of the people from Greenfield Hills Church that they have a group of people who care about them and their future. Denise and Danielle feel good about themselves for the first time in their lives. This trip motivated them more than ever before to stay on the path to success, to finish school and go to college,” said Kim.

Once again, children who were homeless and afraid, who were living in desperation and hungered for love and attention, children who were victims of a situation they could not control, became survivors when they received the simple acts of kindness from people in the Adopt A Social Worker Program of Covenant to Care for Children. Finally the many years of struggling behind them, for an entire day at Disneyland, Denise and Danielle came out of their shells, forgot their bad memories and let their eyes shine with the new happiness they felt inside out.

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* names have been changed