April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
Women's hearts open to needs
The "Caring Hearts" are a group of board members and friends of St. Catherine's Foundation, associated with St. Catherine's Center for Children in Albany. St. Catherine's Center is a treatment program for emotionally disturbed, neglected and abused children.
For more than two years, Caring Hearts have been funding specialized respite care for foster children from the St. Catherine's program, so that their foster parents can get some time off -- from simple "alone time" to dinner at a restaurant.
Helping an angel
Mary Tracy, a parishioner of Holy Cross in Albany and a founding member of the Caring Hearts, recalled the day she and fellow group members first decided to create the respite fund."One of the foster mothers came and spoke to the Foundation board," she said. "When she finished, we were quite moved. This woman was like an angel, but she hadn't been able to get to the hairdresser or go out to dinner with her husband.
"We asked what the Foundation could do for her; she just wanted some time with her family. When they asked for comments after the meeting, I just cried."
Touched
Fellow founder Mary Reagan of St. Catherine of Siena parish in Albany also remembered the talk. She was touched by the immense needs of the troubled foster children, and the commitment of their foster mother."She touched me so deeply, and as a mother, she just looked so tired," said Mrs. Reagan.
Mrs. Tracy explained that disturbed children are often active all night, so their parents are "on call" 24 hours a day in addition to the everyday duties of parenting.
Pitching in
After the meeting, the pair and their friends hatched a plan: Each would give $1,000 toward a fund that would pay for the specially-trained sitter needed to stay with a child so his or her foster parents could have a night out.The Caring Hearts were born. Mrs. Tracy and Mrs. Reagan recruited about eight other people to contribute, and today, the fund contains about $10,000 for respite care. Money has also been used for things like replacing ruined mattresses and coupons for parents to go out to dinner.
"The efforts of the Caring Hearts have touched us deeply," a foster mother from St. Catherine's told The Evangelist anonymously. "Although few persons understand what specialized foster care demands, the Caring Hearts take actions which show us that we do not walk alone in this very challenging ministry to disabled children."
'Special people'
The Caring Hearts shrugged off the praise. Mrs. Tracy observed that the care provided to troubled children by the foster parents "is a big service to the community at large.""They're very special people," Mrs. Reagan said of foster parents. "When they do a good job, there's such a commitment, dedication and love there. The need for foster parents is very important, and this group of foster parents is outstanding."
(The Caring Hearts fund helps foster parents associated with St. Catherine's Center. For information, call 453-6700.)
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