Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine November 2017 | Page 11

Devereux Texas Foster Care Program:
A Story of New Beginnings - The Mallett Family
Story Submitted By: Joni Robertson
Director of Development
Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health Texas
dirt, fingernails housing filth and grime under them, the
water turned black. Multiple times. After the third attempt
to drain and refill the bathtub for this child the water finally
ran clear. Her skin was clean and her beautiful hair was a
dirty blond color.
It is a silent outbreak plaguing our state, even our nation.
It is not always visible, it is not always loudly spoken, but in
my home, it is what started my family. Abuse and Neglect.
It is harsh, it is ugly and unfortunately, for many children, it
happens daily.
My husband, John, and I decided to start a journey to
break the cycle of abuse and neglect one child at a time.
We are foster parents. Since February 27, 2013, we have
welcomed 12 children into our home and into our hearts.
It has not been easy and most days is difficult but the
reward of “well done my good and faithful servant” that
awaits us is worth the heartbreak we have dealt with and
sorrow we have endured. We do not do it for glory, we do
not do it for fame and we definitely do not do it for
fortune. We embarked on this journey because in the
Bible, God’s word, has directed us to do so. James 1:27
states, “Religion that God our father accepts as pure and
faultless is this: to look after orphans…” Yes, these
children have a mother and a father but often have been
neglected, abused and cast aside. This is not a job for us it
is our life.
In July of 2015, we welcomed three children into our
home and hearts who had been left alone, neglected,
homeless and subject to many things not suitable for
children. I made each a welcome basket that sat on their
beds while we waited for their arrival. When they walked
in the door, it was bad. The smell that eluded from these
sweet babies was one I will never forget. Rotten bananas
lathered in spoiled mayonnaise, topped with urine and
feces kind of bad. They were scared, broken, reserved,
hungry and filthy. After their caseworker left we fed them
and began our bedtime routine. While bathing the sweet
little girl, who had matted dark brown hair, cheeks full of
I immediately gained their trust with a hot meal and a
warm bath. They told us what they had seen, they focused
on where they slept and that they went without meals
many days. They were homeless, sleeping behind
dumpsters. They were scared when they slept in the rain
while it stormed; walked with no shoes from one place to
the next and the asphalt burned their little feet. My heart
was broken. I watched TV shows with these types of stories,
I heard of these things happening on the news. I never
thought it would be a conversation held at my dinner table
with children that experienced it. It was eye opening. It still
is. Abuse and neglect.
According to the Department of Family and Protective
Services there are 15, 912 children in foster care as of
January 2017 from ages 0-17 in the state of Texas alone.
We have only been able to take in 12 of those children.
Our home will always have a revolving door. Out of those
12 children, some have come just to be given love, support
and a chance at a new kind of life while their parents get
the help they need and learn to break the cycle themselves
and some have stayed, never to return to that old life. We
were blessed to be able to adopt three of those children
March 22, 2017. They will grow up knowing that Daddy
John and Mommy Amy love them, cherish them and will
always provide for them. The chains were broken and God
used us to set them free from that life.
There is a need for more foster homes and families to open
their homes and hearts to help break the cycle, to give
these innocent victims stability, security and the promise of
safety. Children of today are our future doctors, lawyers,
preachers, teachers, presidents, police officers. It is our
responsibility to help mold them and shape them to be
successful members of society. Not all stories have a
happy-ending. For three of our children their story now
ends…Bryson, Makayla and Bishop Mallett live happily
ever after.
MOMENTUM / November 2017
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