FALL 2013
Portraits
of
Hope
5
a ‘forever family’ for lamont and lashawn
From a young age, Wayne Short
knew that he wanted to give back to his
community. Growing up, his parents
would often invite children from the
neighborhood to
their home to eat and
hang out. “Most of
the kids had parents
of their own, but
they always wanted
to be at our house,”
Wayne said. Having
such caring and
giving parents helped
lead the way for
Wayne to continue
that tradition of
volunteerism as he grew
into adulthood.
As a volunteer at a homeless
shelter, Wayne often took the children
living at the shelter to the neighborhood
Christian Center on the weekends, so
that they could have some fun during
a difficult time. While on one of their
weekend trips, a fellow volunteer
suggested that he consider being a foster
parent. Wayne admitted that he was
skeptical at first. He loved kids and had
raised his own sons to adulthood as a
single parent, but he wasn’t sure he was
ready to be a foster parent. In 2008,
Wayne came to Child & Family Services
to get more information about foster care.
After going through the certification
process, he decided to become a foster
parent.
In 2011, Wayne received a call
from Child & Family Services’ Foster
Care staff about two boys, Lamont, age
11, and Lashawn, age 9. They were
looking for a home for one of the boys,
but hearing they were brothers, Wayne
couldn’t separate them. Wayne himself
has six siblings, and he understood the
importance of family during tough times.
In addition, the boys had been in and
out of foster care, sometimes living with
relatives. “I wanted to give them stability,
a place to call home.”
Very quickly, the boys became
part of the family. Wayne remarked that
they were calling him “Dad” within a
week of their placement with him. After
about a year, it was looking as though
Lamont and Lashawn’s birth parents
were going to surrender their rights.
The staff at Child & Family Services
approached Wayne about adopting the
boys, even though he had initially joined
the program as a foster parent. Without
hesitation, Wayne knew he would adopt
them. “They’re home now,” he said. His
adult sons also supported him in his
decision to adopt, even calling the boys
their little brothers.
Just before Christmas 2012,
Wayne adopted Lamont and Lashawn.
He explained that he gave the boys the
option of changing their last name to
“Short” if they wanted to, but always felt
it was their decision to make, not his.
Wayne stresses the value of keeping their
identity, and the boys still see their birth
parents from time to time.
Speaking with Wayne, it is
apparent that Lamont and Lashawn are
very special to him. As
he talks about them, he
exudes a love that only
a proud parent could
display. He explained
that the biggest reward
of being a foster and
adoptive parent has
been seeing the children
he cares for happy.
The family frequently
goes on trips together,
and Wayne is happy,
knowing he has been able
to do things with his boys
that they might not have been able to do
otherwise. And while the boys test him at
times (Wayne laughed about Lamont and
the “teenage years”), he frequently utilizes
the trainings he’s completed with Child &
Family Services to handle any behaviors
he sees in them. Wayne remarked that he
enjoys learning new techniques, as they
are “another tool in my tool belt.”
When asked what he would
share with others who may be thinking
about becoming foster or adoptive
parents, he simply said, “give it a try.” The
experience he’s had over the last five years
has been far beyond what he imagined it
might be, adding two sons to his family.
Even his older sons and his sister are
considering becoming foster parents,
because of Wayne. “While it isn’t always
easy,” he explained, “every day gets better
and better.”
To learn more about becoming a
foster or adoptive parent, please call (716)
882-0555.
Thanks to Wayne short (Center), biological brothers Lashawn (Left) and Lamont (Right)
now have a ‘forever family’ to call their own.
