FOSTER THE FUTURE
The mural is located at the Fairfield County Records Center. 138 W. Chestnut Street.
Fostering
Foster care is the temporary care provided to children in the custody of Protective Services. This care can last from overnight to over one year. Children need foster care when they are abused, neglected or their parents are not able to safely care for them. If no kin is identified, available or appropriate, children are placed with foster parents on a temporary basis. Foster parents provide safety, stability, and a nurturing and loving family environment for vulnerable and hurting children. It is important to keep children in their own communities and schools whenever possible. Foster parents are asked to work with the child’s birth family to promote and encourage successful reunification. Foster parents are ordinary people making an extraordinary difference in the lives of children and their families. Foster parents care for children of every age, race, color or national origin, while meeting their basic day to day needs. A successful foster parent works closely with child welfare professionals and others to support and assist the child and birth family as the agency seeks reunification or another permanency plan. Foster parents learn trauma informed parenting techniques to meet the needs of each child for healing, while building resiliency and helping youth develop healthy self-esteem. Foster parents share their hearts, homes and their family experience.
Local Foster / Adoption Stories
We have the home for it, we have the ability and the space so why would we not open our home to those that need?
You see kids every day without parents, and I lost my mom at a young age, so I know what it’s like not to have that figure in your life and just providing that for a child at a young age.
There are so many teenagers that need love, need to be taught, and need guidance. It is brutally hard, but to see these kids flourish into things they never thought possible is amazing.
Learn more about foster and adoption
Inspired by Fairfield County Job and Family Services foster program families and children, Fairfield County is sharing a hopeful message to “Foster the Future.”
The mural depicts scenes in a young person’s life that are milestones or family moments that can be life-defining and also moments a child may not experience without a foster home or adoption situation. The scenes are as simple as a family dinner, learning to ride a bike, and as momentous as graduation.
We hope the mural acts as an inspiration to potential foster parents and sheds light on what fostering can mean for young people. They are, after all, the future.
The mural depicts scenes in a young person’s life that are milestones or family moments that can be life-defining and also moments a child may not experience without a foster home or adoption situation. The scenes are as simple as a family dinner, learning to ride a bike, and as momentous as graduation.
We hope the mural acts as an inspiration to potential foster parents and sheds light on what fostering can mean for young people. They are, after all, the future.
The Process
Portraying the fullness of family through
day-to-day and life-defining moments
day-to-day and life-defining moments
The mural was designed and illustrated by Jonathan “Remo” Remoquillo, of Remo Remo Design, using real foster stories as inspiration for the imagery. The 1,600 sq. ft. mural was painted by a small team, including Remoquillo and his wife, Spencer, and volunteers over the course of two months in the summer of 2021. Volunteers included Marilyn Steiner, Pam Patula and Julie Goss.
