Foster Parenthood Day. They celebrated at Women's Rights Square

Among the city events in May, this one was very special. On Saturday (24th of this month), a festival was held at the Women's Rights Square in Szczecin to celebrate Foster Parenthood Day. Families who fulfill this role, as well as anyone interested, were invited to join the celebration.

In Szczecin, over 900 children are raised in foster care. Almost 80% of them in family care, slightly over 20% in institutional care.

There are currently 456 foster families in the city, most of them related and non-professional. The needs in terms of creating new families are still very high. There is a particular shortage of professional families who can run family children's homes or family emergency services. This role was taken on a year ago by Ksenia and Jan Zaborowski - parents of three biological children, who took three children into their home in foster care.

- This idea germinated about three years ago - says Mr. Jan. - The maturation process, talks with MOPR, recognizing whether this is really an adventure we want to embark on, took a very long time, but I appreciate and respect it. There is no room for hasty decisions here.

That's how they became a family of eight. There were many motivations for it to grow.

- When we were already quite mature, my wife and I talked about the fact that we wanted to do something, also professionally, that had value and made sense - says Jan Zaborowski. - And since it goes hand in hand with my wife's incredible maternal instinct, it came together beautifully. The fact that we come from large families is also significant. My sister has six children, and these children already have children of their own, so for us, family parties are counted in dozens of people at the table. So this is also something that comes from home.

They advise people who are thinking about becoming foster parents to take their time to make the decision, just like they did. The last thing these children need is to be abandoned, even if it is not through ill will, and moved somewhere else.

They do not hide the fact that foster parenting has its pros and cons.

- They say that altruism is not an action where you only give. You also take a little - smiles Mr. Jan. - I think we get a lot, we learn a lot. And those difficult moments? The hardest thing is that this work and these children expose all our humps that we carry around. It's not like it's hard with these "naughty" children, or demanding ones, or those who have their own "backpacks". This everyday life reveals what we are unruly with, what we can't handle. So if it was hard, it was when we couldn't handle our own emotions. We have a great school of life.

Saturday's festival was dominated by joint fun, attractions organized by the Municipal Family Support Center, it was also a friendly space for talks between foster families and those interested in such a role. The event was attended by, among others, Marcin Biskupski, Deputy Mayor of Szczecin.

- Foster parenting day is not just one day, it is, in fact, the whole year - he emphasized in an interview with "Kurier". - First of all, we would like to thank everyone who organizes family care in their homes and families. We thank them with all our hearts. Secondly, we ask and appeal, we are open, the entire social assistance system in our city functions in such a way as to support, show how it works, help with the organization - so that more families in foster care function. This is extremely important to us. Currently, about 50 children are waiting to be placed in foster care. I would like to thank those families who are already functioning, we still have a lot of work ahead of us. Basically, the entire last week was related to foster care, the City Council Health Committee was held, we talked about organizational and financial problems, we are preparing to improve this situation. I hope that the next session of the City Council will already show some direction of these changes. As we know, the financial situation cannot be changed to any great extent right away, but step by step this help from the city will increase.

Anna Gniazdowska