A Career to a Calling
For Laura Suess, foster care had always been on her heart. There was never a specific moment or event that caused her to feel drawn to the foster care community. Rather, Laura’s calling was quietly just “always there.”
The driving force behind her decision to be licensed, however, was her career in nursing at a children’s hospital in Lodi, California. Laura constantly witnessed a lack of foster parents when children would enter her care. For many of those children, they required high-level medical attention that often made it hard to find a foster parent well suited to care for them.
After seeing the need for foster support firsthand as a nurse, Laura’s thoughts of “I could do this” turned into a reality when she became licensed in 2013 in her 20s.
From One Yes to Many
Now, after 12 years of being licensed and welcoming 18 children into her home, Laura additionally serves as a resource to prospective foster parents, inspiring them to take the first step toward fostering.
“I’m incredibly thankful to be able to continue using my nursing knowledge to not only continue to say “yes” to children with complex medical needs, but to also support and empower other families to say their own confident “yes,” despite not necessarily having the medical background,” Laura said.
“It is always so amazing to see foster families who were initially hesitant to take medically-fragile children thrive with community and support,” Laura continued. “In the same way, I also love seeing biological parents step up and confidently care for their child in the most overwhelming circumstances.”
Family Forever
With medical expertise to lean on and a fierce passion for advocating for families entering the foster care community, Laura wouldn’t be where she is today without her “sidekick” and adoptive son, Jack.
Laura received a medical referral for a 3-month-old medically-fragile baby boy in February 2015. The baby once in her care as a home health nurse quickly turned into Laura’s foster son and became her forever son just a year later.
Together, Laura and Jack kept their home open to those in need, providing medical care and love to any kiddo who needed it.
“As a foster mom, I have learned to love deeply and unconditionally knowing that at some point, I will have to say goodbye,” Laura said. “However, nothing could have prepared me for processing those complex emotions with Jack. He has been an incredible big brother to some kids who have required intense amounts of care and attention. He has said goodbye with grace and still been willing to welcome another child.”
After 10 years, nearly two dozen reunifications, and millions of moments of love and care given, 10-year-old Jack and Laura slowly began the process of closing their home to kiddos and, instead, serving more so as a support system to parents and families considering getting licensed.
As Laura began to give away baby clothes and close that chapter, she got a call that Jack had a brand-new baby brother in the NICU. Lincoln, Jack’s younger brother, entered Laura’s care soon after.
Despite the decision to enter a more supportive role in foster care, Laura and Jack couldn’t imagine a better reason to keep their home open and forge a sibling bond with Lincoln like no other.
Nearly nine years to the day that Laura adopted Jack, Lincoln entered the Suess family forever, marking the perfect beginning to their new family of three.
Love That Stays
From a passion to help others that turned into the creation of her family, foster care is forever ingrained in Laura’s story.
As her two sons write their story as siblings, Laura’s devotion to community continues. Whether she is welcoming a foster child into her home, aiding a new foster parent, or supporting a biological parent in their quest toward reunification, her heart remains open.
“Every situation is complex and nuanced, but I truly believe that we have a duty as a community to keep open minds and open hearts regarding every aspect of the kids we’re called to serve,” Laura said.
“I believe we are all called to care about one another and to help however we are able,” she continued. “For me, saying yes to foster care was a tangible way to live out that belief. Once you see how great the need is, it’s impossible to ignore.”
This true story is brought to you by The Suess Family. If you or someone you know is a foster family and are interested in sharing your story with us, please visit Tell Your Story.
Created by Keeley Lamm, Bananas Foster