Durham, North Carolina is filled with lollygagger baseball fans, but there was not a dry eye in the ballpark when Bananas Foster took to the field to celebrate The Teague Family.
Lots of people will ask me, “how do you find these families?” My response varies on the family but in honesty, pure luck. Someone who knows someone that is amazing (Sarah Michaels), someone reached out to us (The Teatreault Family), and someone from our team that knew of an amazing family from their area – that is how we found The Teague Family.
When I first contacted Jerrie, she told me how their currently placement was turning 18 and going to age out of foster care. On his birthday, a week before the game, they would present him with official adoption paperwork. My mind was racing with the ideas and the way our team would rally behind this family. Game day arrived, and let the magic begin!
HONORARY PLAYER
That game the players would wear their yellow uniforms. Bananas Foster provided the family with white jerseys but we wanted to make their adoption special, so we decided to make “Mez” an honorary member of the team.
Everyone in the organization signed a yellow Bananas jersey. When the family arrived, Mez was escorted to the locker room by Coach Viro to be presented his official Bananas uniform for the night. A special moment to meet the players in the locker room and interact with the team in their downtime.
TEARS, LOTS OF TEARS
The end of the 4th inning is the Bananas Foster celebration. To say that this one was special is an understatement. Being able to share their official adoption of Mez was emotional for our team, staff, and every fan in the crowd.
“Tonight we have the honor of celebrating the Teague Family. They have been a licensed foster family for 9 years and have had 40 kids come through their home!
In the US, when you turn 18, you ‘age out’ of foster care and the limited support that they had been receiving, is eliminated.
,65% of teens who age out have nowhere to call home after their 18th birthday.
The Teagues current placement just turned 18 last week and has aged out of foster care system.
But- For his birthday, the family has presented him with official adoption papers.
Bananas Foster is all about bringing families together and we’re so honored to be part of this special moment for this special family. Fabs please stand and help us celebrate the official adoption for the Teague Family!”
Mez ran out of the dug out, picked up his little sister, and together, the family smiled and waved to thousands of fans cheering them on.
In this moment, I stepped away, into the dugout, to let out my own emotions. Stories like this happen every day in foster care. It was pure luck we found one another and were able to celebrate this moment.
A family and a moment I’ll never forget.
If you or someone you know is a foster family and are interested in sharing your story with us, please visit Tell Your Story.
Written by first-hand account of Jolie Chabala, Bananas Foster Program Coordinator