We are sharing a glimpse into the experiences of some of the incredible members of our Lutheran Care Foster Care Village, as part of Foster and Kinship Carer Week.
For Angela Nothnagel, caring for children has always been part of who she is.
She grew up in a big family which always welcomed others into their home – making space for people who needed a home or family. When she was five years old, Angela’s family began fostering, and she received two more big sisters. It was always on her heart to have a family one day and to be foster carer.
“Caring for children is just in my very being of how I am. I think I was just born loving caring for other people.”
After working as a babysitter, childcare worker and teacher, Angela is now a proud mum to three boys. After having her first biological child, she and her husband decided to explore becoming foster carers.
They attended a Lutheran Care information night and began the process of becoming a foster family.
“There was no pressure to have to become foster carers overnight. It was a gradual process and we wanted to commit but also explore it one step at a time.”
After completing their training, the family took on a foster son, then aged five months old. They also provided emergency and respite care in support of other families in Lutheran Care’s Foster Care Village. Their second long-term son came to them as an emergency placement when he was aged just over one.
“Often is the case you fall in love with your children and he ended up staying and growing on us every day, became part of our family very quickly.”
Angela is now registered as a specialist foster carer, which means she has access to additional training, support and financial assistance to help meet the needs of the children in her care. She says this support has made it possible for her to focus fully on her family.
“You actually get a lot more support and a lot more training and just overall it just makes your life a heck of a lot easier when you can have better support to help these kids that have got a lot of needs.”
For Angela, this year’s Foster and Kinship Carer Week theme, Creating Brighter Futures Through Care, captures why people open their homes to children in care.
“We believe that children deserve a brighter future and want to create positive change.”
One of the most meaningful parts of Angela’s foster care journey has been developing relationships with the biological families of the children in her care.
She recalls sharing a diagnostic report about one child’s disability with his biological Mum, who became emotional as she reflected on her own childhood.
“She explained, ‘It’s like looking into a mirror back when I was a child and had the same struggles but no one ever helped me to try to figure it out or support me. I just thought I was dumb and naughty. But you are helping him’.”
For Angela, moments like this demonstrate how foster carers can contribute to change that reaches beyond the child themselves.
“I believe carers can be the catalyst for change.”
Angela says supporting children to maintain connections with their families is also vital to their sense of identity and self-worth.
“We have a rule ‘leave the bad stuff at the door’. When talking about our children’s family we focus on the positive aspects and celebrate the connections they have.”
Over time, Angela says their families have become connected in their own way.
“We have become one patchwork family and always connected one way or another which is so good.”
And when foster care gets challenging, Angela says she knows she isn’t doing it alone.
“One thing that separates Lutheran Care from maybe some other agencies in other communities for us has been the experience of being part of this Village or Community where people are genuinely banding together to raise all these children and it’s just brilliant.”
Sometimes that support is as simple as flowers from another carer’s garden or a casserole on a difficult day.
“I think those things are just priceless.”
Angela encourages anyone considering foster care to simply start with a conversation.
“I’ve never regretted it. I’m so thankful and I’m so blessed for my children that are in our care.”
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