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When Nicole Baker signed on as a foster parent, she didn’t know exactly what to expect. “I knew there were a lot of children in need of a home, love, and guidance,” she recalls. “And I had plenty of love to give.”
Her first placement came in 2020, during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. The teenage boy who entered her home had already experienced multiple moves. He was navigating puberty, remote learning challenges and the grief of losing a loved one. “When I first began foster care, I had no clue what to expect,” Baker recalled. “But I quickly learned you’re not alone. There’s a whole team to support you.”
That team came from Hillside, whose training, support and guidance made a critical difference. “The staff at Hillside is like family. They are there and ready to assist you with anything you may need,” she said. “It truly is an example of the statement, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’”
Thanks to Hillside staff providing her with ongoing training and 24-hour on-call services, Baker felt equipped to face the inevitable challenges.
By keeping faith at the center and leaning on one another, her family persevered. “We kept God first and stuck together as a family does,” she said.
Her first foster placement, now 20 years old, chooses to be known as J—and his identity also includes being Baker’s adopted son. Foster parenting can take many different paths, but Baker felt a connection to J that could lead to adoption—and she was delighted to learn he felt the same.
“When J was placed in my home, I knew if there was an opportunity to adopt him, and if he wanted it, there would be no ifs, ands or buts about it,” she said. Though she once imagined he might choose independence as he headed into adulthood and looked toward college, she was humbled when he chose permanency as a full-time member of her family.
“I was not only surprised, but honored when he asked me to adopt him,” she says.
Today, Baker’s home includes her biological son, Myshawn, and Lorenzo, a foster youth she is in the process of adopting. This is proof that for Baker, love makes a family.