In a previous blog I've told the story of my sister's work on the North Shore, Vancouver, Canada with babies and mothers who desperately need love and care.
Here in her own words she explains the background to Spectrum, the charity that has acceptance and respect for all of us being different at it's heart.
"Through my experiences as a foster mother I purposely
built relationships with the mothers of babies in my care. Their stories broke my heart, broken
childhood and families, drug and alcohol dependency, mental and physical health
issues, financial stress and the agony of having a child removed. The mothers
love their babies but in some cases life circumstances are just too
overwhelming and they are no longer able to care for their children.
So I began to wonder how different these mothers
stories would be had they received support and encouragement earlier.... when
they needed it most... before the baby was born, during labor and delivery, in
the early weeks of parenting, when post partum depression hit, when financial
stress became too much, when they were planning to leave an abusive
relationship.... before hope was lost."
Sally soon realised that what they needed was
someone to spend time with them in the home and for someone to spend time with
their children so they could invest in self care. So Spectrum was formed and she began to recruit
trained and experienced caregivers and mentors to support these mothers along
with a doula to work with mothers prenatally.
"We will love you to be the best you can be"
This could well be the motto for Spectrum, in fact these are Devon's own words, Sally's adorable daughter who helps nurture the foster babies in their family, giving cuddles and telling them: "we will love you to be the best you can be".
Love, hope and a dream in the heart ...
with strong and fearless determination to make a difference.
You can read more about Spectrum on their website: http://spectrummothers.ca/ .
I'm so blessed that I am travelling out to see my sister and her family in Vancouver this week, and this pendant will be sold to support their work.
