Children need abiding love!<\/p>\n
My friend Andy Palmer understands this now more than ever. For decades he was considered among the world\u2019s top orthopedic hand surgeons and the world\u2019s finest when it came to certain types of wrist surgeries. It was a reputation well earned, operating on high government officials in Japan, China, South America, top White House officials, along with professional football, baseball, tennis, golf, and hockey players.<\/p>\n
Now retired on Outer Cape Cod with his wife Sharon, Palmer has lectured around the world, published about 150 medical articles, numerous chapters in medical books, served as interim chair of the department of orthopedic surgery, and was President of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, among others.<\/p>\n
In retirement<\/a>, Palmer, 80, embraced another hands-on calling that he never saw coming\u2014foster care<\/a>. His wife, a former preschool teacher and health care worker, was instrumental in this new direction. She always had a heart for children in need, and early on assisted with childcare at her church.<\/p>\n \u201cSharon asked me one day if I would agree to foster care,\u201d Palmer recalls. \u201cI knew in my heart that it was the right thing. The need for foster care is boundless. And so I agreed. We felt this was what God wanted us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n And with good reason\u2014Cape Cod is a microcosm of a national and worldwide crisis, a bellwether in this dreadful storm.<\/p>\n In recent years nationally, \u201ca staggering 2.5 million children\u201d have been identified as homeless, according to the National Center on Family Homelessness<\/a>. \u201cThis historic high represents one in every 30 children in the United States\u201d\u2014identified as sleeping<\/a> in cars, a tent, or on the street.<\/p>\n And that doesn\u2019t include infants or young children in homes that cannot care for them. Nor does it include distressing worldwide statistics.<\/p>\n The Palmers became foster care parents in 2017 after detailed foster care training and licensing, and over the years have fostered 30 children awaiting reunification or adoption.<\/p>\n Foster care can be at times a black hole for adoptions. \u201cIt opened our eyes to the enormity of foster care needs. It is staggering,\u201d says Sharon, noting that needy infant children, even before they can speak, discern intense trauma<\/a> in their lives.<\/p>\n The numbers are numbing. The foster care system in the U.S. is in a state of crisis in terms of fulfilling needs. According to the Department of Education<\/a>, approximately 400,000 children and youth are now in foster care<\/a>.<\/p>\n For every 100 children entering foster care, only 57 licensed foster homes are now available nationwide, states the Administration for Children and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services, noting \u201cthis critical shortage means children spending nights in office buildings, teenagers<\/a> shuttled between hotels, and siblings separated not for safety but for lack of space.\u201d<\/p>\n The foster care system, experts say, is designed to be temporary, providing a safe environment while families stabilize and work toward reunification, or, when not possible, other options, such as adoption, are sought. But in practice, many children remain in foster care for years in need of great love.<\/p>\n Palmer reinforces that such children desperately need love; in essence, as ancient Roman poet Virgil wrote, love conquers all: “Amor vincit omnia.”<\/p>\n \u201cFoster children come blameless into the system,\u201d Palmer adds. \u201cThey often enter with deplorable belongings or a trash bag containing just random clothing items and spoiled food from a refrigerator that most would consider trash. Children understandably are upset at dramatic change in their lives when they enter the foster care system through no fault of their own. The first few weeks of a new placement can be stressful<\/a>, as everyone tries to learn and adjust to new schedules and personalities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s heartbreaking to witness,\u201d says Sharon.<\/p>\n But often good can come out of bad.<\/p>\n Over time, Palmer and his wife discerned another critical foster care need, which then became their focus\u2014the creation in 2021 of the nonprofit Cape Cod Foster Closet<\/a> to provide donated clothing, diapers, food, baby equipment, toiletries and other critical necessities to improve the lives of children in foster care on Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha\u2019s Vineyard. The nonprofit also encourages families to continue fostering and recruits more families to consider becoming licensed foster parents.<\/p>\n Foster care parents, often on short notice, need to provide much, says Palmer. The foster closet offers much and provides a new duffel bag or backpack for every child so they never have to carry their belongings in a trash bag again.<\/p>\n Recently, Palmer and his wife were recipients of the Human Rights Award, a national award that recognizes \u201cindividuals and organizations doing extraordinary work in their communities on behalf of the least among us.\u201d<\/p>\n