{"id":277414,"date":"2026-05-20T00:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T00:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/277414\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T00:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T00:30:08","slug":"florida-family-opens-their-hearts-and-home-to-more-than-30-foster-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/277414\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Family Opens Their Hearts and Home to More Than 30 Foster Children"},"content":{"rendered":"

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 As Foster Care Awareness Month<\/a> shines a spotlight on the urgent need for loving homes, one South Florida family is sharing how a simple desire to help children in need turned into a lifelong mission of love.<\/p>\n

Anna and Jacob Nelson never imagined just how many lives they would impact when they first considered becoming foster parents. So far, the couple has welcomed more than 30 children into their home and officially adopted their daughter, Lily.<\/p>\n

Anna, a nurse, said her experiences caring for babies born into addiction and substance abuse first inspired her to consider fostering.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a lot of children born into addiction and substance abuse, and that always tugged at my heart,\u201d Anna said.<\/p>\n

The inspiration continued through their church community, where the couple saw firsthand the growing need for foster families. But the decision was not theirs alone. Their children also embraced the idea from the very beginning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I heard the words \u2018kids left alone,\u2019 we had an extra room and I was like, \u2018Let\u2019s bring one in,\u2019\u201d said Levi, the Nelsons\u2019 son.<\/p>\n

See also: New technology aims to speed foster care placements during National Foster Care Month<\/a><\/p>\n

Since opening their doors, the Nelson family says the journey has been rewarding, emotional and sometimes challenging \u2014 but always worthwhile.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a wild ride,\u201d Jacob said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of fun and difficult at times, but we wouldn\u2019t change it for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Lily, finding her forever family has meant finding love, kindness and stability.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like that they care for me and they\u2019re kind and they love me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Nelsons say one of the biggest misconceptions about fostering is fear of the unknown.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re just like any other kid,\u201d Jacob said. \u201cThey show up, they\u2019re more nervous than you\u2019re going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faith has also played a major role in helping the family navigate the ups and downs of fostering and adoption.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s awesome to welcome children that the Lord has blessed us with,\u201d Anna said. \u201cEvery day we wake up with enough peace and joy that only He can give us. We wake up with enough patience because you need a lot of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their daughter Lanie agrees that life in a large foster and adoptive family has been a blessing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so fun to have a big family,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Nelsons also want people to know there are many ways to support foster families, even for those who may not be ready to foster themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you know a family, ask them, \u2018Hey, do you have a list? Do you have something I can provide for?\u2019\u201d Anna said.<\/p>\n

Supporters often help by purchasing needed items such as backpacks and shoes through online wish lists or by providing meals for families caring for foster children.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re blessed to know that almost every Monday night there\u2019s a meal provider for our family,\u201d Jacob said.<\/p>\n

To learn more about helping children and teens in foster care, visit ForeverFamily.org.<\/p>\n

Kogan & DiSalvo Personal Injury Law<\/a> sponored our forever families of the week. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 As Foster Care Awareness Month shines a spotlight on the urgent need…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-277414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}