FOSTERING A FAMILY

Next time you’re griping about all the commotion involved in putting your kids to bed, think of Thelma Boston. She raised eight children of her own while working as a cook in an Oak Cliff school to help make ends meet. When her last child left home, her husband (who was killed two years later in a service station robbery) said he wanted her to quit her job and relax; he could support her. She says she soon became bored without the sound of children around. She knew there was a great void in foster parenting and she decided to help fill it. Now, she’s a foster mother to 15 severely handicapped children.

Thelma goes through the list of her foster children mat-ter-of-factly. First, there’s Frank. He was an abused child who spent long periods of his early life tied to a chair. She was told that he was so severely retarded that he couldn’t learn to use crutches. Now Frank walks with crutches and gets himself to and from the city bus. And there’s Chris. He has cerebral palsy and is hyperactive. Then there’s 12-year-old Joe, who is emotionally disturbed. He stabbed his former foster mother 16 times and constantly beat on other children and broke things. Since he’s been with Thelma (one year now), he’s broken one window. And the list of children goes on.

Thelma says there’s no secret to her care. She simply makes a home for her “children.” Each night, all 16 of them gather around the dinner table and eat together as a family.

Funding for the home comes from private donations, with a little help from the children’s welfare checks. But four of the children are older than 18 and no longer receive welfare. But that doesn’t bother Thelma -she’s adopted all four.