Fanita Grubbs Wins the 2021 Vivienne Campbell Award
In Massachusetts alone, there are around 10,000 youth in foster care. These youth need the support of safe, consistent adults who will protect and nurture them during a time of great uncertainty in their lives. In foster care, children can feel as though they’re searching for a place to call home, a place to belong. Foster families answer this call by opening their homes and hearts to care for the most vulnerable children in our state. Foster families are ordinary families who chose to do something extraordinary. Most of their days are messy, beautiful and heart-breaking, full of joy, laughter and tears. Good foster parents love not only the children they care for, but also the families those children come from. Cambridge Family and Children’s Service is honored to work alongside some incredible foster families.
Each year, CFCS recognizes a foster parent for their exemplary dedication and devotion as a caregiver with the Vivienne Campbell Award. Winners of the Vivienne Campbell Award go above and beyond for every youth who stays with them while in foster care. They make youth in foster care feel welcomed, supported and good about themselves. Their foster homes are consistently stable, nurturing environments for the youth they care for. This year, the award goes to Fanita Grubbs, who has been a foster mother with CFCS for 10 years!
On several occasions, Fanita has opened her home to the siblings of youth in her care, sometimes with very little notice. Whenever possible, she gives siblings in foster care time and space to be together in a stable, supportive environment. Fanita is committed to showing up for the youth she fosters and being an active part of their and their family’s lives whenever appropriate.
Fanita is always open to collaborating with the IFC social worker on ways to engage the youth in her home in activities. Whether it’s after school programming at the YMCA, weekend basketball clinics or Siblings Connection Summer Camp, Fanita is an advocate for the children in her home having meaningful experiences.
It’s hard to choose just one moment when Fanita went “above and beyond” for a youth. She has impacted so many children in her 10 years as a foster parent. In the last 10 years, she has provided a home to over 15 youth in foster care. Some stays have lasted just a few weeks or months before a youth reunified with parents or was adopted, but some are going on 3 years! The children in Fanita’s home not only feel safe in her care but they also feel deeply connected to Fanita and her family.
Our Intensive Foster Care team was excited to present Fanita with her award at their Foster Parent Appreciation picnic (held outside and socially distanced) earlier this month. Working with Fanita these past 10 years has been a joy, and we hope to continue working with her for a long time! She is well-deserving of this award. Congratulations, Fanita!