Candie and Lenny…plus three

Young Keon isn’t like other school-aged children; his special medical needs require special care and attention. Fortunately, his CHS foster parents, Candie and Lenny, have hearts full of love, ready to pour attention onto their children. Weighing in at 53 pounds, Keon can crawl a bit, but he can’t walk, and he uses a feeding tube. He’s been Candie and Lenny’s foster child for nearly a decade – they began caring for him when he was only five months old – and they’ve offered such incredible love and nurturing that they’ve even increased his life expectancy.

But Keon’s far from the first special-needs child Lenny and Candie have welcomed into their hearts and home. Foster parents for more than 18 years, they’ve cared for special-needs children for the past 15. And some, says Lenny, you just plain fall in love with.

“They’re wonderful kids with a misfortune that isn’t any fault of their own. They know they could’ve been left someplace,” Lenny says. &ldquoNow they’re home. Now they have a family.”

And while more than 80 children have been part of their family over the years, some have stolen their hearts so much that they adopted them into their forever family.

Like Nikki. And Derek.

The first time Candie held Nikki, she was covered in a head-to-toe body cast, traumatized as a shaken baby.

“She was so tiny, so fragile,” Candie remembers. “She didn’t ask for any of it.” So, as they do with all their children, Candie and Lenny gave her love and nurturing she desperately needed. And, in return, she gave back all the love she had.

“It’s one thing to have a baby; it’s a whole different ballgame to adopt a child,” Candie says. “You choose that child – you already know what you’re getting. You choose to make that commitment, to love her.”

And when Derek found his way into their home, he stole their hearts, too, becoming the second special-needs child they adopted into their forever family.

“Derek is a real handful! The day we stood in front of the judge and said ‘this is our forever child’…I just can’t even explain it – it’s a wonderful feeling!” Lenny says.