Lenny and Candie ... plus three
Keon isn’t like other school-aged children; his serious health and developmental challenges require someone to provide him with special care and attention. Fortunately, his foster parents, Lenny and Candie, have hearts full of love, ready to pour attention onto their children.
“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. “Now they’re home. Now they have a family.”
But Lenny and Candie couldn’t have made it through their journey as foster parents without the incredible support of Children's Home Society of Florida staff, Candie says.
“They care about the kids, about the foster parents. They are phenomenal,” she says. “They’d do anything to help.”
Lenny echoes her gratitude. “They don’t work nine to five. If you call at five with a problem, they’ll work all night until they find an answer,” he says.
And while more than 80 children have been part of their family over the years, some have stolen their hearts so much that they’ve adopted them into their own 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.
Lenny and Candie gave her love and nurturing she desperately needed. 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 choose to make that commitment, to love her.”
“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.
Get to know some of our other wonderful forever families
Pat and Kari ... plus seven
Ron and Violet ... plus seven
Bruce and Kathie ... plus three
Annette ... plus four
Henry and Melanie ... plus three
Allan and Laura ... plus three
Lenny and Candie ... plus three
Janet ... plus one
Daralyn ... plus seven
Lisa and Todd ... plus seven