The Wallace Family
Randy and DeannaMarie Wallace began foster parenting in 1979 when their birth sons were ages one and five. Since then, they have opened their home to over 100 children and young ladies and have adopted nine children.
“In the beginning, most of our foster children were teen girls but we were also blessed to have Jon and Brian come live with us too. One day during a routine visit with their birth mother, they slipped away from their social worker. The boys brought their birth mom straight to our house and as they walked across the yard they said to me ‘Mom, mom! We want you to meet our mom!’ This began our relationship with [their birth mom]. She became part of our family as well. When the state of Washington Child Welfare System decided that it was necessary to terminate [her] parental rights, she asked if we would adopt her boys. The Wallace family and Jon and Brian’s birth family have become one.”
“We attempted to adopt again several times but it wasn’t until Josiah was 13 years old when it finally happened the second time.” The Wallace family served as missionaries in Japan for seven years where they helped establish a crisis pregnancy counseling ministry and an international adoption ministry. “Our time in Japan was fruitful and we are thrilled that we got to adopt 3 girls while we were there.”
“In Hawaii we became foster parents as quickly as we could. We had missed foster parenting during our years in Japan. Hawaii Child Welfare Services asked us to provide foster care for Thomas and help find him an adoptive home. Six months later we learned that Thomas’ sister needed a home as well. One of their previous foster homes planned to adopt the younger siblings and promised that they would keep the children connected. Not much later Thomas and his sister Ku’uipo asked us if we would adopt them. Their ability to express their pain/anger and try to push our love, along with their inability to trust made it obvious that Thomas and Ku’uipo didn’t need yet another home, they needed our home. October 2005 their adoption finalized and our quiver became FULL.”
“Each child that has joined our family brought with them an array of cultural traditions, personality traits, and extended family that has helped create who we are. Our family eats a very wide range of food from typical American to Asian and Hawaiian. We often have special celebration meals and tea parties too.”
“Over the years, some of the support that we received came from our parents. They are wonderful grandparents who accept these children and love them just as they do their blood grandchildren. We also receive support from other foster/adoptive parents and church friends. Over the years our family has learned much about adoption and the life changing effects adoption can have. Our prayer now is that we can help find families to adopt other foster children who are waiting for a family.”
“We have experienced home studies and training through both public and private agencies. We had to search high and low for the training that really helped us learn how to live with our children. The children came with and still have some very challenging behaviors. We didn’t give up and we did find the training we needed. We now teach it to other families. During these trainings, our five youngest children who still live at home join the prospective adoptive parents’ children for activities that help develop sibling relationships.”
Since 1997, the Wallaces have lived in Hawaii, where they established HOPE INC, a faith-based, licensed, non-profit foster care adoption agency. HOPE INC recruits, trains and provides support for families who choose to adopt children from the Hawaii foster care system.