Angels Of Grace

This single mom is responsible for the big family you see here, and cares for hundreds of others as well through her foster care agency

- Lisa Casarez

Angels of grace. That’s what I called the foster family agency that I founded in 2000. Then, 14 years later, in 2014, we caught the attention of the local Rotary Club and I was invited to speak. I was always happy to talk about our work.

Angels of Grace took children out of dangerous environments and found them safe, nurturing places to grow up. We prioritized keeping siblings together and reuniting children with their families or placing kids into permanent homes.

I was up next to speak, after the policeman finished. As I waited to be called to the podium, my mind went back to a night many years before. That night it was me who desperately needed to find a safe place. I sat alone in the busy ER at the county hospital. My body was sore. Broken ribs made it hard to breathe. A split lip filled my mouth with the taste of blood. My face was swollen and bruised. When I caught sight of my reflection, I saw the handprints. The handprints of my husband, the man who’d put me here.

I looked around at the others in the ER. Two sailors in uniform injured in a bar fight. A kid on a bike, hit by a car. An asthma attack. Chest pains. Overdoses. The staff was stretched to the limit. One nurse in particular seemed to be everywhere at once, checking on each person and reassuring them.

“Hi,” she said, coming over to me. “Your name’s Lisa, right? I’m Jena. You’re going to be okay. I’ll be with you as soon as I can.”

I nodded. She’s so smart, competent and strong, I thought. Everything I wasn’t. Everything I could never be. I had people depending on me too: a four-year-old son and twoyear-old daughter. And another baby on the way. How was I going to take care of them on my own?