They weren’t planning to adopt or even foster, but they knew they had to do something — and they most certainly have.
SAN ANTONIO — We met Bill and Kay Weber this past week. They are parents. They are grandparents. But they were also touched by a testimonial they heard at the 2021 spring SJRC gala.
They weren’t planning to adopt or even foster, but they knew they had to do something — and they most certainly have. The Webers were listening to Faith, a now-former foster child, share her story on stage. And that’s when it hit them, Bill especially.
“At one point she was saying that when the other kids go home to their families, she had nowhere to go and she went back to SJRC,” he said. “I leaned over to Kay and said, ‘that is just not right.’”
“Well, it does make me feel like I do belong,” Faith said. “They do support me.”
You could call the Webers essentially adult mentors.
“To have a connection and to have a support system in whatever way you want it to look like,” Kay said.
“It gives me a chance to use my dad skills a little bit that I had kind of put in semi-retirement,” Bill said.
“I think it is important that you find good people that believe in you,” Faith said. “That can help you through the difficult times.”
The Webers have been there for Faith as she’s navigated her earliest adult years, and that guidance has meant everything to her.
“They accept me for who I am,” Faith said. “They have helped guide me when I haven’t had many people giving me great advice. They give me great advice.”
Bill told us he and Kay have been able to watch Faith blossom with each passing day.
“She is a lot more secure, and that makes me feel good,” Bill said. “Just to see her grow in that way.”
“I’d say they feel like family now,” Faith said. “I can always talk to them. I’ve had several issues with my car, and family issues, and I can always talk to them. They always talk me through it. It feels good to have someone in my corner.”
Kay said they have been proud that Faith wasn’t too proud to ask for help and guidance.
“That’s part of why we got into this because we wanted to be a support system,” she said.
“The goal was to leave your campsite better than you found it,” Bill said. “If we are able to help someone, we have been blessed to be a blessing.”
The Webers have been happy to offer Faith whatever they can, whether that’s financial or emotional support.
“To be an adult friend, a resource,” Bill said. “That’s how I see us. Even if she does need that day to come home and say, I just had a bad day at work, I think she knows now that she can pick up the phone, we’re going to answer and we’re going to listen. That’s something anybody can use — a friend who will listen.”
Faith, after aging out of the system, applied for, was accepted to and put herself through the University of Houston, graduating with a degree in math. She now works in the tax industry.