Everyday after school I would get off the bus in the warm Orange County heat and walk to my aunts house. A small bungalow shoved tight with 3 awnry boys, my bother, myself and 3 or more foster children under the age of 3. I would stay with them until my mom got off work and help out with the little ones. Most of these children were drug babies which meant that from the very start these children were already going to have a tougher life than everyone else. Nightmares, drug withdrawals and brain damage...it was all right there for me...that question of why them? Ever since I was a little girl I have had a heart for foster children. I have heard the statistics a million times and the thoughts on the failure rate of those children who are forced from one home to the next and never thought it was fair. I always had a hard time understanding how I got such a great life. Why do I have fantastic parents who love and care for me and some children can't even find a person to care for them? It has always been a tough questions for me. Always.
So about a year ago I decided that I would try and make a change in the lives of foster children. I started to pray about how I can help and after a while a very bright light bulb lit up in my head or maybe it was my head...I can never tell. Why couldn't there be a community where every family that lives there is a foster family. Parents who choose to live within a community with the sole purpose of being a foster parent with hopes of perminent adoption. A place that guarantees that the children in their care will no longer be exposed to bad environments and will be instilled with new hope and a fresh start. The community could live as one large family and care for each other and fit the needs of one another as brothers and sisters of the community. After months of praying about this concept I found a charity that is already doing that exact same thing. I guess the idea wasn't so dumb after all. In the heart of downtown there is a village that is currently being built. As soon as I found this charity Bridge Meadows I wanted to do whatever I could do to help. We found out that they were having an auction to raise money and so we volunteered the one thing that seem to fit. Our photography services. I plan to continue to look into building a second village at some point if that is where God leads me, until then I just want to get the word out about this amazing charity. It's incredible what people are doing to make a difference in children's lives.

The community had to raise over $11 million to begin building. They have since raised the full amount thanks to the 1,000s who donated.



Large local charity organizations donations like the Amy Roloff Foundation were present to give their greatest support for the cause.





I loved this. This couple had been planning on getting married and just hadn't set a date yet. They threw up their hands with gusto to win that trip to Sicily thinking that they would just get married there...if they won. And they did.



To find out more about Bridge Meadows please visit their SITE. They are always looking for volunteers, donations, and words of encouragement.