LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN/Gray News) – A Nebraska couple with a passion for adoption and fostering have raised eight kids under their roof and recently added four more, giving them a home and “a chance at life.”
Parents Chuck and Brooke Horton say they’ve been fostering and adopting for years, raising eight kids under their roof. They officially added four more Saturday with the approval of Judge Roger Heideman, KOLN reports.
Brooke Horton says she grew up working with the foster system.
“My family did foster care, and we adopted my little sister,” she said. “From then, it’s just been a passion for me to help out these kids.”
The couple say it’s no small feat to take care of so many, but it helps to have older siblings who invite the new kids into their home.
“At first, it’s a little rough ‘cause it’s a transition,” Chuck Horton said. “Down the road, they’re thankful that they get a home and they get safety and get a chance at life.”
A total of 15 kids were adopted, as well as one guardianship, to seven different families as part of National Adoption Day on Saturday at the Lancaster County Courthouse.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services organized the event, which has been going on for 25 years now.
The Hortons have been part of two adoption days in the last eight years, so the event is a particularly special time for the family.
“It shows them that they’re important and that this is a big day in their lives,” Chuck Horton said. “It’s a chance to have a brand new beginning.”
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there are more than 400,000 children in foster care, with more than 100,000 of those kids waiting to be adopted into a permanent home.
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