North Homes In Bemidji Holds Open House For Find Foster Families Day

Since 1998, North Homes has successfully provided adoption services for children from birth to age 17, under state or tribal guardianship.

Kim Anderson, Director of Foster and Adoptive Care, states, “North Homes has a full continuum of a care for families and that’s what we strive for. We want to make sure that kids have homes, safe homes, loving homes, and in order to do that we feel that we really need to support our foster and adoptive parents because without them, where we would have these children go?”

North Homes Children and Family Services is licensed by the Minnesota Department of Human Services as a resource for foster care. The service provides children the appropriate setting to address their needs.

“Across our agency, Horth Homes has foster care and adoption. We have 150 homes and 138 kids in care right now and they’re located anywhere from the [Twin] Cities all the way up north,” said Anderson.

As a public private adoptive initiative agency, North Homes focuses on the placement of children 12 and older. As of right now, 820 children are in need of an adoptive home. That’s 820 innocent lives that need to be cared for, loved and protected.

Brenda Hensley, who was awarded the foster care and provider for the year for the state of Minnesota, started her journey as a foster parent because she didn’t have children, and being a foster parent is one way she could give back.

“My case worker actually nominated me and I didn’t know nothing of it until she pulled me in the office last week and told me. I was rather surprised, ‘why me?’ When there’s so many more.” said Hensley.

Hensley has housed over 50 youth in the last 13 years. She does her best to stay in contact with her kids by building a connection with them, even after they leave her care.

“A kid comes, we take a lot of pictures. I always send a memory book with them, a blanket and try to stay in contact,” said Hensley.

Today’s open house allowed the community to come in and ask questions they might have about the foster or adoption process. North Homes focuses on making sure you have all of the resources and answers you’ll need in order to help a foster child.