Feel good story....
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D88700CG0.htmlRob Rodriguez's hands are full, but his heart, and his house, have extra room. The 36-year-old single father cares for his adopted son and two foster children while working a full-time job and running a non-profit agency.
Amid the recent attention to Child Protective Services in Texas, including alleged abuse in some foster care group homes, the stories about foster parents like Rodriguez sometimes aren't told. But these foster parents provide loving homes for abused and neglected children, along with a sense of security and stability. "Although it's extremely challenging, it's extremely rewarding, and that's what I want people to understand," Rodriguez said.
The $40 a day he gets from the state to care for the two children is helpful, he said, because his bills increase with each additional toilet flush or extra shower. Rodriguez makes $12,000 a year as a physical education assistant, but says he also earns extra money through his nonprofit, ECafe, which stands for Empowering Children and Families Everywhere, and by teaching parenting classes for Child Protective Services
Rodriguez doesn't pretend that being a foster and adoptive parent is easy. He admits the children he's cared for have threatened suicide, thrown rocks at his car and broken things in the house. But after a few months, the children adjusted to their new home, and began to make remarkable breakthroughs, he said. Rodriguez recalled the first time one of his foster children told him he loved him.
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