The 2000s brought us Facebook, iPods and GPS along with a litany of other technology we continue to use today. It also brought us canceled television shows, discontinued sodas and failed football leagues. But throughout the ever changing landscape of the new millennium, Foster and Adoptive Family Services (FAFS) continued on.
Here are 5 things that came and went in the 2000s while FAFS continued on. Continue reading
We listened to grunge. We wore plaid. We collected Beanie Babies. We loved the ‘90s, and we never wanted them to end – especially since it meant that Y2K was coming!
As we celebrate 40 years of supporting foster, adoptive and kinship families in NJ, we look back through the decades at fads we’ve seen come and go. How many of these fads from the ‘90s do you remember? Continue reading
Forty-years is a long time. Four decades, full of their own fads, their own entertainment and their own technology have come and gone. Some of these things are remembered as a novelty, others are long forgotten.
But Foster and Adoptive Family Services, which was founded in 1974, continued to grow and provide support, training and advocacy to meet the special needs of foster, adoptive and kinship families in New Jersey before and after these popular ‘80s fads bit the dust.
Here are 5 things that came and went in the 1980s while FAFS continued on. Continue reading
A lot has changed over the last four decades. The price of milk was around $1.57 per gallon and a dozen eggs were about $0.78. How about only paying $.53 per gallon for gas? With the increase of Sport Utility Vehicles on the road, super low gas prices may be appreciated today more than before. With the ever-changing trends in society, what existed forty years ago can seem like ancient times – although it wasn’t as long ago as it may seem. Here is a quick look back at five things from 1974 that are no longer around. Continue reading
She had never done this before, but that fact wasn’t going to stop her.
Sue Dondiego, our foster care organization’s founder and a stay-at-home foster mom, stood before legislators at the State House in Trenton in the 1970s, fighting for foster children’s rights.
“It was scary,” Dondiego said. “I was nervous as heck.”
She was there to fight for increased board rates. At the time, the monthly clothing allowance for a child in foster care was about equal to one-third of the price of a new children’s coat.
She had the text of her speech all written out beforehand. After watching others give testimony before her, she realized that many of the speakers would use slashes in the text as places where they would breathe in order to slow down and be more effective.
She did the same.
“It’s cold outside,” Dondiego told the legislators. “What part of the coat would you like me to buy the child this month? The right sleeve? The left sleeve? The buttons?”
Dondiego read her testimony and quickly left. As she was walking out, she heard two voices yelling at her to come back.
They were Assemblywomen Mildred Barry Garvin and Jane Burgio, who would eventually become Secretary of State under Gov. Thomas Kean.
“They said to me where is it in the budget?” Dondiego said. “They showed me, this is the department’s budget, this is where we could put it. And they said you start now for next year. They really taught me.”
It was a lesson Dondiego would use often throughout her life fighting for foster children’s rights.
Her passionate testimony resulted in a 26 percent increase in board rates that year. She attended the appropriations committee meeting where the increase was passed.
“I stood up and asked them if I was allowed to say thank you,” Dondiego said. “They said no, but you’re welcome.”
It was one of the first victories Dondiego and Foster and Adoptive Family Services would have in the name of foster children and their resource parents.
“It felt good,” Dondiego said. “We’re getting things done.”
The victory emboldened Dondiego to continue fighting for foster children’s rights.
“Then I never shut up,” Dondiego said. “I got nervier. One year, I looked up the definition of child abuse and read it out loud. Then I looked at them and told them they were all guilty.”
She was a long way from the quiet young girl that the nuns in her Catholic school would often have to plead with to speak up during class, she said.
“If they could see me now,” Dondiego said.
She’d continue to testify in Trenton, always fighting for foster children and resource parents. Many times these sessions would go late into the night while her husband Bernie was home in Middlesex watching their children.
“He was the silent support structure,” Dondiego said. “He’s also a great cook. He’d have supper ready for me when I got back.”