Hidalgo County helps find nine children forever homes, Laredo family shares experience
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Six Valley families are a little more whole, nine children were adopted Monday with only a few days left for Thanksgiving Day.
Carmen Mendoza and her husband are going back to Laredo with an extra family member. The couple struggled to have children of their own, so they fostered a one-month-old baby named Eliana.
"I've never felt like she's been a foster child," Mendoza said. "It has always been, she's been mine."
Eliana became a forever member of their family. She was just one of the nine kids who were adopted just in time for the holidays.
When child protective services reached out to Mendoza, they told her Eliana would need more care. She is special needs, and through her life will need to undergo several surgeries, but her new mom only heard one thing.
"When I heard her story, I told our agency worker that my home was open for her," Mendoza said. "She was just a baby, and she needed love."
According to data from CPS, there are 77 foster children in the Valley who need homes. Twelve fewer children than last year, but still a high number.
"We are still in need of foster and adoptive homes here in the Valley, cause a lot of our kids are great, they are wonderful and want to be adopted, but want to stay close to the community," Texas State CPS Adoption Supervisor Alexandra Hernandez said.
Every month, Cameron and Willacy Counties host a free no commitment meeting for the community to learn more about the process of becoming a foster or adoptive parent.
"I think it's the best thing you can do," Mendoza said. "You really are changing a child's life."
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