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A Home Made by Family: Sharda and Vae’s Kinship Care Journey
Each month, A Second Chance, Inc. (ASCI) amplifies the voices of our kinship families. As an agency committed to establishing safe, secure, and nurturing environments for children entrusted to relatives or close family friends – also known as kinship care – we recognize the importance of learning from the lived experiences of caregivers, birth parents, and children. This month, we had the privilege of speaking with Sharda and Vae, whose journey is a living testament to the power of family, support, and community.
When Sharda first stepped into child welfare work, she never imagined that her professional path would one day become deeply intertwined with her personal life in the most meaningful way. As a former caseworker, she understood the system from the inside. However, nothing prepared her for the moment she would become a kinship caregiver to her nephew, Vae.
I was already caring for him, but I didn’t really have the support I needed. Working in the system helped me understand how to advocate more [for the supports that I needed].
Sharda
What began as an informal family arrangement slowly grew into a lifelong commitment. Sharda stepped in to support Vae during a time of transition in his life, initially expecting it to be temporary. As time passed, what emerged was something deeper than a placement. It became home.
For Vae, his early years were shaped by movement, adjustment, and learning to navigate change. But what remained constant was the presence of family who showed up for him in different ways, especially his aunt.
I feel like family is people that are going to be there during hard times, not just blood but people who support you and want better for your future.
Vae
That belief became real through lived experience. Even before formal systems became involved, kin stepped in simply because it was needed. Schooling, stability, and encouragement were provided not through paperwork, but through presence, love, and responsibility.
Once ASCI became involved, that family foundation was strengthened through immediate kinship stabilization support, including guidance for caregivers navigating court involvement, connection to essential resources, and consistent check-ins to ensure the placement remained stable and supported.
As Sharda reflected on her journey, she shared how her understanding of family deepened through caregiving. What once felt like professional knowledge became personal truth.
Family means everything. I would rather him be with me than with a stranger. You don’t give up on your child.
Sharda
Her decision to step fully into caregiving was not easy. It came with emotional weight, uncertainty, and responsibility. However, it was also grounded in purpose ensuring her nephew did not experience instability or disconnection when family was available and willing to step in.
Through ASCI, Sharda found both structure and support in navigating the child welfare system. ASCI played an active role in helping her understand requirements, prepare for court processes, and access immediate resources to stabilize the home environment.
The approach focused not only on compliance, but on keeping the kinship placement intact and supported from the beginning. From court advocacy to everyday case support, she describes ASCI as a network that felt less like an institution and more like an extension of family.
“They (ASCI) really advocated for us. It didn’t feel like we were in the system. It felt like we were being supported by people who cared.”
Sharda
ASCI remained engaged throughout the entirety of their six-year journey, providing ongoing check-ins and ensuring that Sharda had access to resources as needs evolved over time. Our support helped reduce uncertainty during key decision points, including permanency planning and adoption proceedings.
That support extended beyond formal processes. It showed up in moments that mattered like school challenges, court hearings, financial strain, and ultimately, the long journey toward permanency. After six years, Sharda’s adoption of Vae was finalized. She describes this moment as life-changing.
When the adoption was finalized, I finally felt like I could breathe. Like, this is my child and no one can take him from me.
Sharda
For Vae, the experience of care is one he now reflects on with clarity and gratitude. What once felt uncertain has become the foundation for who he is today.
Over time, stability and consistent support helped him find his footing, giving him a sense of direction during moments of change.
Looking back, he recognizes how those experiences shaped his character, discipline, and the way he approaches life moving forward.
It’s something you can rely on consistently. That’s what stability means to me. I feel like everything happened how it was meant to happen and it shaped me into who I am.
Vae
As he grew older, Vae began to recognize the quiet ways support showed up in his life through caregivers, family members, and even workers who checked in, encouraged him, and expected more for his future.
At the time I didn’t see it, but looking back, they really supported me. They were always there in ways I didn’t fully understand then, pushing me, checking on me, making sure I stayed on track. I appreciate it a lot more now because it helped me become who I am today.
Vae
That sense of support helped shape his discipline, mindset, and outlook on life. Today, he describes himself as adaptable, grounded, and intentional about his future.
He carries those lessons into how he makes decisions, how he handles challenges, and how he continues to push forward even when things get difficult.
Looking back, he recognizes that the structure and encouragement he received didn’t just support him in the moment. It helped him build a foundation for adulthood, giving him confidence in who he is and who he is still becoming.
I don’t take things for granted. I appreciate whatever comes my way. I just try to stay focused and make the most out of every opportunity I have.
Vae
Sharda also reflects on how far they’ve come not only as a family, but as individuals strengthened by perseverance and care. She openly acknowledges the challenges they faced, including navigating health coverage, financial strain, uncertainty in court proceedings, and the extended path toward adoption. At the same time, she emphasizes the resilience that helped them move through each obstacle together. Her journey naturally leads into a message for other caregivers who may face similar moments of uncertainty, offering perspective shaped by experience and endurance.
Don’t give up. At the end of the day, it’s about the child. It may feel long and uncertain, but you must keep going.
Sharda
Their story is also a reminder of what kinship care makes possible when supported well. ASCI works to quickly stabilize kinship placements, reduce placement disruption, and ensure caregivers receive immediate and ongoing support so children can remain safely connected to family. In Sharda and Vae’s journey, ASCI served as both a stabilizing partner and an active support by helping the family navigate court systems, respond to home assessment concerns, secure resources, and maintain placement continuity during critical decision points in the case.
Vae’s journey reflects that stability in action – not being moved from home to home but remaining within a consistent family environment where he could grow, learn, and thrive.
Looking back, both Sharda and Vae describe a shared sense of gratitude for people who showed up within it. Family members and ASCI workers both played a role in shaping a pathway forward.
For Sharda, that includes a broader reflection on what kinship care represents. After years of navigating the system both personally and professionally, she sees kinship care as something much deeper than a system response or placement option.
In her view, it is an act of commitment rooted in love, responsibility, and the decision to show up when it matters most. Her experience has reshaped how she understands family, not as something passive or assumed, but as something actively sustained through care, sacrifice, and presence.
It’s not just placement. It’s family stepping in to protect family.
Sharda
Vae’s perspective is just as powerful. What stands out most to him now is not just what he went through, but who stood beside him through it. His message carries both gratitude and forward focus, recognizing the people who supported him while also emphasizing how those experiences can shape strength and direction for the future.
That reflection naturally extends into advice he offers other young people who may be in care or navigating similar transitions, grounded in what he has learned along his own journey.
Be grateful. Appreciate the people who support you. Use your experience as motivation to move forward.
Vae
Their journey is one of resilience, connection, and becoming. It reflects the quiet strength found in families who step in for one another, even when the path is difficult and the outcome uncertain. It is a reminder that when family is supported, children are not just placed, but they are held, guided, and given space to grow into themselves with stability and care.
In the end, their story brings everything back to what kinship care makes possible: not just continuity during crisis, but transformation through love. It is where uncertainty is met with commitment, where support becomes structure, and where family is not defined by circumstance but by choice, presence, and perseverance. A Second Chance, Inc. stands in that space, helping families like Sharda and Vae stay connected, supported, and whole so that a second chance becomes not just possible, but becomes a lasting home built through care, sustained by connection, and rooted in forever.