A short Courage Night award segment (Torch Award) in which Chris Roberts nominates Rose Baker and Rose responds. Rose describes 29 years as a foster parent in Humboldt County, having cared for 404 children, and her large extended family (107 grandchildren, preparing for her 13th great-grandchild). She explains her inspiration: her late son Glenn (diagnosed with cancer at 17, died at 19) encouraged her to continue her dream of caring for children. Rose frames foster children as belonging to the whole community.
Questions this video answers
29 years
404 children
107 grandchildren
Her 13th great-grandchild
Diagnosed at 17; died at 19
Chapters
Hi, my name is Chris Roberts, and I'm here to nominate Rose Baker for the Torch Award. Rose told me that the inspiration for her work with young people in this community came from her own biological son, her one and only, and his name is Glenn. Glenn wanted some siblings in their lives, and she decided that they would enter into the foster care program so that Glenn could have some brothers and sisters. The love that Glenn, that Rosie had for Glenn has been multiplied hundreds of times over through the lives of these young people. Rose, we admire you, we appreciate you, and we thank you so much for all that you do for our community and for these young people's lives. They'll never be the same.
I'm Rose Baker. I've been a foster parent in Humboldt county for 29 years. I've had 404 children that I know of. I have 107 grandchildren, and I'm getting ready to have my 13th great grandchild. My son was diagnosed with cancer whenever he was 17, and I lost him to that cancer when he was 19. And before his passing, he made me promise that I wouldn't give up my dream of having children. You know, growing up, him and I always talked. He always Knew I wanted 12 children, and I've had many more than that. And. And he's in every one of those children that come into my home that I work with. I see his dreams of what he was hoping to be able to accomplish with me in the community. One of the things that's incredibly important for us to understand is these children that are in our care are everybody's children. They're not my children. They're not another foster parent's children. They're all of our children in the community. And the outcome for those children are what we put into them. So if you're a teacher, if you're somebody in a Congregational church, if you're the person on the street, anybody of any kind can be in these children's lives.
