By George Paul
MFCSNS Communications Officer
The Federation of Foster Families of Nova Scotia held their Annual General Assembly on May 26-28, 2023 at Glengarry Hotel in Truro. Foster families from eastern Nova Scotia including foster families from Mi’kmaw Family and Children Services of Nova Scotia (MFCSNS) attended the two-day workshops.
On Saturday evening a banquet was held to honor a few special foster parents and this year’s foster parent honorees were Nigel and Amanda Johnson from Eskasoni.
Casework Supervisor, Sheraine Young from Foster Care and Resource Family at Mi’kmaw Family and Children Services of Nova Scotia, spoke with great pride how Nigel and Amanda have gone above and beyond in helping children in care and after Sheraine’s speech, she presented Nigel and Amanda with a beaded eagle feather in recognition of their great support.
This is the speech Sheraine read in honor of Nigel and Amanda.
Amanda and Nigel, and we must not forget their children, have been a god send for Mi’kmaw Family’s foster care team. In July 2007 Amanda & Nigel’s home was opened under Kinship care and in December of 2020 they became a foster home. Amanda and Nigel have provided numerous respite services and accepted many placements over the last 17 years.
They are a loving and welcoming family and they’ve been wonderful to work with throughout the years. Their home is always welcoming to children and our agency workers. They provide a safe and nurturing environment for children and maintain contact with children when they have moved onto other placements.
This dynamic husband and wife duo have been together for 21 years and have been married for 17 years. They have six children, ages ranging from 5 to 25, and they have one long term care teen staying with them. One of their six children is actually their newly adopted son who started off as short term, then went long term then and is now a forever term. They couldn’t let him go, so they adopted him three years ago.
For Amanda, foster care is a family affair because it was always a part of her life. Her mother was a foster parent and Amanda and her siblings were always there to help their mother. Today Amanda and her siblings continue their mom’s legacy are now foster parents themselves.
Being a foster parent came natural for Amanda. She was used to taking care of children. Amanda started doing respite care at age 19.
When Amanda found her perfect soul mate, who’s heart was just as generous as hers, it was only natural they became foster parents.
Husband Nigel is a grade 6 teacher at Eskasoni Middle School and Amanda is a stay-at-home mom. Nigel will be the first one to tell you that Amanda is the foundation of this operation. Amanda said, “Being a stay-at-home mom is important.”
The Johnson family (Amanda) runs a tight daily school schedule. There are a total of 8 people in the household and with only one bathroom, things could get very hectic, very quickly. Everyone wakes up at 7am and their number one rule is “you have to go school.” Breakfast, lunch, supper and snack breaks are all like clockwork. And there’s always food.
Amanda and Nigel say having a support system is very important in raising children in care. Amanda said, “What helps me too is talking to other foster parents. My mom, aunts, sisters. Getting feedback help us out and we all help each other out.”
Amanda also gives praise to Mi’kmaw Family and Children Services and the programs they have offered to help with raising kids who’ve gone through so much. Amanda said, “Mi’kmaw family gives you the tools to help the kids.”
This foster family affair would not be possible without the amazing support of their own children. Amanda said, “I have beautiful kids, they get along with our foster kids. Our kids are awesome and they welcome foster kids.”
Amanda and Nigel’s children will share all their stuff, hang out with them, talk with them, some kids will share their feelings. Most often these kids just need someone to talk to and they’ll open up to someone their age. If it’s something serious, their kids will let them know.
For Amanda and Nigel, they said they will keep their home open as long as they can. It’s all about helping these kids and making sure they have a safe, secure and loving home.
They do it because they don't want to see these kids in group homes. There wish is to see more respite caregivers and more foster homes.
And for Amanda and Nigel the rewards of being a foster parent can never be measured. It’s about giving love to children in need. “Your heart and soul will be rewarded; our kids need us. Make them laugh and make them feel secure. It is rewarding and you will make a difference,” were the words from Amanda.
When Amanda and Nigel were invited to this Foster Federation AGA, they did not plan to go and just blew it off. So, our agency had no choice but to tell them that you must go because you guys are being honor as foster parents. Now they had no choice. We are happy you came.
They might think you they are just ordinary people, but in the eyes of these children, you are superheroes filled with love.
With the final words from Nigel, I quote,
“You just have to give them love. Most of these kids just want love, affection and someone that will listen to them. We created a black hole. Now our kids never want to leave.”
From our Mi’kmaw Family to yours, thank you for being there for us and congratulations on this beautiful recognition. Wela’liek Amanda aqq Nigel.