The Down: Two days ago we had a surprise visit in the middle of Marco’s 4th birthday (pictures and story to follow), bringing us news that we had to get Mireya ready to go because she was leaving to go back to her mother. While we as a foundation fully believe in family reunification, it is only if it is in the best interest of the child. With Mireya’s mother only very recently leaving the streets (and ‘leaving’ is used very loosely here as it means that while she is spending all of her waking moments on the street, she does have a small room where she sleeps), we are very concerned for Mireya’s safety. Jackie was very clear that we protested and strongly disagreed with this decision and family services agreed with us, but child defense overrode us and has placed her back with her mother.
We are keeping a very close eye on this situation and will be doing everything in our power to keep her safe and healthy. Having worked with the street population for some time now, we are painfully aware that although many of the street moms profess to love their children, they are unwilling or unable to leave their unstable and destructive lifestyles behind, and the process of coming out of street life is often long and full of many relapses before they are successful. We would have preferred to have Mireya’s mom successfully complete a rehabilitation program and be stable for at least 6 months before reuniting them, but that has not been possible in this situation. Please keep little Mireya in your prayers.
Recent Comments