Every year at our annual dinner and auction we present the Halo Award to honor someone who has made a difference in the realm of foster care. This year it was presented to one of our foster moms for, as the award read, her “Excellence in the Area of Bridging and Example of Love”. The award was presented by one of our social workers Hunter Fleetwood (pictured above) with the following speech:

Although I am not a foster parent myself, I am around foster parents daily, and it is very evident that it is one of the most rewarding yet challenging jobs out there. Clearly put, foster parents are angels here on Earth. And tonight with this Halo Award, we are honoring one of the brightest angels I know. Tonight’s recipient is a hardworking single mom of four who always exudes extraordinary kindness and compassion. Although she already had a lot on her plate, she took a leap of faith and became a foster mom, and boy am I glad that she did! When I became her social worker in January of last year, she had just recently taken placement of twin baby girls. Immediately, I was blown away with how easily and happily she was able to juggle everything. She and her children welcomed those sweet babies and their mom into their home with open arms. As time progressed, it was apparent that she was an incredible Bridger and would do anything to help her foster babies mom. They began talking multiple times a week and began to consider each other as friends. Throughout the placement, this foster mom also respited for the twins older siblings multiple times and was always happy to have them over. Towards the end, she even took placement of one of the older siblings as well when that child’s placement wasn’t working out. At one of the final court hearings, this foster parent came along to speak up in court about how proud she was of her foster children’s mom and what a great job she was doing. When it came time for trial reunification to begin, I found out that the biological mom named the foster mom as godmother of her twins. The children are all back home now and doing great. This foster mom still has a great relationship with the whole family and she continues to help out with the twins. In fact, last month the family went on vacation, and they asked this foster mom to come with them. They all had a great time together. This incredible story is a perfect representation to me of what foster care is all about. This foster mom was never judgmental and was always in the biological mom’s corner, offering help, guidance, and friendship all while taking amazing care of her foster children and loving them like they were her own. This foster mom is truly amazing, and I hope she knows how much she is admired and appreciated. The world is a much better place with her in it. With that being said, it is with great honor that I introduce to you this year’s winner of the Halo Award -Heather Murray!

Thank you Heather for going above and beyond. We are blessed to work with the most dedicated, caring and selfless foster parents that Oklahoma has to offer.