Pamela Polk was nominated for her charisma and enthusiasm by the vice president of the ACS program at Cayuga Centers, Elizabeth Matthews. As stated by Matthews “Pamela continues to step up and accept youth into her home during this difficult time – she is nurturing and dedicated, and she has always been open to allowing birth families to contact her directly so they can stay connected to their children.” 

For this and many other reasons we are so grateful to Pamela for all the work she does, here is what she told us about how she’s dealing with the pandemic:

Jenny Pedraza: Hi Pamela, I wanted to start with talking about how you’re dealing with the pandemic and how you’re feeling these days?

Pamela Polk: I don’t let anyone into the house because I’m terrified of the kids getting infected and I don’t want to get infected myself. I only go out once a week to do grocery shopping, and because I’m 61 years old I go in and out of the store as quickly as possible. We have a lot of food stock, but we still need to get milk and bread on a weekly basis. I always carry extra gloves and masks and if there are any other senior citizens that don’t have a mask I give them one. I’m just following expert instructions so everybody can stay safe.

JP: How many children are under care right now Pamela?

PP: I have three kids, two of them are siblings and they are all under therapeutic care. The baby is 1 year old and the siblings are both 6 years old. At the beginning one of the 6 year olds was a handful.

JP: How come?

PP: When he first came to my home he was always cursing and didn’t want to do school work, but he has come a long way. Now that we are spending more time together he is doing great actually. I have a daycare and I used to be a teacher, so without actually giving him any answers, I know how to help him when he is struggling with school work at home. I work with my foster kids like I do with my daycare kids, starting from the bottom up and going at their own pace. 

JP: Tell me a little bit more about your daycare experience?

PP: I do a lot of basic knowledge programs with little kids, obviously not right now because of the pandemic, but we work on our ABCs and numbers higher than 10. Right now I work the same way with my foster children. I don’t sit with them explaining everything, but I do work with them in enforcing what they already know so when they go back to school they’ll be set up for success. For the little girl I downloaded a program to help her pronounce words so she will know how to read by the time she goes back to school.

JP: Now that everyone is staying at home, have you noticed any changes in the children under your care?

PP: The 6 year old boy was never able to sit still in the classroom, but this situation has given me the opportunity to sit with him at my desk and do some of the hard work. He used to not be able to sit and focus, he wouldn’t be able to sit for more than 10 minutes, but now he can sit still for hours and do the work. Now I get a chance to practice discipline with him and tell him that unless he does the work he won’t be able to rip the benefits, and it’s working! It has been a positive change and I only hope that he can continue to do this once he goes back to school. 

JP: What kind of support are you receiving from your foster care organization?

PP: They have been great, I have been speaking with a lot of different staff, they’re excellent. Is mostly case managers and clinical staff that I talk to the most. We do regular check-ups and we talk about everything – talking to them helps me out tremendously, let’s me know I’m doing the right thing. 

JP: Do you have good advice or tips for other foster parents in dealing with children through the pandemic?

PP: I let my kids sleep until 8:30 and then I wake them up for a healthy breakfast, but for me it is mandatory that after breakfast they sit and do school work. No TV or screens until the work has been done. I will say that you have to be firm with your routine, I practice exchange with them, they give me work and give them games. It’s important to set rules otherwise their structure gets all messed up. You have to stick with the rules no matter what, if you don’t it doesn’t work. 

Thank you Pamela for the extra work you’re doing in this difficult time, and for giving your foster children a safe space to learn and grow. Help us celebrate this Foster Hero by sharing your thoughts in the comments and telling us how Pamela’s tips apply to you and your child. 

And don’t forget to nominate your own Foster Hero here.