Reggie is a four-year-old who is full of life and curiosity. But this wasn’t always the case.

Trey and Philip met Reggie when they fostered him for 10 days as an infant. He was then able to be placed with extended family. About six months passed and the couple fostered other babies, but when Reggie’s social worker contacted the couple about taking him on again, they leapt at the chance.

A social worker himself, Trey has referred other foster families to Kindering’s CHERISH program, a specially designed program for children in foster or kinship homes. He self-referred Reggie to the program as soon as they were placed together. Trey says, “It doesn’t matter what knowledge you have, when it’s your kid, it’s totally different. You need help from someone else to make sense of it all.”

Reggie’s CHERISH social worker helped Trey and Philip understand how to handle the results of some of Reggie’s early childhood trauma. Establishing routine and easing transitions between home, school, and everyday activities has been a highly important part of their lives.

As part of his therapy, Reggie’s social worker presented him with his very own “Reggie Book” – the story of his biological family, his foster dads, and his place in the whole picture. It quickly became Reggie’s favorite book and he still reads it every night. As he gained a better understanding of his place in the world, Reggie began to come out of his shell. “We didn’t realize when we first had Reggie in our home how much he was holding back, but now we’re seeing his full personality, and the change is remarkable,” says Trey. “His old school pictures show a boy with a very flat affect, and now he’s striking poses for every photo.”

Reggie’s adoption was just recently finalized. When they first talked about adoption with Reggie, they explained that it’s a process of choosing to be family forever. Reggie understood, and responded, “We’re adopting each other.”

Trey and Philip don’t yet know what challenges their son may face in the future, but having the foundation of support from the CHERISH program has made them more confident in how best to give Reggie what he needs.