Meet Paola

Moved by the experience of fostering an 11-year-old boy, Paola Roman and her husband decided to become licensed pre-adoptive foster parents and received a newborn baby girl they named Karis. While their new role filled their life with much love and joy, it also presented them with new challenges. “What mothers have nine months to prepare for, I had a few days. I didn’t know how to care for a young baby,” Paola says. The uncertainty of being a new parent left Paola with endless questions.

Fortunately, Paola was able to enroll Karis at the United Way Center for Excellence in Early Education. At the Center, Paola not only found a high quality early learning environment for her bundle of joy, but also an incredible resource for her as a new mother of a young child.

At the very start of her journey, the Center’s family engagement team connected Paola to another foster mom. That relationship helped to ease her worry and relieve her stress. Often times, when she found herself unsure of what to expect or what to do, she turned to staff at the Center who helped her connect the dots. “As new parents, the health specialists and teachers helped us recognize milestones, identify behaviors and gave us guidance on what we could do to help enhance Karis’ overall development,” she says.

Today, Paola and her husband are fostering a second baby girl and in the process of adopting her as well. “Dawn,” too, is enrolled at the United Way Center for Excellence in Early Education, and thanks to the early interventions that two girls received, both are thriving at the ages of one and three.

Paola is deeply appreciative of the assistance she’s received throughout her journey as a new parent. “We recognize it’s a privilege for our precious girls to be enrolled at the United Way Center for Excellence in Early Education,” Paola says. “It’s amazing what the Center does to help parents that want to learn. I’m sharing my story because I want to show there’s a great need out there for foster children and there is a solution.”

Today, she serves as a member of the Center’s Parent Policy Committee. As vice president of housing development at Carrfour Supportive Housing, Paola’s career is focused on providing affordable housing to the homeless, including families in foster care who need a permanent home in order to be reunified.

2018-03-31T14:39:10-04:00 April 27th, 2017|