Santa Cruz County Social Services/Family Services Court System and ‘Sew Little Timers’
By Edita McQuary
November was “National Adoption Month” and Friday, November 22, was “National Adoption Day” in Watsonville. At 8:20 a.m., the benches opposite the Department “A” courtroom were crowded with moms and dads-to-be. Briefcase carrying attorneys and Social Services staff walked the hall cheerfully greeting each other and their clients. The excitement mounted as the door to the courtroom was finally unlocked and the first family to adopt was ushered in.
The Sew Little Timers group of quilters, Karen Cunningham Gonzalez, Kristie Shulman and her mom, Barbara Jud, along with Nancy Goudarzi, Nancy Nichols, Pat Huntsinger, Nan Fitch, Joy Ricther, Kathy Ritchey, and Laurel Turner who is Judge Denise Guy’s mother, walked in sporting yellow roses on their lapels as they took their places on the left side of the courtroom’s aisle.
Presiding Judge, Denise Guy, broke the ice to make the first adopting family and the 17-year old young man being adopted comfortable. She joked with them then initiated a drum roll while presenting the official adoption document for each to sign. Judge Guy expressed her happiness that the young man, who had been in the foster care system for nine years, finally had a family: a father, mother, and a little sister. A gift of a beautiful quilt made by Barbara Jud was presented to the young man as a symbol of the warmth and caring of family and community. Then Judge Guy asked the parents to stand opposite her and repeat after her the “Oath of Adoption.” It was very moving, much like a marriage ceremony, pledging them to look after their adopted son as one of their own, loving him, and encouraging him. Several people had tears in their eyes.
After time for photographs, the new family walked out to cheers and applause. The young man and his parents then paused to thank the Sew Little Timers ladies for the quilt.
This scene happened eighteen times that day as 20 children in all were adopted! Each child or young person was presented with a hand-made quilt. Social workers were pressed into service as photographers recording the event on the families’ cameras and smart phones to commemorate the end of the long road from foster care to adoption.
The Sew Little Timers group is a part of the Pajaro Valley Quilt Association (PVQA). The idea of a quilt presentation originated with Judge Guy when she asked her mom to make some quilts. It soon got to be more than Laurel could handle on her own so she asked Karen Cunningham Gonzalez of the PVQA for help. The Sew Little Timers group “adopted” this project!
Every Friday throughout the year, such adoptions take place. Because of the number of adoptions ~ 250 each year ~ other PVQA members came forward to make quilts for the foster children being adopted. This has become a partnership with Social Services and Family Service Courts of Santa Cruz County helping to promote a better life for children and families in this community.
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Interested in becoming a foster parent? See www.fostercare4kids.com.
Thanks to Karen Cunningham Gonzalez for help with this article. See pvqa.org