" Ain't no destination. We just keep journeying." – Zahra Alabanza
Kinship care has been the method of choice when children are unable to reside with their biological parents. However, this is not always the best or DESIRED option, especially when children don’t know certain sides of their family and/or there is a perception that one’s family hasn’t shown up for them in times of need. This is the conundrum Zahra Alabanza found herself in at the age of 12, after being kidnapped by her father, abandoned, and spilt up from her siblings.
Although there were challenges along the way, the girl grows up and makes the best of the cards she’s been dealt. Just when Zahra is living her absolute best life in these Chi-Town streets, she finds out that her nephews have been placed in the foster care system. This is a full circle moment for her, and despite not being the “cookie-baking” type, she decides to raise her nephews, and reimagines what motherhood and family constellations can look like.
Zahra’s lifelong preparation coupled with her professional expertise as a social worker provides revelations and stark lessons for us about how to play chess, not checkers, when it comes to foster care system and deciding to formally adopt your kin. Listen in and listen up to this story about loss, grief, grace, compassion, and a continuous journey toward healing so that one doesn’t repeat generational trauma.
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