Batshaw is looking for English foster families to help young people

Batshaw Youth and Family Services is looking for English foster families to help some young people have a safe place to stay.

LaSalle resident Bisma Ansari has been a Batshaw foster parent for five years and encourages others to consider it.

“Especially English-speaking and minority families that when kids need to go into foster care, they have a place where they feel comfortable, a cultural fit,” said Ansari, who is now the board president for The Batshaw Youth and Family Centres Foundation, whose mission is to support and empower the vulnerable children served by youth protection.

Ansari said they provide things like “grocery cards for families that are having trouble or tutoring for kids that are in school.”

The foundation also funds scholarships.

Jasmine Ramcharitar-Brown is a former Batshaw client.

“I was in and out of foster care when I was really young, but then in my early teens, things broke down,” said former Batshaw client Jasmine Ramcharitar-Brown.

She remembers how Batshaw helped her find her way.

“It changed my life because there are adults within, professionals within the system, that truly cared,” she said. “Sometimes, they crossed the red tape to make sure that someone like me thrived in the situation. So, giving me access to resources that were there, but also themselves trying to figure out what would best suit my needs.”

The foundation helped pay for her post-secondary studies, and now Ramcharitar-Brown is giving back.

“I’m finishing my master’s this month in human systems intervention, which is basically bringing human centered approaches into changing systems,” she said. “It actually led me to being invited by Batshaw to sit on the youth advisory council.”

Ansari said that any families interested in fostering can visit the centre’s website for more information.

“It’s been an amazing, fulfilling experience to be able to help these kids and these families,” she said. “Also [it’s] very challenging because it’s a lot of work and a lot of emotions in different ways, but definitely the fulfilling part outweighs the challenges.”