Michele Burnette shares foster parent experience to help others
As a foster parent, Michele Burnette has had more than 40 children come into her home and “leave their fingerprint on our heart.” She has seven children – four biological and three adopted through the foster care system. “Without hope, where would we be?” she says. “Knowing that there’s children out there who aren’t going to go to bed with a full belly, or that need something … these children are our future.”
In 2000, Burnette started a Resource Parent Association in California, Md. In 2005, she helped form the statewide Resource Parent Association and has served on its board since its inception. She has also served on the National Foster Parent Association’s board of directors and developed the nation’s first non-traditional Parent Teacher Association for Resource Parents.
Burnette received a 2014 Casey Excellence for Children Award for foster parents.