"Heartland for Children's Other Mother" by Danette Travis

A foster mom takes in a family.

Heartland for Children's other Mother is Brenda Wenning and this is why she is like a mother to two sibling groups (group of 8 and 2) in foster care. Ms. Wenning has been a foster parent for 4 years. After completing all the licensing requirements, Ms. Wenning (and her husband) were officially licensed as foster parents. The very next day a sibling group of eight children ranging in ages from 21 months to 11 years of age entered foster care. Ms. Wenning was contacted and agreed to take ALL eight children so they would not be separated. Ms. Wenning unselfishly opened her home and heart to this sibling group of eight children. The children are treated as if they are members of their family. They have flourished in her care. The children are involved in activities within the community and given the opportunity of experiencing a normal childhood.

They are doing well academically and emotionally. Ms. Wenning has developed a relationship with the biological parents and has invited them to birthday parties and supports communication. Since the placement of the eight children in her home, two of them have left and Ms.Wenning opened her home to an additional sibling group of two brothers who need a family.

Ms. Wenning is passionate, devoted and truly makes a difference in the lives of these children. She advocates for them, supports them emotionally, encourages them to be their best and showers them with unconditional love. With her love and support, these children have made remarkable strides in their academics and social development. Ms. Wenning is a true hero, she has given 10 children the gift of another Mother.

Mother to a Community - Irene Brown
By Nicole Mendoza

The saying goes that it takes a village to raise a child, and Irene Brown serves as a mother and mentor in our community in Garfield, NJ. She is the Unit Director and my supervisor at the Boys & Girls Club of Garfield. With so many youth left unguided, undisciplined or simply lacking someone to believe in them, Irene provides the care and attention so many kids are searching for.

People visit the Club just to see Irene and to tell her how much of an impact she has had on their lives. It makes me laugh when I hear countless alumni fondly retell stories of being reprimanded by Irene when they were younger. She's tough, and she holds everyone accountable for their actions, and children admire her for that. I admire for that.

When I first came to the Club four years ago, I was an outsider who was unsure of herself, but Irene mentored me and helped me grow professionally and personally.

Fresh out of college, I did not know what to do with my life. I began working part-time at the Boys & Girls Club, and Irene took me under her wing and taught me the ins and outs of working at the Club. Four years later, I now work full-time and have achieved success within the organization.

I know that all the praise and success I have achieved is attributed to Irenes mentorship. She is a person that I strive to emulate. The passion and empathy that she shows towards her work as a youth development professional is admirable. When she talks about the struggles of youth, she becomes emotional as if speaking about her own child. When a youth succeeds, she beams with the pride of a parent. Irene may not have her own children, but she treats every single child that walks through the doors of the Boys & Girls Club as if they were her own. In Garfield Irene is not just my Other Mother,she is everyone's Other Mother.

My Other Mother - Maria Shelby
By Holly Miller

A friend steps in for a disabled mom.
"My other mother helped me when my mom got sick."

A Warm Bed and Soup - Deb Rieselman
By Leslie Hamilton

Abandoned by my mother by 14, I raised my sister and had learned from age 6 to take care of myself. Throughout my life I have been extremely lucky people have always stepped in when I've needed help and love the most, from swim team parents to coworkers just a little older than me. I met my now-husband's mom just two weeks after meeting him; we said polite hellos and then parted ways for dinner.

Two days later I became so ill I was sent home from work, my first day off in months. I drove myself through the January snow to my unheated apartment and fell asleep under the electric blanket I had received for Christmas, only to be startled awake by the phone an hour later my boyfriend and his mom were insisting I come to their house for the night. She put me on the couch, covered me with blanket after blanket, and tried and tried to feed me soup (she later discovered that I'm just really picky and don't like soup one of the reasons my mother-in-law is the greatest mom in the whole world: she'll make dinner just for me if I won't like what she makes for everyone else!).

The next day she insisted I move to an actual bed and sleep all day. She would have made me stay there that night as well if I weren't so stubborn and unused to people actually tending to me. As it was, she took a freezing, sick girl into her home after briefly meeting her two days earlier.

The real beauty of my mother-in-law is that this isn't a unique story she works tirelessly with and for her church, the NAMES project, and more people and groups than I can list in 350 words. She helps anyone who needs it. She loves my foster son more than anything. She more than anyone else helped me become the philanthropist and activist I had always wanted to but never thought I could be and gave me the courage and confidence to work for right in the world.

My Big Brother Allen - Allen Hill
By Randi Revill

A big brother can be an other mother too.
"My big brother has always been there for me, and he deserves to be crowned as the BEST "other mother" on the planet!"

Aunt Power - Barbara Halpern
By Barbara Goodman

An aunt fills in for mother.

My other mother is my mother's older sister, Barbara. I am named after her in her honor. My aunt has no children of her own and treated me as if I were hers. I call my aunt "Bobbie". I didn't know other kids did not have a "Bobbie"! She always told me she had aunt power and I believed it. In fact, one time I fell off a swing and she ran and picked me up, after breast cancer surgery when she was not allowed to lift anything. But that's Bobbie's aunt power. As a child, she showered me with love and new outfits and showed me the best of New York City for a little girl. One would call it "spoiled." But, there were times that my mother drank too much and ended up on the floor. Who did I call? Bobbie. She would rush over to my home and comfort me. She always provided a clean, stable home for me, where she kept a fold up bed for me to stay. My mother died from cancer when I was 18. Since then, she has filled the maternal role in my life. You see, my mother raised me, but my aunt refined me. She brought me into adulthood with her wisdom and dedication to her promise to my mother to care for me. Since then, she uprooted her life and moved cross country to support me with my career dreams. The one thing I have learned is Bobbie is always right, even though I dont want her to be. Over the years we have been mistaken in public as mother and daughter. We would quickly correct them. No, no, I'm not her mother, I'm her aunt she would say. But now, we dont say anything. We let them acknowledge what they see between us - that she is indeed my "other mother".

"Barbara Terry for Other Mother Award"
By Dawari Zuokemefa

An aunt cares for her nephew.

"Why my Aunt is my Other Mother."

"My Other Mother Helen Cannaday Saulny"
By Titiola Williams-Davies

A college administrator mothers a foreign student.

She is My Other Mother and My children's Other Mother - Patra Swope
By Cema Gates

An aunt makes a life-long committment to her sister's child.

My Other Mother is my aunt and this is why she is like a mother to me. When I was three years old my parents committed suicide and she took me in as her own. She had been living in Japan with her husband and they had a toddler, who is my little brother. She flew to the US and got me and took me home and raised me as if I was her own child. There were other family members who would have taken me, but she wanted me. We moved to Texas when I was five years old and I had a great childhood, I did all the normal things like tap dancing, gymnastics, and soccer. She did so much for me and made all of my birthdays and other holidays special. She kept my parents alive by telling me stories, showing me pictures and taking me to see the places they had lived. I knew I was different than my friends and their families, but I felt normal because of the way she raised me.

Eventually I started my own family, unfortunately my marriage failed and I found myself without a degree, a career or any job experience and two young children. She and my step-dad took us into their home. They were retired and she went back to work to help support me as I earned my Bachelors Degree in Nursing. Nursing school is challenging and time consuming and she helped out with my boys while I was studying or doing clinicals. She helped them with their homework, took them to their sports practices, stayed home with them when they were sick. She basically did everything I would have done had I not been in school, she became their Other Mother too!

I could not have picked myself up after my divorce and gone to school if it weren't for her love and support. I will be graduating next week with honors and I owe it all to my mom. My children will have a bright future full of opportunities because of her love and support.

The Sympathy of Christ - Beverly Poirrier
By Dalekaren Edwards

A Sunday school teacher becomes a spiritual anchor.

My other mother was a lady that taught our Sunday school class with candor and grace. She did not gloss over her sin nature but clearly had been changed by the work of the Holy Spirit. I recognized in her the mentor I was hungry for and untimately the "mother" that I needed to heal a very traumatic childhood. I approached her and asked her to mentor me. As our friendship deepened we became aware of my tremendous need for a "spiritual mother" to teach me the truth about God and life and me. She knew the difference between life--which is unfair and can be brutal-- and GOD who is always good and gracious. Her love was unconditional and allowed me to mother my own children with much more grace than I could have availed on my own. One of the most dramatic and profound occurances came when I confided in her that I had been raped in college. I had a gaping wound from the trauma that was exacerbated by my birth mother's complete lack of interest. (In retrospect I believe her own background made her incapable of being sympathetic as she did not know the wonderful healing love of God for herself or me.) My mentor became a mother to me the night I confessed the act that had been perpetrated against me. Her words were the healing balm I had needed all those years. She simply held me in her arms and said "I am so sorry." God's grace washed over me and I have never felt a drop of pain since. I did not need a treatise on God or a sweet sermon on forgiveness. I simply needed her simple sorrow for my suffering--the same sorrow that my Savior felt and communicated to me through my other mother, Beverly Poirrier.