Rob Scheer wants to make sure no other child in the foster care system has an experience like the ones he and his children had. Raised in a home with terrible abuse, Rob says, “My parents died when I was 10. To me, it was the greatest gift I thought I could ever have.” But he moved into foster care and things didn’t really get better. And yet, he refused to let his hardships hold him back from having a fulfilling life.
“I really never told many people about my story,” Rob explains. But now a father of four, he feels compelled to share his story and highlight the need for change in the foster care system. He explains that when his children came to he and his husband’s home they were carrying something familiar in their hands.
“All four of them arrived in our home with trash bags. I was absolutely shocked that after all of these years since I had been in the system carrying a trash bag, these kids were carrying a trash bag. What are we not doing to change this?”
Since that time Rob and his family are doing what they can to help. “They needed to feel wanted,” says Rob. “I know I needed to feel wanted.”
Watch Rob’s touching story in the video below. We certainly need more people like him in this world.
Rob also gave a TED talk recently where he shares more of his story and his mission to restore dignity to the children he welcomes into his family.
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