Bobbie-Jo Floyd and her eight children.Photo: G. MIchael Worthington
“I curled up in a ball on the floor,” she says of the ensuing months. “I was petrified of moving forward without him.”
But on the two-year anniversary of her husband’s death, after she and sons Jeremai and Elyjah released balloons in remembrance of Andre at Philadelphia’s Penn’s Landing, Floyd received a life-changing phone call from child welfare workers. They asked if she could foster two sisters, and Floyd — who loved caring for children and had applied to become a foster parent about a year earlier — quickly said yes.
But when social workers arrived at her three-bedroom home in Philadelphia with Destiny, 11, and Serenity, 7, they had the girls' 9-year-old brother Lysander in tow.
“They were going to drop him someplace else,” Floyd, 46, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “I asked, ‘If I can get another bunk bed, can he stay?'”
Bobbie-Jo Floyd and husband Andre Floyd.Courtesy Bobbie Floyd
“We had a lot of fun with them. I just wanted them to experience life and have fun at our house,” she recalls. “They just wanted love and attention and they were the happiest kids.”
Then, after discovering that there were three more siblings in foster care — Honesty, Adrian and August — a determined Floyd lobbied social workers and the court to take them in too.
“I was begging, ‘I’ll do whatever I have to do,'” she says. “I got to get these kids together.”
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Soon after, Floyd made sure that togetherness was permanent. In February of 2020, she was able to adopt the four youngest siblings, and earlier this month, the adoption of the two older children was finalized.
“I think we saved each other’s lives,” Floyd says. “They saved my life too. I’m not sad anymore.”
Soon, the happy family — including Floyd, her eight children ranging in age from 6 to 17 and Floyd’s sister, Kimberly Bobb, 50, who has been living with the brood to help with childcare — will be moving to a larger home in Texas.
“I believe this was all Andre giving me a sign,” says Floyd. “He knew what would keep me going. I thank him every day for giving me these kids.”
Are You Thinking About Fostering?
“You will make mistakes,” she says. “Consistency, structure and unconditional love is the recipe for success.”
If you’re not ready to foster, consider other ways to help, like volunteering to become a court-appointed special advocate.
As Floyd says, “Be a voice for a child.”
David Walters
source: people.com
