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75-Year-Old Woman Fostered More Than 600 Children in 50 Years
Linda Herring, a 75-year-old Iowa woman, was recently honored with a resolution of appreciation by her local government for caring for hundreds of children in foster care. According to CNN, Herring fostered more than 600 children in 50 years. She ran a home daycare center during the day and worked as a custodian in the evening, and still found time to care for the youth.
She was inspired to begin fostering children after seeing her best friend foster teenage girls. Instead of caring for a particular set of youth, Herring has given children a place to call home regardless of age or need. “I would just love [my foster kids] just like they were my own, probably more than I should,” Herring told CNN.
Herring has five biological children and adopted three who were once in her care. “I cried when the kids would leave my home, no matter how long they had been there,” she explained. Despite knowing how difficult it was to part from the children she cared for over the years, Herring never stopped giving them the love they needed.
“It was so hard for me to say goodbye to them,” Herring told CNN. “I always questioned, ‘Why do I keep doing this?’ because it was never easy to say goodbye to a child. But I kept doing it because I had so much love to give to these children in need.”
Anthony Herring, Linda Herring’s adopted son, told CNN, “I’m forever grateful for the life I was given. She and Dad have both taught me that family isn’t determined by blood — it’s who you have in your life to love.”
To honor Herring for the impact she has had on the children’s lives, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors and Department of Human Services commemorated her with a resolution of appreciation on Thursday, January 9.
As an agency devoted to serving children, ASCI appreciates the hard work and dedication Linda Herring has put into caring for children for over 50 years.