LEANDER, Texas — Jon and Sarah Vineyard first met in the 8th grade and started dating. Staying together over the years into adulthood, they are now happily married as a young couple in Leander.
During their marriage, the two have fostered six children, adopted one and had one of their own.
"Every time a child comes to live with us, we assure them this is a safe space. You will be safe here," Sarah Vineyard said.
She said she first learned about fostering through her parents. Overall, they adopted over 30 children throughout her childhood.
"My parents first started fostering when I was a teenager, and Jon and I met in 8th grade so he got to experience that with us," she said.
Jon Vineyard said he is able to see the gradual and subtle impacts that fostering has on these children during a traumatic time in their lives.
"It's the way they start progressing in school. It's the way they stop having nightmares. It's the way you can see their shoulders drop. More relaxed. There's no big giant thing where you're like, 'OK, they're going to be fine! The whole trajectory will change.' No, that's not going to happen. It's going to happen a little bit at a time," Jon Vineyard said.
Sarah Vineyard said the process to be licensed as foster parents is extensive, but it can depend when it comes to timing.
"It can take 3 to 6 months, depending how much time you put into the classes and getting all the requirements completed. But it's so very worth it in the end," Sarah Vineyard said.
Learn about how to start the process of becoming a foster parent, and tune into KVUE Midday on Friday to see this full story.
KVUE launched the Forever Families segment with Partnerships for Children (PFC) in June 2020 to highlight children in the Heart Gallery of Central Texas who need secure and permanent families. Every day, there are nearly 1,000 children waiting to get adopted in Central Texas, according to PFC.
Editor's note: The children who are in the Heart Gallery program and featured in KVUE's Forever Families segments are children who have had every effort made on their behalf to connect them with family or others in their community to provide options for permanent, adoptive homes. Through no fault of their own, that hasn’t happened yet, and so in partnership with the Department of Family and Protective Services, we collaborate to bring awareness to KVUE viewers about these children in the hopes of finding them permanency before they age out.