Child Advocates of Fort Bend is celebrating and supporting the many families in our community who have welcomed a child into their home through adoption during November National Adoption Month.
“At Child Advocates of Fort Bend we want every child who has experienced abuse to be able to recover and heal and have a happy and stable family life,” stated Ruthanne Mefford, CEO of Child Advocates of Fort Bend. It’s always encouraging when we see families years down the road and the children are thriving – families like Mogey Lovelle and her daughter.”
Some people say, things will work out the way they are supposed to. If you ask Mogey Lovelle, she’ll tell you it’s true. Lovelle always knew she wanted to adopt. It seemed like a great way to start a family. It just made sense to her. You are taking care of a child who needs a family and who might not get the love, attention and help they need. Growing up, she had a lot of friends who were adopted. She became a CASA Advocate, she was a Lifebook coordinator for CPS and she volunteered with a youth group. Three of the girls in the group were adopted and they had friends who had never been adopted and they talked about it to her. She knew that youth ages 10-18 waited the longest, which is why she decided to adopt an older child.
Armed with a degree in psychology and a lawyer and researcher by trade, Lovelle read everything she could on adoption, adopting older children, parenting teens and how to raise boys (she figured she would know how to raise girls) so that she was prepared. She told her boss about her plan to foster to adopt a teen. “It’s a slow process and requires a lot of time. It’s not like they will call me, and I’ll get a child right away. With teens, there are a lot of meetings. You get to know them – it takes time,” Lovelle told her boss.
On February 28, she was in Glen Rose, celebrating her cousin’s birthday with family. That evening, she prayed, asking God why he would be giving such a strong yearning for a child if she wasn’t going to be able to have one of her own.
Eleven days later, she got the call. We have a child for you – a baby. Born on the same day as her cousin and the day of her prayer, this baby was meant for her. She was ready for a teen but hadn’t given much thought or preparation as to what to do with a baby. She called her boss and then her sister. A co-worker helped her get a crib, a highchair and everything else she would need. She still cannot believe that everything fit into the trunk of her sedan. The baby was tiny and had colic. Lovelle sang to calm the baby and help her sleep. Every time, she sang Country Roads, the baby smiled. The words were fitting – “country roads take me home to the place I belong”. Everything just fell into place.
Lovelle participated in National Adoption Day in 2011. She and her daughter joined Child Advocates of Fort Bend and its partners for the Fort Bend County National Adoption Day Celebration recently to celebrate the adoption of 13 children including 7 children ages 11-15. Grace, now 13, is a teenager who towers over Lovelle. She is shy, sweet and easygoing. She loves horseback riding and animals and hopes to be a vet someday.
“This month, we are taking the time to show our appreciation for the diverse families in our community who are nurturing and raising children they’ve adopted from foster care,” Mefford said. “Thank you for giving them a safe, permanent and unconditionally loving -more-home where they can heal and grow!”
“At Child Advocates of Fort Bend we want every child who has experienced abuse to be able to recover and heal and have a happy and stable family life, like Grace,” stated Mefford.
Child Advocates of Fort Bend has a professional staff and offers an array of more than 18 services to help heal children who have experienced abuse. For more information on the work of Child Advocates of Fort Bend and CASA Volunteers and to get involved, visit www.cafb.org.
Photo Caption:
Mogey Lovelle and her daughter Grace participated in National Adoption Day in 2011 and returned to celebrate with Child Advocates of Fort Bend and its partners in 2023.
Shown with them during the 2023 celebration is Child Advocates of Fort Bend CASA Program Director Metoyer Martin.
About Child Advocates of Fort Bend:
Child Advocates of Fort Bend is a non-profit agency dedicated to ending child abuse by Strengthening the Voice of the Child, Healing the Hurt, and Breaking the Cycle of abuse and neglect for children and their families in Fort Bend and surrounding counties. Through its Court Appointed Special Advocates Program (CASATM), Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) and more than 200 trained community volunteer advocates, Child Advocates improves the lives of more than 400 children each month and has served more than 22,000 children since opening its doors in 1991. The agency’s 32nd Annual Christmas Home Tour will take place December 8 + 9, 2023. For sponsorship, tickets or more information go to www.cafb.org or contact Tarina at TSheridan@cafb.org.
For more information on how you can get involved with Child Advocates of Fort Bend, contact Volunteer Services at 281-344-5123 or jbrown@cafb.org or log onto www.cafb.org.
