Impact Story

While living in Illinois, Kat Korp was already involved as a foster parent. Later, when the Korps moved to Wisconsin, they became active with a program called Teen Reach Adventure Camp (TRAC). TRAC is a camp program for foster kids ages 12–15. While spending time volunteering with TRAC and getting to know those kids, Ken started to feel the desire to do more for children in foster care. Thus the Korps began their journey with Kenosha Human Development Services (KHDS) and became licensed foster parents in May of 2017.

The Korps say the best experience they’ve had so far has been “the support from KHDS and watching our first foster son flourish and grow under our guidance and care.” They say that KHDS supports them “in every possible way—training, advice, lending an ear when we need to vent or just talk. We have never felt alone in this journey.”

Their greatest challenge has been “facing the effects of trauma that these kids endure and wishing you could fix it all.” But even knowing that they cannot wish the trauma away, Kat and Ken would never change a thing about their experience. To anyone thinking about possibly becoming a foster parent, the Korps enthusiastically say, “DO IT! It’s probably one of the most difficult things you’ll ever do, but it’s worth so much more than the toughest day. The benefits and rewards you see with these kiddos will outweigh any difficulty you face.”

“We wish we would have done this 20 years ago! Being a foster family doesn’t mean you’re perfect and doesn’t require perfection, just the desire to be a soft place for these kids to land and the ability to love them even in hard places.”