For Alton Lowery, being a foster parent is about love.
"I love helping children achieve goals in everyday living," he says. "After long hours of parenting, there is a reward of being loved by a child you have helped."
Lowery, a resident of Columbia, became a Youth Villages foster parent two and a half years ago. Since then, the single foster dad has provided a nurturing home to six children between the ages of 11 and 16, an age group Lowery says he can relate to best.
Being a foster parent -- like being a parent -- is not always easy. Finding constructive parenting techniques when things get difficult has been helpful, Lowery says.
"When a child is feeling down or sad, I never pressure the child into talking about his or her feelings," Lowery says. "I always let the children come talk to me when they are ready, and I try to engage them in positive and fun activities to help them find joy again."
Whenever there is a problem he feels he may not be able to handle himself, he counts on Youth Villages counselors' help.
"Youth Villages offers help 24 hours a day," Lowery says. "If a problem occurs, Youth Villages is right there."
But with Youth Villages' foster parent training and regular support groups, Lowery feels well-equipped to handle even potentially difficult parenting situations.
"Alton is ready to do anything to help his kids," says Paul Ramsey, a foster care Clinical Supervisor in the Youth Villages Columbia office. "His sense of humor aids him in taking on serious situations and working them to his advantage and help the children overcome their issues."
As a committed parent, he is involved in all aspects of his children's lives. One important aspect is school. He works closely with teachers to learn about his children's behaviors in school, their performance, how they socialize and their grades to make sure he and his children's teachers establish consistent rules.
"I always ask the schools and teachers what I can do to help my children," he says.
Being a foster parent also has helped Lowery discover new strengths in himself.
"Fostering children of different backgrounds and cultures will make you stronger in fields you may have been weak in and enhance your ability to care for others," he says.
But his greatest reward for being a foster parent is the impact he has had on one of his children for whom he became "dad."
"After one of my sons returned to his biological mother, he called and told me 'I love you as my dad forever.'"