Rhode Island Mother Honoured For Fostering More Than 60 Children

BabyGaga

By Helena Martin

Published Jul 4, 2019

She opened her home and became a mom to all.

Eloise Ricci’s love and dedication for fostering children was recently recognized by the Neighbourhood Health Plan of Rhode Island’s 25^th anniversary Charitable Giving Program. Over the course of 18 years, Ricci has opened her home to more than 60 children, some of whom stay with her forever. While most of the children don’t stay with her long-term, Ricci has made a significant impact on these kids’ lives.

Ricci and her husband, Bill, are veterans at caring for children. Together, they have nine kids—some adopted through foster care and some of their own. On top of raising her own kids, Ricci confesses that it’s difficult running a house with so many children who need her attention. However, she manages to run a tight ship while still being a loving parent. There are no labels in their house; everyone is her child, so she treats them as such.

Her goal was to open her house to children who need to get back on their feet. Whether that takes a few months or a couple of years, it doesn’t matter to Ricci. She will be the supportive, loving mom they need because she knows that these children need to know that they’re finally safe and they can work on themselves. While kids come and go from her house, they all gained another mom if ever they need her.

Other than taking in the kids, Ricci is an advocate for creating relationships with their birth parents, even if she adopted the child into her family. Her cellphone number is given to the children’s birth mothers, and she encourages them to call or meet up with their kids. Ricci highlights that it’s important to understand that sometimes a mom isn’t well enough to care for her kids even though she wants to. Whether it be drug addiction, having a kid at a young age, or any other issue, the birth moms couldn’t care for their babies, so Ricci’s involvement is a huge help.

Ricci was appropriately honoured by the Neighbourhood Health Plan, and she chose to award her $2,500 to Adoption Rhode Island to help more kids who need homes. She became a mom not only to the kids in her house, but also to the birth moms who needed some help and advice. She helped both her foster children and their birth parents grow as people, and she has been rightly honoured for doing so.