Heather Gilmore

My parents ran a group home for 10 years. We always had 12 kids living with us plus my brother and I. Over the 10 year span 90 kids lived with us. Our home was one level below an institution, so we had children placed with us who were one step away from being institutionalized. Through the years we had a myriade of experiences. Some kids lived with us for 5 years, some kids for 3 days. Some kids were supposed to be in an institution but there were no beds available. We lived on a working farm, meaning we mostly ate what we raised, so all kids had farm chores and contributed to the care of the animals. After 10 years our parents experienced financial difficulties and our dad had to go back to work. That was the end of the group home.