Fostering Hope: The Stewart family

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - In May, WTHI-TV began a special partnership with the Vigo County Department of Child Services to bring you stories of hope. Stories of local foster children and a focus on the great need for more, good foster homes in our community.

I am very happy to tell you ten families stepped forward after our stories aired. One of those new foster families is the Stewart family of Terre Haute.

The Stewarts have three children of their own, but they decided they wanted to help local kids in need.

Dennis and Crysti Stewart were planning on taking in just one child, but two sibling boys needed a safe haven. So, they rescued the three and four year old little boys.

Then, one of Crysti's family members could no longer care for their three children.

Afraid they too would end up in the foster system, Dennis and Crysti took in the three children as well. Suddenly this Terre Haute family grew from three children to eight!

Dennis Stewart told News 10 "There are people who have needs, great needs, here in the community. So this was an opportunity for us to stay within the community and be able to help a family or a child."

What I found when I went to the Stewarts was a lot of love and a lot of laughter. The children all get a long well.

Dennis is teaching the little ones the importance of good manners and Crysti homeschools most of the children.

The two foster boys will soon be reunited with their parents, but the Stewarts will have the three cousins for at least the school year until they are healthy to go home again.

Crysti Stewart told News 10 "We've seen the children in our homes grow leaps and bounds in their speech or developmental delays they no longer have."

Dennis and Crysti say being a foster parent is the hardest job you'll ever love.

Even when the five needy children move on to better things, the Stewarts tell me they'll likely continue to foster other children.

They are a great asset to the foster care system in our community and we hope we can get more like them to step forward and say "I too want to help"!

If you would like to help, click here .