“I was actually on a waiting list for almost 6 months to get Sarah in – I had heard such great things, I knew I wanted her to come here. When we finally got in, she was still in foster care, so we had a foster care voucher to help cover daycare expenses, which was a huge help. What I didn’t know until closer to adoption, though, was that she is one of the 10% of foster kids that doesn’t receive any services after adoption. So the staff here talked to me about the scholarship they offer, and it was really a blessing because it got me from the voucher to another state program, which I have now. I used the scholarship for I think 4 or 5 months, but it was the biggest blessing. Obviously if I didn’t get the scholarship it wouldn’t have affected whether I would have adopted her or not, but it definitely would have put a strain on us. I probably would’ve had to ask my family for help, but it’s hard to do that when you’re an adult and “grown up,” you know.
And outside of the scholarship they offer, I just really love CCK (The Children’s Center of Knoxville). What immediately blew me away when we first started coming here was that by the third day, every single teacher knew her name. We’d walk down the hall and they’d greet us by name, and with all the kids here, the care they took to get to know us really impressed me. Sarah’s also really matured in her language and in her behavior. They even helped potty train her, which is a huge help when she’s this age. And it’s not like this is just a daycare, really – it’s more education focused, rather than just babysitting focused. The staff is so qualified and involved with both the kids and the parents – I just love working with them. We really love it here.”