KidsPeace Foster Care and Community Programs (FCCP) has announced that Shakitta McLeod of Fayetteville has been chosen as its 2023 State Foster Parent of the Year for North Carolina.
Ms. McLeod was chosen by state FCCP leadership for the recognition following her nomination by Mike Edelman, program manager at the Fayetteville office. In his nomination Edelman noted Ms. McLeod’s commitment to providing a loving environment to any child entrusted to her care:
“Since becoming a foster parent, Ms. Shakitta has provided amazing care for multiple children, some of which have been the most challenging we have had. She always treats all of the children placed in her home with respect and dignity. She believes in the power of a child’s potential to overcome past traumas and hardships to grow up to become a successful adult. She truly sees the good in all people.”
Edelman also noted Ms. McLeod’s work as a mentor – including convincing her best friend to be licensed as a foster parent with KidsPeace:
“This friend had never planned on becoming a foster parent but after seeing Ms. Shakitta foster and meeting the children Ms. Shakitta had placed in her home, it gave her confidence that she could do it too. Because that is what Ms. Shakitta does; she builds people up, she gives them confidence to be the best versions of what they can be.”
The recognition is part of KidsPeace’s National Foster Parent of the Year program, now in its second year as a celebration of National Foster Care Month in May. Foster families from each of the six states served by KidsPeace FCCP are nominated to be considered for the National designation – to be announced at the KidsPeace FCCP Virtual National Conference on Saturday, May 6, 2023.
