Foster The Future
The Mason Family Story
The Mason Family
Heather and Cory Mason expected to foster small children but changed their minds after meeting a teenager who felt like no one wanted to care for her because of her age.
On a mission trip to Kentucky, Heather and Cory Mason met a teenage girl living in a group home named Fel, who changed the course of their lives.
“Fel said ‘Let me guess, you want to [foster] little kids, right? Because no one wants older kids like us,’” Heather recalled. “That’s the cold, hard truth. It was a heart-wrenching moment.”
The couple, with two young children of their own, had already started foster classes and had expected to take in babies and toddlers. Fel’s words unraveled that plan leading the Masons to track Fel down using nothing but her unique name to find her six months later. Fel was shocked when the Masons had returned for her, staying at hotels on the weekends near Cincinnati to spend time with her before they were fully licensed on Feb. 14, 2019.
The Masons had no experience raising a teenager, only determination to figure it out as they went along. They fostered Fel for the required six months before legally adopting her.
“We had to learn how to parent a teenager without going through the natural progression of that age,” Heather said. “So that’s been hard, but I totally believe it’s been worth it.
“There’s still trauma, but we’ve gotten to show her love and trust — things she hasn’t experienced consistently from one family. She can see her own worth and that she can amount to something and already does. She is 18 and she never even imagined making it to her 16th birthday.”
The Masons also took legal custody of another teenager named Tasha. Initially, the Masons didn’t think Tasha would be a good fit based on what they read in her case file and her previous foster experiences.
“We ended up getting exposed to covid literally that day Tasha came and we had to quarantine for 2 weeks,” Heather said. “Honestly it was the biggest blessing ever because we got to just get to know her. The things we were read in her file were awful. It was pretty scary, like yes we’ll do it for a few days, but that’s it. But we hadn’t met her. We didn’t know her.
“We instantly formed a bond. She has such a peaceful spirit … She is just so kind. She has worked extremely hard for all the things she’s gotten.”
After fostering Tasha, they took legal custody of her in April 2021, which is slightly different than adoption but offers all of the legal rights parents are afforded.
Tasha and Fel both graduated high school in 2021.
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Q&A
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING WITH THE FOSTER PROGRAM?
Feb. 14, 2019
HOW MANY CHILDREN HAVE YOU FOSTERED?
6 kids
WHY DID YOU BECOME A FOSTER PARENT?
In the beginning, it was out of selfish reasons — I wanted more children. I was only biologically able to have two. Right after we started foster parenting, it changed. Now our entire mission has completely changed. It’s absolutely about reunification, and if that’s not possible, it’s supporting the kids.
WHAT IS THE MOST REWARDING PART OF FOSTERING?
That we see God’s grace in all of it and that we see His love and mercy all over it. There is not one day that He hasn’t shown a part of Him in all of it.
WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING?
Just parenting teenagers in general. That’s all we’ve done through foster care. Just figuring that out. You have to parent every child differently.
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WELCOME A NEW MEMBER TO YOUR FAMILY?
Honestly, we love it, but it is really hard. You do have this honeymoon period for a while but you do need to build trust. We treat them exactly like we treat our own children. We don’t want to read their file and judge them by that. We want to give them a chance to start new.
WHAT IS A MOMENT YOU REFLECT ON FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE?
The moment that always comes to me is going back to the very beginning from going to foster little kids to big kids after meeting Fel. Our whole entire perspective has changed completely and we haven’t look back.
There are so many teenagers that need love, need to be taught, and need guidance. It is brutally hard, but to see these kids flourish into things they never thought possible is amazing.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE CONSIDERING FOSTERING?
I would say give the teenagers a shot, for sure. It’s scray, but if we don’t step up and do it, who’s going to?
HOW HAS FOSTERING CHANGED YOUR LIFE?
We have become very selfless, not that we aren’t thinking about ourselves, but it’s come to a point where we are definitely thinking about others and families. It’s all we want to do is help these families.
WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU DIDN’T EXPECT THAT HAD A BIG IMPACT ON YOU?
That trauma still runs so deep. I wish that wasn’t so. I honestly thought that us coming in and taking care of these kids would fix it. I thought that adopting them and giving them a home and loving them would be enough and it’s not.
Heather and Cory Mason expected to foster small children but changed their minds after meeting a teenager who felt like no one wanted to care for her because of her age.
On a mission trip to Kentucky, Heather and Cory Mason met a teenage girl living in a group home named Fel, who changed the course of their lives.
“Fel said ‘Let me guess, you want to [foster] little kids, right? Because no one wants older kids like us,’” Heather recalled. “That’s the cold, hard truth. It was a heart-wrenching moment.”
The couple, with two young children of their own, had already started foster classes and had expected to take in babies and toddlers. Fel’s words unraveled that plan leading the Masons to track Fel down using nothing but her unique name to find her six months later. Fel was shocked when the Masons had returned for her, staying at hotels on the weekends near Cincinnati to spend time with her before they were fully licensed on Feb. 14, 2019.
The Masons had no experience raising a teenager, only determination to figure it out as they went along. They fostered Fel for the required six months before legally adopting her.
“We had to learn how to parent a teenager without going through the natural progression of that age,” Heather said. “So that’s been hard, but I totally believe it’s been worth it.
“There’s still trauma, but we’ve gotten to show her love and trust — things she hasn’t experienced consistently from one family. She can see her own worth and that she can amount to something and already does. She is 18 and she never even imagined making it to her 16th birthday.”
The Masons also took legal custody of another teenager named Tasha. Initially, the Masons didn’t think Tasha would be a good fit based on what they read in her case file and her previous foster experiences.
“We ended up getting exposed to covid literally that day Tasha came and we had to quarantine for 2 weeks,” Heather said. “Honestly it was the biggest blessing ever because we got to just get to know her. The things we were read in her file were awful. It was pretty scary, like yes we’ll do it for a few days, but that’s it. But we hadn’t met her. We didn’t know her.
“We instantly formed a bond. She has such a peaceful spirit … She is just so kind. She has worked extremely hard for all the things she’s gotten.”
After fostering Tasha, they took legal custody of her in April 2021, which is slightly different than adoption but offers all of the legal rights parents are afforded.
Tasha and Fel both graduated high school in 2021.
-----------------
Q&A
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING WITH THE FOSTER PROGRAM?
Feb. 14, 2019
HOW MANY CHILDREN HAVE YOU FOSTERED?
6 kids
WHY DID YOU BECOME A FOSTER PARENT?
In the beginning, it was out of selfish reasons — I wanted more children. I was only biologically able to have two. Right after we started foster parenting, it changed. Now our entire mission has completely changed. It’s absolutely about reunification, and if that’s not possible, it’s supporting the kids.
WHAT IS THE MOST REWARDING PART OF FOSTERING?
That we see God’s grace in all of it and that we see His love and mercy all over it. There is not one day that He hasn’t shown a part of Him in all of it.
WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING?
Just parenting teenagers in general. That’s all we’ve done through foster care. Just figuring that out. You have to parent every child differently.
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WELCOME A NEW MEMBER TO YOUR FAMILY?
Honestly, we love it, but it is really hard. You do have this honeymoon period for a while but you do need to build trust. We treat them exactly like we treat our own children. We don’t want to read their file and judge them by that. We want to give them a chance to start new.
WHAT IS A MOMENT YOU REFLECT ON FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE?
The moment that always comes to me is going back to the very beginning from going to foster little kids to big kids after meeting Fel. Our whole entire perspective has changed completely and we haven’t look back.
There are so many teenagers that need love, need to be taught, and need guidance. It is brutally hard, but to see these kids flourish into things they never thought possible is amazing.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE CONSIDERING FOSTERING?
I would say give the teenagers a shot, for sure. It’s scray, but if we don’t step up and do it, who’s going to?
HOW HAS FOSTERING CHANGED YOUR LIFE?
We have become very selfless, not that we aren’t thinking about ourselves, but it’s come to a point where we are definitely thinking about others and families. It’s all we want to do is help these families.
WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU DIDN’T EXPECT THAT HAD A BIG IMPACT ON YOU?
That trauma still runs so deep. I wish that wasn’t so. I honestly thought that us coming in and taking care of these kids would fix it. I thought that adopting them and giving them a home and loving them would be enough and it’s not.