“Give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus”.
1Thessalonians 5:18
Oh my, I just found this document! It is a certificate issued by the Dallas Department of Health. It was in a folder that Charlotte Geary, who was an outstanding record keeper, had saved for us. The folder was labeled “The Blacks,” and it contained various information about myself (Susie) and my siblings: Jay, Vicky, Steve, and Bennett Black.
On the permit, “Type of Institution” sounds so “cold” and “ominous,” which “The Geary Home” absolutely was not! I find it fascinating that in 1967, the Geary Residence in Dallas was the FIRST Geary Foster Home. Now, here we are 57 years later, operating Geary Foster Foundations as a tribute to Joe and Charlotte Geary and their unwavering love and support for myself and my siblings.
Colleen and I shared a room when I lived with the Geary’s, and now, all these years later, we share a passion for recreating the family environment in foster care. There were five of us and Jay and Bennett were sent to different placements because the Geary home was at maximum capacity. The total number of teens in the home was eight! There were the three of us (Vicky, me,and Steve), their four children, and an exchange student. Charlotte became the mother of many, and her organizational skills had to be pushed to the limit! We were a lively, busy, noisy group of teenagers who were all part of one big, loving family! We lived with the Geary’s for a little over a year before returning home.
Our subsequent placement was in a foster home owned and operated by the East Dallas Exchange Club, where Joe Geary was president. Four of the five of us were placed with foster parents who were of a “mature” age, and their children were grown and out of the home. They were a loving Christian couple who had been fostering sibling groups in this home for several years. Jay, my oldest sibling, went to live with a relative in Oklahoma. Our success in the foster care system can be attributed to the stability and permanency we experienced by remaining in Dallas, attending the same schools, and remaining in the same neighborhood.
All these years later, Colleen and I have co-founded a foster home community. She cannot seem to get rid of me….and just like when we were kids, I continue to “encourage” her participation in my creative plans. With Geary Foster Foundations, we are recreating the “family environment” in each of our homes in one location, with families supporting each other, understanding, and sharing the needs of these traumatized children. Our foster parents are the key to the success of our program, along with the “healthy country environment” that we have created on twelve acres in North Texas.
Thus, the journey continues!
Susie Black Holamon
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