My City November 2022

MYSTORY

The Best Thing in the World The DeLorenzo Family BY PETER HINTERMAN u PHOTOS PROVIDED BY CODY DELORENZO

everything,” he adds. “ e process can take three to six months.” During that time, the couple had to complete pre-licensure training in which they learned about traumas and triggers and how to adjust to a bevy of kids’ per sonalities and challenges. Each potential foster household gets to set parameters as to what child they would want to live in their home. “At rst, we told the agency that we were open for anyone,” DeLo renzo remembers, “but since we were a young couple, it was recommended that we narrow the eld a little, especially when it came to physical disabilities. e agency wanted us to be successful and we listened to them. We limited it to age 17 or younger and with no extreme physical impairment.” It is not uncommon for fos ter placement to happen immediately after the parents receive their license and for the DeLorenzo family, things moved quickly. Today, Cody and Shannon are the parents of two adopted boys: Lamar (age 9) and Jayden (age 15).

C ody and Shannon DeLorenzo have no idea how it all started. “We both knew what we want ed to do and, honestly, I don’t think either one of us remem bers when we took the rst step,” says Cody. “We both knew we wanted to be foster par ents.” After they married in 2018, they got ready to begin the process. “Shannon was Lamar

working as a foster care licensing manager, so we kind of knew what to expect. We started getting our house set up immedi ately,” recalls DeLorenzo. ey reached out to a friend in Clio who put them in touch with a local organization as the rst step in achieving their foster care license. “We were interviewed, had to provide income statements, and undergo a home visit that included measuring our rooms and

“Lamar came to us when he was ve years old,” states DeLorenzo. “It was just after Christmas, so we celebrated it with him in January. He loved it – he loves getting presents, that’s for sure!” ings went smoothly but after a time, Lamar began to be triggered more frequent ly as he struggled with his past and his emotions. “ ere is always a ‘honeymoon period’ when things are great but after a while, reality sets in,” says DeLorenzo. “You never know what is going to happen

until you are knee-deep in it.We were ready for it and learned through training how to deal with what can happen.”Lamar began to lash out, especially at school. It got to the point where DeLorenzo had to move his work to a room in the school so Lamar could have a chance to visit him when he needed to settle down. “He was just a sad kid but all of a sudden, a switch ipped and, with the help of his teacher Mrs. Holland, he started to excel. Now he loves school and this year, he begged us

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