Everyone wants a place they can call home. Sadly, for some people, this may seem like a distant possibility or a dream that will never come true. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 213,964 children under the age of 18 entered the United States foster care system in 2020. This is a rate of three per 1,000, with children ages 1 through 5 making up the largest number of kids in the system.
Bryson, Brody and Wesley were once three of these children who bounced around from various homes in the foster care system in Alexandria, Kentucky. Their family life hadn’t been the best, and they needed somewhere they could finally call their own. The brothers – aged 7, 8 and 9 back in 2018 – feared they would be separated from one another the longer they stayed in foster care.
Fortunately for them, two nearby heroes did everything in their power to rescue the boys and keep them all together. Hollie and Bryan Schroers were already parents of three adult children and one then-12-year-old, but they found room in their home – and their hearts – to make some important additions to the family.
After learning about Bryson, Brody and Wesley’s story, Hollie and Bryan wanted to do whatever they could to ensure that the three brothers would be together forever. They weren’t planning on having more kids at the time, but they knew these young boys were meant to be part of their family. So, the Schroers added three more to their humble abode, giving the siblings a forever home.
A temporary situation for three siblings became the place they now call their forever home. According to WLWT 9, Hollie and Bryan took in brothers Bryson, Brody and Wesley in January 2018 to foster them while they were in the foster care system.
“They were living in a hotel with their birth parents, and it was just one room and all the kids, and there was a lot of other stuff that was going on,” Hollie said. “We really didn’t want to adopt, but we just kind of fell in love with them.”
Finally, in December of that year, Bryson, Brody and Wesley were given the best Christmas gift a kid could ask for: a place to call home. And their celebration was done in style.
According to WCPO 9, the Campbell County courtroom in Newport, Kentucky, was the place for celebration as the adoption meant that all three brothers would stay together. “It’s just a big day – almost like a wedding – taking on some new people, making a whole new family,” Hollie said. “We already had four, three more and maybe another here soon.” She added:
“They’ve had a lot happen to them. So they finally get that, ‘We’re permanently here and nobody can take us away anymore.’”
WCPO 9 reported that the Schroer family went to Build-A-Bear afterward so Bryson, Brody and Wesley could adopt a bear, adding even more adoptions to their adoption day. The three boys were over the moon with their new living situation, especially knowing that they finally had parents “who take care of them.” Wesley said:
“We get to live with another forever family. They’re amazing.”