WASHINGTON – Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) recognized Angela and Samuel Coston of Texarkana, Texas last week as the 2018 Angels in Adoption honorees for Texas’ 4th District.
The Angels in Adoption program provides an annual opportunity for U.S. Representatives to honor families in their home district who change lives through dedication to adoption or foster care. The Costons were selected for this honor for founding a foster care ministry in Texarkana called “For the Sake of One,” which serves foster children, foster parents and case workers.
“I’m incredibly inspired by the Costons’ dedication to helping foster families and their case workers in the Texarkana area, and I’m humbled for the opportunity to recognize them as this year’s Angels in Adoption honorees for the 4th District of Texas,” Ratcliffe said.
“On top of taking children into their own home, the Costons’ ministry has brought together many kind-hearted individuals and organizations in the community to help improve the lives of very deserving young people. I’m looking forward to the ongoing positive impact they will have in the years to come.”
The Costons were inspired to start their foster care ministry based on their own experience as foster parents. Their services aim to help encourage foster families through the difficulties of fostering children. They include:
- providing clothing to agencies tasked with placing children in foster homes,
- adopting caseworkers to support in their efforts,
- mentoring foster children’s biological parents,
- recruiting foster families,
- supporting current foster families,
- providing a location for supervised visitation, and
- coordinating churches and nonprofit groups to provide Christmas parties, gifts and birthday celebrations for children in foster care.
In addition to being congratulated personally by Ratcliffe for their efforts on behalf of foster children in Texarkana, the Costons were recognized by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) at an Angel in Adoption awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.
