OSCEOLA COUNTY Fla. — There’s a constant need in Central Florida for both foster parents and parents to adopt children. According to the Florida Department of Children and Families, 3,602 children were adopted last fiscal year, with most of them waiting over a year to be adopted.

One Osceola County woman already has given children the chance to become part of a family.  

It’s hard for Elizabeth Ballard to decide what she loves most about being a mom.

“Watching them grow, all the fun things that are involved with that,” Ballard said.

As a school mental health counselor, she always planned on having a family but wasn’t sure how until a mom of one of her students told her about fostering.

“I’ve always loved children, so once she told me, ‘Yeah, you could be single and still be a foster mom,’ it opened up the possibility of that,” Ballard said.

However, fostering soon evolved into adoption, giving her children of her own.

“That was not my plan at all going into it. I was not planning on adoption,” Ballard said. “I am a Christian, and I believe when God calls on you to do something, he provides.”

Over the last decade, she’s adopted six children by herself.

“You can’t sugarcoat it; it is a journey,” Ballard said. “There is a honeymoon phase, where I know the statistics of adoption, it doesn’t always work out. Some go back into (foster) care, and that is a sad reality because things aren’t always pleasant. I always say it’s the best hard thing I have ever done.”

Her children all have experienced trauma, which she said can be hard to navigate even as a school counselor.

“I definitely wasn’t prepared for what I did encounter, but I think along the way, I found resources and I was able to connect with people who could help,” Ballard said.

She relies on her family, community and Family Partnership of Central Florida Osceola to help her.

Adoption specialist Alyssa Simon is close with the family, checking in on their progress. As a former foster child herself, she said loves to see the children thrive because so many in the area need homes like the one Ballard provides.

“Just alone in Osceola County, we have about 45 kids that we are actively recruiting for, and that ranges from age 5 up to age 17,” Simon said.

Support from Family Partnerships of Central Florida lasts long after the paperwork is signed, she said.

“After an adoption happens, we don’t just leave our parents high and dry,” Simon said. “We want to provide resources if they need some later.”

They are there to help with finances, too, with the state even covering the child’s college education up to age 28.

“We have people who adopt and foster from all financial backgrounds, all different backgrounds, so the financial piece isn’t the main barrier that we see,” Simon said.

That was a concern of Ballard before she adopted.

“I thought the same thing, and I went to a class that told you all of the things that they have set up for you,” Ballard said. “And I realized that it would be possible with my salary and that changed everything for me, and it allowed me to know I can adopt and I can provide for these kids.”

While it’s not a path she had dreamed of, Ballard said it has changed her for the better. She said being a mom has given her purpose, raising her family and helping her kids create the lives they deserve.

“It’s a great feeling. I wish that more kids were given that opportunity,” Ballard said.

The Florida Department of Children and Families has a website with information about courses the fostering and adoption process.