Kinship Care Story: A Father Raised by Relatives Steps Up for a Child Who Needs Him

Norberto knows from experience what it means to be raised by relatives. He lost his mother and his little brother when he was young, and his father struggled with addiction. His grandmother moved him from New York to Manchester, New Hampshire, to remove him from that life. An aunt, whom he calls his “mom figure,” has raised him since he was 11.

“I struggled quite a bit dealing with the emotions of losing my whole family,” Norberto shared. He is open about the hard years that followed, including trouble as a teenager and again as a young adult. “I recently got my life together at about 32 years old,” he wrote. He went on to work at a group home, where he moved up to a management role and was repeatedly recognized as faculty of the week.

Today, he and his wife, Jessica, are raising six children in a blended family. One of them, E., joined the family through adoption. E.’s biological parents, who are relatives of Jessica’s, are dealing with substance use disorder and were unable to give her the support she needed. E. still has contact with them.

Life has become very hard for the family. Norberto recently lost his job. He bought a pressure washer to try to build a side business, but finding customers has been difficult. For years he worked evening shifts, “missing so much time with my kids,” and he tried to transfer to another part of the program so he could be home with them more. The family is behind on rent and on his car. His aunt, who has had stage four cancer for two years, is now in home hospice care, and he has been missing work to help care for her. All of the children are in sports.

“Life is definitely life’ing me right now,” Norberto wrote.

Step Up Parents made a payment toward the family’s Eversource bill.

“Your act of kindness definitely put a smile on my face,” he told us, “and helped me knock one thing off my list that’s keeping me stressed.”

Norberto’s story shows how kinship care can run through generations. A man once taken in by family is now raising children who need him, while caring for the aunt who raised him. We’re grateful to Norberto and Jessica for stepping up for E., and for trusting us with their story.

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