The Haycraft family are seen at their parish of St. Lawrence in Philpot, along with babies they currently foster. As is customary in the foster family community, the babies’ faces have been covered to protect their privacy. COURTESY OF HAYCRAFT FAMILY
‘The difference it makes to us’
Local family shares the blessings of fostering
BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
Note: May is National Foster Care Month.
Being a foster parent “opens up parts of your heart that you didn’t know were there” according to Misty Haycraft, who encourages other families to consider this calling: “It’s very rewarding.”
She and her husband, Ethan, belong to St. Lawrence Parish in eastern Daviess County and have served as foster parents for the past two years.
“We have had 12 different placements,” said Haycraft. “We love the kids. We love making a difference in their lives – but they’re making a difference in our lives, too.”
Currently, the Haycrafts are fostering 10-month-old twins and a nine-month-old, “so it’s like triplets right now!” she chuckled.
She emphasized that fostering requires an all-hands-on-deck approach.
“We have five biological children; our youngest is 14,” she said, adding that their biological kids are actively involved in helping welcome and care for the children. “It has to be the whole family on board; the teenagers help as much as my husband and me. Even my parents are on board. They love all the babies!”
Their parish community of St. Lawrence is equally supportive.
“Everybody at church wants to see the babies when we come in; someone’s always eager to hold a baby; they’re always open and helpful with us,” said Haycraft.
The Haycrafts are able to foster any age group but have expressed a willingness to foster larger sibling units, which are harder to place. The largest family unit they fostered so far was four siblings, and twice they have received three siblings together.
She said that people often tell her “‘I couldn’t do the letting go. How could you get attached and let go?”
“But I wish I could tell more people – if you don’t get attached, the kids don’t heal,” said Haycraft, explaining that kids can tell when someone genuinely loves and cares for them.
And as the children become more comfortable in her home, “the walls come down and they trust you,” she said.
And if a child’s home life improves enough that they can return to their biological family, “it’s so good to see,” said Haycraft.
She has also been asked whether fostering children will disrupt the biological family’s normal routine.
Haycraft explained, instead, that the structure of the foster family’s environment is good for the child: “A few kids come in who are really traumatized and uprooted from the only life they knew. The kids love a routine, since these kids in the system don’t have a routine.”
For instance, in her home, the daily schedule includes saying prayers before bedtime, which the children enjoy.
“People feel like it’ll tear up your home and lifestyle, but that’s not there at all,” she said. “You will continue your life and these kids will love to be a part of it, too.”
Haycraft said that even with both parents working fulltime, it is possible to be a foster parent, though work schedules may require adjustments as needed.
“I try to take a few days off work (after a placement) to spend one-on-one time,” she said.
There are also other ways to support foster families, even if one’s lifestyle is currently not conducive to fostering.
For example, “a couple people have signed up to do respite” said Haycraft, explaining that these volunteers make themselves available to care for the children short-term if the foster parents are unavailable, such as needing to go out of town.
Haycraft said she and her husband became interested in fostering many years ago after her husband’s brother and his wife fostered and ended up adopting their first placement.
“We helped (them) and our hearts felt so drawn to it,” she said. But their biological children were little at the time and life was busy, so they knew they needed to wait until the right time.
When the right time came, they have never looked back.
While Haycraft knows she is helping the children she fosters, “I wish more people could see the difference it makes to us,” she said.
“I wish people could just see the difference these kids make in your life,” she reiterated. “It makes you see things through a whole different lens.”
To learn more about fostering in the Commonwealth of Kentucky visit foster.ky.gov. For Catholic fostering and adoption support within the Diocese of Owensboro, visit owensborodiocese.org/adoptionsupport.
Originally printed in the May 2026 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
