We are family

NEA Today, Apr 1999

Thirteen years ago, it was an easy decision for Billie Lacy, a young, single kindergarten teacher, to become a foster parent.

It was much tougher two years ago when she decided to become legal guardian to the three sisters and an eight-month-old infant-all on a single teacher's salary.

Lacy, an NEA member and teacher at Manor Lake Elementary in Memphis, Tennessee, met 18-year-old Kaylyndra in her classroom 13 years ago.

When Kaylyndra's natural mother could no longer raise her, Lacy invited the girl and her two younger sisters to live in Lacy's home. For several years, the girls stayed with Lacy off and on.

Two years ago the teenage girls got tired of being shuffled around between foster homes and begged Lacy to accept the formal title, "mom." She did.

"The girls deserve a chance to grow up in a loving environment," says Lacy. The new family of six includes Lacy, the three teens, Kaylyndra's 8-month-old son, and Lacy's own 7-year-old son.

"We struggle, but we're making it," Lacy says. "Love makes up for the extra things we don't have."

Last October, television talk show host Oprah Winfrey saluted Lacy on-air as part of a show highlighting people who have done good deeds.