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Troubled boy needs a home and a hero Light One Candle EDITOR'S NOTE : "Light One Candle" is an annual Mail Tribune feature that focuses on a single need of a person, family or agency during the holiday season. For information, call 776-4465 or e-mail [email protected] It will take a true hero to fill this wish; Penny Esser's honest about that up front. It will take a person with an open home and an even more capacious heart to agree to become a foster parent to a troubled 12-year-old all alone in the world. The boy's mother died a few years ago, says Esser, who is foster home certifier for the local branch of state Services to Children and Families. Then the man he thought was his father turned out not to be. And, no, he couldn't keep the kid. So the boy was placed in a residential treatment center, where professionals worked to help him cope with the hurt and the rage of losing so much so soon. "Underneath that, he's a good kid," says Esser. "He likes sports, he likes baseball, and he does well with it." He did so well in treatment, Esser says, that the center believes he's ready to return to a family. But this boy has no family now. "What he needs is a home where he can be the baby of the family, where he's the youngest child or an only child, where he can be nurtured and loved," says Esser. He probably needs one parent at home full time. And he needs folks realistic enough to know that it will take time and energy, as well as love, to help him succeed. "We are looking for true heroes," says Esser, who must find homes for 15 such foster children, usually boys ages 8 to 18. "We're just worried that we're going to have these kids on our doorsteps." All of the children receive medical and mental health care, and a stipend is provided for basic expenses. Esser emphasizes that the need -- and the rewards -- are great. "This is a chance to make a difference in the life of a child," she says. To inquire about necessary training to become a foster parent, call Esser at 776-6120, Ext. 232. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA