Congresswoman Laura Richardson Honors the Service and Dedication of Ms. Cynthia Berry of Long Beach

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize the service and dedication of one of my own constituents, Ms. Cynthia Berry. For almost five years now Ms. Berry has been an essential part of the Long Beach foster care program.

Ms. Berry's story is simple but inspiring. She graduated from college and took in her first foster children in her early 20's, ready to open her heart and home to try and give those less fortunate the warm and happy childhood she had experienced. When she went on to nursing school it was too time consuming to give the children everything they deserved, so she took a break from the foster care system.

After becoming a single parent and raising her daughter, Ms. Berry decided it was time once again to become a foster parent. Over the past five years she has selflessly brought 20 children through her home, and showed them a type of love and nurture their own families were not able to provide.

At 50 years old she is showing no signs of slowing down, and is currently in the process of adopting her three most recent children who are all under the age of five. In California there are over 80,000 children in the foster care system, the majority of whom are placed there as a result of parental abuse or neglect.

As a member of the Congressional Caucus of Foster Youth I am amazed by the way Ms. Berry works with the families of her children to help them become better parents. This way they will hopefully have the opportunity to return to a safe and happier home.

Most of the children that pass through her home are able to go back to their own families after being cleared by the state, but when they are unable to they continue in the system until they are 18. From there they are pretty much on their own with limited financial support from the state. Their only real hope is people like Ms. Berry, who get them out of the system.

In 2008, there was an average of 123,000 children waiting to be adopted. Over the course of the year only 55,000 of these children managed to be adopted.

It is vital that these foster homes are warm and nurturing places a child feels safe in. These children have already experienced so much pain in their lives, and this might be their first experience of having a caring parent watching out for them. Ms. Berry provides them with that love and security.

For all her work and dedication Ms. Berry is being honored at an open house reception put on by Aspiranet, the agency that she works with. She will share her story and experiences with all the children she has helped over the years. Since May is National Foster Care Month it seems fitting that a woman of her caliber should represent the Long Beach foster care system.

Mr. Speaker, Ms. Berry is the type of woman we should all look to for inspiration. She is hardworking, selfless and above all, a caring mother to all her children, biological or not. When we are feeling overwhelmed, overworked or just unhappy about our own lives, we should look to Ms. Berry, who does it all with a smile, and asks for nothing in return except the future success of the kids she loves so much.