NEW ORLEANS — “I remember just handing the dog to my husband and sprinting home as fast as I could,” Chelsea Nelson said.
It was a night that would change everything for the Nelson family.
“Just seeing the two little girls waving out of the window with their little smiling faces,” Nelson said.
It was the night their daughters, five and seven years old at the time, would come home.
“I always knew I wanted to be a parent in a non-traditional birthing sense,” Nelson said.
At the time, they were total strangers, foster parents and foster daughters.
Two years later, those strangers would leave the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court as a family.
“Everyone looked at me, and I started shaking my hands and crying, and it was just so special,” Nelson said.
Many of the 4,000 children in Louisiana’s foster care system won’t have Nelson’s happy ending. They will travel from home to home with their favorite toys, family photos, and hopes and dreams, all in a trash bag. One local nonprofit wants to change that.
During foster care awareness month, the COIN Foundation is collecting suitcases for a good cause.
“Imagine having to move your things around in trash bags,” Nelson said.
The organization’s founder, Erika Roy says giving a child a bag of their own can bring stability, something she says is rare for children in the system.
“We're boosting their self-esteem and providing some type of ownership, you know,” Roy said. “They have ownership of their belongings.”
For the Nelson girls, they’ll never need a black trash bag again.
“The judge hit the gavel and came to me and told me she’s never seen this much love in a courtroom,” Nelson said.
If you’re interested in donating a new or gently used suitcase, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church is accepting donations Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.