“I can’t explain it — I just knew I was supposed to be their mom.” The couple, who share five adult children, “we were getting ready to retire,” Pam admitted. “It was what God wanted us to do,” Pam said. That night, they called the number listed at the bottom of the story. The children, as Pam learned during the screening process, had experienced a great deal of trauma. Their late parents struggled with addiction and the family often lived in homeless encampments. Food was scarce.

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