Donnie and Richard Clark were one of the first licensed foster families to join A Place to Call Home over seven years ago, caring for children with developmental disabilities. They will always be a genuine asset to A Place to Call Home as well as to foster care as a whole. Donnie has been quoted as saying, “if you can’t do it in love, don’t do it at all.”

Tragically, Richard passed away in April of 2003. It was important to Donnie that she continue to foster parent the three children still in her care in an effort to preserve the onlyfamily and home life the children knew and to prepare them for their future homes with new families. After ten years of foster parenting, Donnie decided to close her foster care license in September of 2004 so that she could focus on the five adopted children to which she and Richard made permanent commitments.

Over the years as foster parents, the Clark’s willingly, and with open hearts, accepted every identified foster child into their home and met each child’s needs with diligence, advocacy and love. Richard and Donnie were very involved foster parents and together, they made a great foster parent team. Donnie and Richard fostered a total of twelve children with developmental disabilities and adopted five children in the ten years they were licensed.

Love was always abundant in the Clark home and each child placed in the Clark’s foster care thrived in the warmth of their loving home. Richard and Donnie were strong advocates for the children both academically and educationally. They were regular cheerleaders at adaptive T-ball games and special Olympic events for the children in their care. Richard and Donnie regularly packed up their eleven passenger van to enjoy family trips to the White Mountains and to California.

Today, the Clark home is filled with pictures of each happy foster and adopted child and loving memories of the many children who were a part of their family. In the Clark’s honor, A Place To Call Home has renamed the annual Foster Family of the Year Award to the Richard and Connie Clark Award. A Place to Call Home will greatly miss the Clark family, though proudly acknowledges the Clark’s incredible and heart felt contribution to foster and adoptive care.