Foster and adoption advocate Keri Vellis and her husband, Ted, have been welcoming foster children into their Sonoma County home since 2013. While they have three biological children and three children adopted through the foster care system, ranging in age from 2 to 16, the Vellis family continues to open their home to emergency foster children.
“After my husband and I had three biological children, we really felt like our kids were so lucky and fortunate. We had a great life to offer more children, and we wanted to open our home and help,” explains Vellis. To date, they have welcomed 15 children in their home, from newborn to teenagers.
Throughout the experience of fostering, Vellis searched unsuccessfully for an appropriate children’s book that could gently ease the transition for displaced kids. Children often arrive scared, shy and not necessarily accustomed to a thriving, loving family environment. “I just found that there wasn’t anything out there that kids could relate to. And then one afternoon I was waiting in line to pick up my kids from school, and I just started writing it. I wrote the book in a half hour and knew I had to get it published immediately!”
Vellis based her book “Sometimes” on her own firsthand experiences working with foster children. She collaborated with illustrator Jin Lehr, who happens to be a former foster child. The book follows a timid child going to a new home and interacting with a new family. Though initially scared, the child comes to realize there will be safety and comfort in the new home. It was important for Vellis that all children be able to relate to the book, not only foster children. “Sometimes kids must go live with a grandma or an aunt or an uncle, or whomever. No matter what the living situation is, they are being removed from their security and go into an entirely new environment. I want them to know it can be a safe and loving place.” The California State Foster Parent Association, Inc. applauds the book as “both helpful and inspirational.”
In January 2018 Vellis was gratefully nominated by Ellen Degeneres and Cheerios for their One Million Acts of Good campaign. While attending Degeneres’ 60th Birthday Celebration, all audience members received $1,000,000 to share as long as they continued to “do good and pay it forward” with the money. Since Vellis and her husband funded the self-published first book on their own, she knew she could now publish her new book in part by using the gifted money to help.
Her new release, “When I Was Little”, speaks to children who have been exposed to abuse or trauma. Once again, Vellis found that there weren’t any age appropriate books for young children experiencing these difficult situations, so she took it upon herself to write another helpful book.
Illustrated by Lehr once again, the colorful book will be available in early April. Both books may be purchased on her website www.kerivellis.com as well as on Amazon.com. On her website, Vellis also has purchasing options for donating books to foster programs. Her goal is to get a copy of “Sometimes” into the hands of every child entering the foster care system.
For more information, visit www.kerivellis.com or email info@kerivellis.com.
Owner/Editor - Chris Chmielewski