Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
May 11, 2007

Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic Fannie Mae Elkins (second from left) with (from left) her daughter Monica Smith, former foster daughter Patricia Mack-Matthews and daughter Debbie Larkins.

Detroit – Fannie Mae Elkins has lost count of just how many foster children she has cared for in the 44 years she has taken in children through Catholic Social Services of Wayne County.

Even the agency isn't quite sure of the number, "but from what we can tell from our files, it's more than 300," says Patrick J. Heron, president and CEO of CSSWC.

Elkins, 81, will be among the honorees at CSSWC's 2007 Leadership Recognition Dinner, May 16.

She recalls how, back in 1963, she had recently had to give up work as a cosmetologist because of a reaction to the chemicals, and was sitting at home watching television when she saw a message from CSSWC about the need for foster parents. "And I thought, we could do that," she says, referring to herself and her late husband, Paul Elkins, who died last November.

"In those days, they would only take you if you were a Catholic. I'm a Baptist, but my husband was Catholic and belonged to St. Gregory the Great Parish all those years, so that was OK," Elkins says.

The first foster child placed with the family was a 16-year-old girl, but most of the placements through the years have been much younger, from babies through 10-year-olds, and these days Elkins will only take them through age 7.

The couple also raised three children of their own — daughters Paulette Clark, Debbie Larkins and Monica Smith — and then raised Paulette's son, Jerome Clark, after she died.

Along the way, they also adopted one of their foster children, Sherrie Osakwe, now 33 and a resident of Brooklyn Park, Minn.

Their other foster children over the years were either returned to their families after a time — if not with their parents, then with some other relations — or put up for adoption.

"We always had three or four with us at a time," Elkins says.

Patricia Mack-Matthews has fond recollections of her time as a foster child in the Elkins' home. "I was here about three-and-a-half years with my sister, Bernadette, until one of our great aunts took us in, and it was great," she recalls.

"It was some stability compared to what I had experienced, and stability is what all children want. We came from a family of 11, and then my mother passed away and we were split up," says Mack-Matthews, 52.

She also appreciates the opportunity the Elkins gave them to get a quality Catholic-school education while she and her sister were there, explaining that the couple sent all of the children — their own and their foster kids — to Madonna Elementary School in those days.

Among her favorite memories are the trips they would take to Fannie Mae Elkins' parents' farm in Mississippi. "We went away every summer, and that was so special — I had never been out of the backyard before, so it was a real experience. It was something to look forward to, and we always got a new wardrobe for the trip," Mack-Matthews remembers.

Larkins, 50, also has happy memories of growing up in a house along with several foster children at any given time, and particularly of the years when Mack-Matthews was there. "I really came to think of Trish as my sister," she says.

And Larkins also remembers how her late father always took extra care for their safety: "He drove us everywhere — to and from school, and to all our extra-curricular activities, and also our friends, too. Everyone around here (the Elkins' home on Dexter near Puritan) called him grandpa and calls my mom, mom."

Elkins interjects that, in recent years, her foster children have taken to calling her grandma instead of mom.

Thinking back over her years of foster parenting, Elkins says, "Most of the kids had never been to church, but I took them to church every Sunday and they had to learn their prayers and say a blessing before meals. Many of them were very foul-mouthed when they came, but they had to learn respect, and they had to learn to play with other kids."

Larkins recalls how it would often be evident that the foster children had come from harsh circumstances. "A lot of them didn't seem to know anything about living in a house; for a week after they got here they'd be grabbing food like they had never seen food before," she says.

Heron says CSSWC still needs people to serve as foster parents, even though the case load is much lower than it was decades ago. "I can't tell you how grateful we are for people like the Elkins," he says.

For more information about the foster parent program of Catholic Social Services of Wayne County, call (313) 883-2100.