An Adoption Success Story | Video

Kristin Clouston | 2/21/2013

Children in foster care may often feel alone, but there are people who care about them. For the past 12 years, professionals and foster parents from North Dakota, surrounding states and Canada have met to share ideas for improving children`s lives. This year, the conference has some special guests.

A few hundred professionals are attending this year`s Indian Child Welfare and Wellness Conference. While many of the stories they hear are sad, there is one that celebrates one woman`s success and how she`s using it to help others.

Looking at and listening to Shy-Anne Hovorka you`d never guess she was once a shy, scared little girl, who needed a home.

"Some of the foster homes were tough and it was hard to say goodbye to my brother, and it was hard to understand why this is happening to me, and why I don`t get to see my parents anymore," she said.

Then Mary and Ed Hovorka came along.

"I looked at the pictures of the girls that was sent and I said that`s the one, they are my girls. Shy-Anne was six, Cherry was three. Beautiful girls. They were mine. I don`t know how I knew, but they were," Mary said.

There were things Mary and Ed couldn`t give or explain to their daughters, so they asked an elder to help teach the entire family about the girl`s Aboriginal culture.

"He continued to be there and talk to the girls all through the growing up at home and it was wonderful. He gave them something that we could not give," Mary said.

They all gave her love, support and taught her to work hard, but Shy-Anne still had questions. The adoption records were sealed and she didn`t know who her biological family was.

"Who do I look like? There were all these questions growing up. I didn`t have the answers, I didn`t know the answers. It bothered me so much. As a teen I started to realize those aren`t really important," she said.

Now Shy-Anne is an award winning Canadian Country music singer and is using her music to help other kids realize they aren`t alone and to let adults know how much they can impact a child`s life thanks to their love and determination.

As adults, Shy-Anne and her sister have convinced their parents to open their home to foster children. They`ve taken in a total of 41 foster kids. Shy-Anne is playing a concert tonight at the Seven Seas in Mandan. It starts at 7:00 and is open to everyone.

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