Jewel with Blondie.
EVERY FOSTER CHILD DREAMS OF A PERMANENT HOME and a forever family. For Jewel Watts, 2021 brought the fulfillment of this long-harbored dream.
Jewel’s journey through the child welfare system began when she was still in diapers. By the time she arrived at Hephzibah Home at the age of six, she was struggling with anxiety, depression and PTSD. Over the next six years, she received the intensive therapy and emotional support she needed to heal from her traumatic past.
By 2015, Jewel was blossoming. It was time to take the next step—and that’s when Hephzibah foster parents Carol Jacobson and Frank Quintana came into her life.
“Frank and Carol really bonded with Jewel,” says Hephzibah foster care caseworker Colleen Grusecki. “The three of them quickly became a tight family unit.”
“We didn’t go into this thinking it was temporary,” explains Carol. “We were committed to Jewel through good times and bad. Frank and I knew nothing about raising a child. But we all grew together.”
Six years passed before Jewel was emotionally ready to move forward with a legal adoption.
“I kept changing my mind because I still felt connected to my biological family,” she confides. “But then one day I realized that Frank and Carol were my family too. They raised me from the age of 12. Every day, they took good care of me and showed me that they loved me.”
With Jewel’s go-ahead, Frank and Carol initiated the adoption process. Then COVID hit and the world shut down.
“We weren’t sure the adoption was going to happen this year because of COVID,” says Frank. “But we felt like a family from the moment that we met Jewel—and we didn’t need a piece of paper to prove that.”
Nonetheless, Hephzibah’s Foster Care team pushed hard to make Jewel’s wish a reality before she turned 18. After a series of COVID-related roadblocks—from delays in getting paperwork processed to family court closures—Jewel, her family and her Hephzibah caseworkers heaved a collective sigh of relief when the adoption was finalized in a Zoom court procedure less than 24 hours before she became a legal adult.
Today, with two loving adoptive parents, a home in Brookfield near the zoo, three dogs, two cats and a horse named Blondie, this gentle animal lover and recent high school grad is happier than she’s ever been.
Next up? College!
“I’m going to Triton in the fall to earn an ultrasound tech degree,” says Jewel. “I’m excited about starting college, because I want to have a good life and a good job.”
“My life has had its ups and downs,” she reflects. “But I’m doing so much better—and I’m so grateful to have a forever home.”