Former foster kid now house parent at residential foster care home

For 12 years, Norm Cookson and his wife, Heidi, have worked as “house parents” at nonprofit foster care home A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay. It’s a role that hits close to home for Cookson, as he spent time in the foster care system in Connecticut when he was a teenager.

“Heidi and I have had to work three times harder than most people to get where we are, because of where we came from,” Cookson, 56, said. “We had no role models growing up, no one showed us how to save money. We had to wing it, a lot of times.”

Meanwhile, A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay (AKPTB) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides a safe, nurturing home to children in foster care in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties. There, Cookson, Heidi and the other house parents work 24-hour shifts seven days a week in their assigned houses, and then have one week off. This house-parent model helps provide stability and normalcy to the children living on campus, some of whom are there for years, as well as a first-hand example of a loving and healthy marriage.

“It feels good to know that I can help someone and really rewarding to make a positive impact on the kids,” Cookson said. “It’s tough to break through with some of them, but when I do have those moments where I know the kids feel safe with me and know I care about them, it’s worth it.”

While on shift, the Cooksons’ days usually start at 6 a.m. and end around 10 or 11 p.m. They get the kids to school, take them to appointments and extracurricular activities, administer medications, do laundry, cook, clean, work to instill positive behaviors – including eating, hygiene, chores and getting along with other kids in the house – and provide love and encouragement.

“I am constantly having the alarm on my phone remind me of all the things to do throughout the day,” Cookson said.

Up to 10 children live in each home on campus at any given time, and hundreds of kids have come through the door of the home managed by the Cooksons over the years.

With a professional background that includes machining and nursing, Cookson also has a side-business as a DJ and is certified in water safety. He uses both as a means to connect with the kids.

“When I first started working here, I thought music might be a way to connect with the kids because I saw they really liked music,” Cookson said. “So, I bought DJ equipment, which we’ve used over the years for parties – the kids love singing and dancing. But, we’ve run out of space on campus for parties to host all the kids, especially now that our average age is a lot older than it was when we first opened.”

A Kids Place recently launched the Building a Brighter Future Capital Campaign to raise $8 million, which will fund construction of a 12,000-square-foot activity center on A Kid’s Place’s campus, among other things.

“The new activity center will be godsend to help with the kids’ behavior and mental attitude,” Cookson said. “It would give us a nice space where they can spread out and also have a place for us to host parties and swim in our own pool.”

The new activity center will include larger indoor gathering space for birthday parties, holidays and other group celebrations; more rooms for therapy, family visitation, arts/crafts, vocational education and community involvement; dedicated educational computer lab; spaces for enhanced services within the “Stepping Stones” program, which teaches kids age 13 and up independent living skills; an outdoor basketball court; and an outdoor courtyard, exercise room and swimming pool.

Currently, Cookson takes kids on trips to community pools where he has connections; however, he says the kids would feel much more comfortable swimming in a pool on campus.

“The kids will be able to be more themselves at our pool, because they won’t feel awkward or like they shouldn’t be there, which can be the case at the community pools we visit,” Cookson said.

Over 5,000 children are in foster care in the Tampa Bay area. Since 2009, A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay has served over 1,700 children and 753 families. The average length of stay at A Kid’s Place is 578 days, and the longest length of stay for a current child living at A Kid’s Place is seven years.

To learn more about the Building a Brighter Future campaign, call Samantha Mellen at (813) 381-3839 or visit akpcapitalcampaign.org/.

About A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay

For 15 years, the mission of A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay has been to provide a safe, loving and nurturing home for foster children. Founded in 2009, A Kid’s Place provides residential services to children from Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties who have been removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect or abandonment. A Kid’s Place provides a variety of services to meet the social, educational, medical and psychological needs of each child, with a primary focus on keeping sibling groups together in a safe, stable, home-like environment. Since inception, A Kid’s Place has served more than 1,700 foster children and over 753 families. For more information, visit www.akidsplacetb.org