Family shares bond of foster parenting

BOARDMAN — Vernelle Butler and Danetta Claybrook have the kind of mother-daughter relationship anyone would want to model their own after, and it shows.

It seems that Butler is not only Claybrook’s mother, but she’s her best friend as well. And as close as these two are, it’s no surprise that they’re laughing and finishing one another’s sentences like it’s no big deal at all.

DNA isn’t the only thing Claybrook and Butler have in common. Both women are foster mothers.

Butler took in her first foster child in 1979, when Claybrook’s high school classmate was kicked out of her foster home.

Butler said a social worker asked if she would host another child.

“After the first girl they asked me to take in another one, then another and another,” she said. “So, that’s pretty much how it all started.”

Her interest in taking care of children in need stemmed from her days as a school teacher.

“I always wanted to help, and I saw that fostering could make a difference,” Butler said. “I think I inherited that from my parents.”

Read more in Sunday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com