In 1969, Clara Hale agreed to foster a child as its drug-addicted mother received help - within weeks more mothers sought “Mother Hale” for help! Her home became “Hale House,” and through donations and volunteers, Hale fostered over 1,000 children! What made Hale House different from other foster homes?
Hale showered her foster children with love, believing this would help them battle the drug addictions they’d been born with. She also reunited children with their mothers once they achieved sobriety! She reunited 90% of the families she worked with, maintaining relationships with them afterwards.
NO ONE could deny Hale’s impact. President Ronald Reagan stated Hale was an "American heroine" – ironic since he spearheaded the War On Drugs, targeting us specifically!
As Hale House started to REALLY take off, white administrations began critiquing the communal system Hale was building, pouring funding into “standard” foster care programs – which often ignored and harmed Black children. But Hale’s legacy was intact.
After her death in 1992, Hale House continued to foster children, and provided rehabilitation programs, housing, and education to drug-addicted mothers seeking sobriety before reuniting them with their children. White Supremacy wants us to ignore those who are struggling - we WON'T achieve liberation through this type of individualism! Like Hale, let’s use our resources to create communities of support that center communal liberation.