This Mother’s Day we are shining a spotlight on three very special mums in the Illawarra who are making a difference with their unique styles of mothering.

Annaleis Jones – The Foster Mum

Annaleis started fostering children in need through Barnados Australia about five years ago. All five of her biological children had started school and she felt it was time to open up her home and give other children the love and support her own children had received.

She soon discovered there is always a demand for foster carers.

“All of the children we have fostered have blossomed under our care, whether they have needed short restorative care or more permanent stays – we treat them exactly like they are our own,” Annaleis says.

The stays can last up to two years and Annaleis says she is able to take groups of siblings into her home which some other foster carers are unable to do – groups of four siblings can be fostered at a time.

“Being a foster mum is very rewarding – I enjoy it as I feel mothering is what I do best.”

It’s a full-time job as the family has two biological children who still live at home and three foster children.

“It’s a wonderful feeling on Mother’s Day to have all these children running around the house.”

For more information, go to www.barnados.org.au

Alia Reid – The Doggie Foster Mum

Becoming a doggie foster mum was the perfect way for Alia Reid and her family to enjoy the fun of having a dog in their home without the long-term commitment of raising one.

“After our pet rabbit died, we wanted another pet but weren’t quite ready for the commitment of having a dog long term,” Alia says. “We travel, have the needs of three kids to consider and a workload as well.”

Contacting Best Friends For Ever Rescue Illawarra to foster a dog was the ideal solution for Alia and her family. Fostering means the dogs have a loving environment in which they are cared for in the short term until their forever home is found.

Fostering a dog means he or she is placed in a loving environment, not in a kennel. Best Friends for Ever Rescue Illawarra focuses on finding new homes for dogs that have been abandoned, mistreated or are just unwanted. The organisation is run by volunteers and relies on foster parents to care for the dogs until they are eventually adopted.

For more information, email bffeillawarra@gmail or go to the Facebook page.

Sister Hilda Scott – The Spiritual Mother

Sister Hilda Scott is the Abbess at Jamberoo Abbey, which means she is the spiritual mother to the Abbey’s enclosed Benedictine Order of Nuns as well as to members of the community.

Sister Hilda says that in her role as the Abbess being a spiritual mother is about enabling life in the people who are put into her care. “It’s about enabling all levels of life including a deeper life – a life that makes sense of the invisible and encouraging faith to enable people to get through what at times can seem humanely hard.”

It’s a role in which “you have to be someone who can relate humanely and enable the human qualities in someone else. It’s like a garden, you need to feed it properly for it to grow.” It’s not a straightforward process though, says Sister Hilda, because being a spiritual mother requires honing her skills of prayer and contemplation.

The vocation of the Benedictine Nuns is a life of prayer so being a spiritual mother includes attending to people’s wellbeing through prayer, which starts at 5am each day. Contemplation is another facet of her role as a spiritual mother, Sister Hilda says, and it involves spending time each day dedicated to reading the sacred scriptures and contemplating them, meditating and praising God.

Sister Hilda says as the Abbess and spiritual mother she encourages people to live from a place of love, encouraging faith in a God who exists to love us.

“It’s to enable an atmosphere of growth where kindness, compassion and understanding and peace are the main occupants that determine the type of people we become.”

For more information, go to www.jamberooabbey.org.au