Tracy King takes Supermom to new level

King and her family established the Kings Children’s Home in Glen Eden in 2008 after an abandoned eight-week-old baby was brought to their door.

King has not looked back since.

“We took this baby in and ended up adopting him. Through that incident we became aware of the plight of abandoned children in our wider community and opened our hearts and our home to take in more children,” she said.

The home cares for 40 children from birth to seven years old, offering a safe place, meals, clothing, schooling and a tremendous amount of love.

“The main aim of the home is to provide an immediate place of safety for children who find themselves abandoned or in vulnerable or abusive situations, she said.

“We care for these children by providing food, clothing, education, therapeutic services and a lot of love and support while social workers work with their families and try to reunite them again.”

She said if reunification was not possible, social workers aimed to find foster or adoptive families.

“Sometimes this process can take months or years,” said King, who has taken the role of “supermom” to a new level.

She is available all day, every day for all the children’s needs — whether it’s a snotty nose, a scraped knee or small arms reaching up for a hug.

“There is no ‘down time’ from this work ... you are on call 24/7, 365 days a year,” she said.

Many of the children brought to the Kings Children's Home come from horrible situations.

“One can become very emotional because of the severity of the children’s cases,” she said.

Over the years, she, her staff and the many dedicated volunteers have cared for, loved and housed more than 250 children.

Throughout the journey, King and her husband have adopted a number of children.

“We have nine children of our own — three biological and six adopted.

“My greatest reward is seeing children find their healing emotionally while in our care.

“When children learn to trust again or can look at you and say that they love you, then you know that you have achieved something that you cannot put a price on,” King said.

The home relies solely on donations from the public, and receives no government funding.

“My greatest challenge is receiving no financial support from the social development department, so we have to rely on the goodwill of people to keep the organisation running.

“My motivation comes from my faith as well as my passion for children. I have a good support system around me and incredible staff who catch the vision with me.”

She said there was no greater feeling than being a “mom” and giving love to the many children in her care.

“Seeing our children develop into their full potential and grow into beautiful healthy children is my greatest reward.

“Many of our older children, who left us years ago and are thriving in families, still phone me on Mother’s Day and call me their mom.

“There is no greater reward than that.”

MadeleineC@dispatch.co.za