By WMBD

MCLEAN COUNTY – Expanding her heart, not once, not twice, but four times. Hilary Pacha, a single mom and her 13-year-old son, Elijah, have grown their family from two to six this year.

The Bloomington mom began her foster journey with The Baby Fold in early 2020.

“I had one son of my own and I just kind of got to a place where I was like, ‘I want more children,’” said Pacha.

She wanted to start her quest toward fostering, but she admits she didn’t know where to begin.

“It just seemed like this really long kind of daunting process,” said Pacha. “I decided to get a hold of the Baby Fold and they took something that seemed so huge and made it seem a lot smaller and walked alongside me through that journey and made it so incredibly easy.”

That’s when she sought out the expertise of The Baby Fold. It’s an area nonprofit that’s been around since 1902.

“We’re here as a safety net for families, for children, to really help them through difficult times,” said Clete Winkelmann, President/CEO of The Baby Fold. “We’d never just disappear.”

The organization provides ‘life-critical services to children and families throughout Central Illinois. The Baby Fold’s healing-centered programs include foster care, adoption support, special education, autism programs, early childhood initiatives, crisis intervention, and more. The Baby Fold cares for our youngest citizens so they can be blessed with loving homes, stable lives, and the futures they deserve.’

“[The] values of love, hope, and healing are exemplified through this experience in watching this family really become a family,” said Winkelmann.

Pacha opened her home to her first foster child. After a year and a half, he was reunited with his biological mother.

A few months pass by, and Pacha’s caseworker called about a pair of twin boys looking for their next foster home.

“It was like love at first sight,” said Hilary. “Walter with his big huge brown eyes and William with his like little sly devious smile just won my heart over.”

Pacha soon found out the twins had another brother and sister, Mavric and Haven. They were going to be split up in to different foster homes.

“I just remember feeling like that can’t happen,” said Pacha. “I can’t have [Walter and William] not be able to see their brother and sister and so I said, ‘Why not. Why not just add two more.’”

Hilary’s foster journey turned into a successful adoption on April 25, 2024. She said it would not have been possible without the unwavering support from The Baby Fold and its programming.

Still, the Pacha family gets services through The Baby Fold’s Adoption Support
and Preservation program.

WMBD can be reached at [email protected].