Cloverdale couple provides safe haven for kids

Fifty-one-year-old Debbie Huls and her 55-year old husband, Roscoe, have consistently had kids living with them since the oldest of their three was born 34 years ago. That’s a long time to be parenting, but the Hulses love it.

Over the years, their home has been a safe haven for a number of children whose parents were unable to care for them for one reason or another. They even took in Debbie’s stepbrother for a while until he graduated from high school.

In 1991, the couple learned that two young neighbor children had been abandoned by their mother and sent to Valley of the Moon Children’s Home. They immediately intervened and were granted an emergency foster-care license. The 14-year old girl ended up staying with them until she was 18. Her 10-year-old brother left after four years to live with his stepfather out of state.

Two years later, Debbie Huls’ sister was killed in a traffic accident, leaving behind four children aged 9 to 15. Three of the children went to live with other relatives, but the Hulses took in their 15-year old niece, raising her until she was 21. Another of this sister’s daughters had a lot of problems, according to Debbie Huls. She got mixed up with drugs and had two children by the time she was 18. The Hulses have had legal custody of her kids for the past 13 years.

“We wanted to give her a couple of years to work on herself and try to get clean, so we offered to look after her kids for a while. Unfortunately, our niece continues to be in and out of rehab. Her son, who will be 15 in August, was only 2 when we got him. He is autistic and attends a special program in Windsor. Although he’s really bright when it comes to spelling and math, he has behavioral issues and finds it difficult to make friends. I’d home-school if I could, but, unfortunately, it’s not an option.”

“Her daughter was just ?10 months old,” Debbie continued. “She has an inherited neurological disorder called neurofibromatosis that causes her a lot of pain and gives her severe migraines. Doctors tell us there’s a good chance she will outgrow it by the time she’s 21, so we’re hoping.”

Debbie, who is manager of the Cloverdale McDonald’s, and Roscoe, who works at MGM Brakes, would like nothing better than to formally adopt the kids. But doing so would require that their mother give up her four-hours-per-week visitation rights.

Two years ago, the Hulses’ youngest son was thinking ?of moving his family to Idaho because of Sonoma County’s high housing costs. Debbie ?suggested that they all find a bigger place to rent, move in together and share the monthly expenses. “When it dawned ?on me that four of my grandbabies might be moving to Idaho, ?I knew I had to do something. My family is my life,” she ?said.

A mother by the time she was 20, and a grandmother before she turned 40, Debbie said she cannot imagine her household without children in it. She and her husband are unlikely to have to, with seven grandchildren aged 3 to 11 and their daughter’s baby due in August.

So far, the new living arrangement with her son and his family is working just fine. All 11 people, ranging in age from 3 to 55, live happily and comfortably in a big Victorian house near downtown Cloverdale, within easy walking distance of local schools.

“I’m not sure we’d know what to do with an empty nest,” Debbie said.

After a moment of reflection she added, “I think if I could afford it, though, I’d like to open an orphanage for about 10 children. Then my husband and I could stay home to care for them. That’s really where the need is.”