Let It Be Us marks 10 years of getting kids to loving homes [Video]

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Thousands of children enter foster care in Illinois every year.

“Oh, there are thousands, tens of thousands,” said Susan McConnell, who was shaking her head as she talked about the numbers.

McConnell was speaking from experience.

“I am an adoptive parent,” she said. “Through that, my eyes were open to foster care and adoption.”

McConnell has one biological child and three adopted children. She quickly learned that one of the biggest problems in the foster care system is that there aren’t enough foster homes.

“I’ve worked with [the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services] to recruit adoptive parents, and I saw that there were a lot of children in need of families,” she said. “And I knew, as an adoptive parent, that there are a lot of families who wanted to adopt or foster children.”

McConnell began her journey volunteering with DCFS and the Heart Gallery, a photo listing and database of children in …