A Legacy for Children

North Idaho woman has offered sanctuary for over 100 foster children. By Jocelyn Stott.

She doesn’t know the number exactly – it’s well over 100 - and she can’t tell you why, but when you ask Joanne Nielson what drives her passion for fostering children, one thing is clear: it’s what she’s made to do.

Throughout her lifetime, Nielson has welcomed children into her home without asking why. “When you come here, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been – this is a place of acceptance,” she says.

Some of the children Nielson has fostered have been babies abandoned by their parents at birth; others had parents experiencing a rough patch. Still others were victims of drugs and alcohol abuse – often born with serious health issues and parents unfit to care for them. Many were adopted through agencies like Lutheran Family Services or Idaho Youth Ranch. Joanne accepted them without judgment.

Now 78, Nielson has photos and a scrapbook of every child whose life she’s touched adorning her home . The faces of foster children are mingled in among her own five children and eleven grandchildren. Throughout her Hayden Lake home filled with art, antiques and quilts, you’ll spy a children’s toy, activity center or coloring project neatly put away.

“We have rules,” says Nielson. “Any child in the neighborhood is welcome to play here, but they have to put the toys away.” From the looks of things, children are happy to comply.

Nielson said her passion for children is something she’s always had – even while growing up in Spokane and summering in Hayden Lake and after she graduated from Washington State University. When she married her first husband she said, “I wanted a dozen (children)!”

Nielson spent her early years as a mother in Cody, Wyoming where she multiplied her own brood with nearly 20 Sunday school students at any given time. She took the kids on camping trips and activities on her family’s ranch.

In the 80s, Nielson moved back to Spokane and became a foster parent. Her first foster children were four siblings whose mother was experiencing some personal struggles.

Joanne also remembers fostering exceptionally fussy twin newborns. Nielson was their first and only source of comfort for several weeks. “They required round-the-clock care,” she remembers.

While the experiences were not without headaches, Joanne said she loved every minute of it.

Eventually Joanne made her permanent home in Hayden Lake. “My heart’s always here anyway,” she said.

Children from Spokane and Northern Idaho have experienced the grace of Joanne’s lake hideaway, a family retreat owned for generations and for whom Henry Point was named. Cabins tucked behind a stretch of beach on the far east side of the lake are owned by a large network of brothers, sisters and cousins: descendants of Joanne’s father, Randall Henry, a Spokane eye doctor who, along with his brothers, purchased the land in 1946.

“It’s always been a very special place in my family from the beginning. They were coming home from a war to a place of tranquility,” says Joanne.

The comfort of Henry Point is what Timothy Canty cherishes. Tim was born in 1996, two months premature with severe conditions related to his birth mother’s substance abuse. When Idaho Youth Ranch approached Joanne to help Timothy, she didn’t hesitate. But she was concerned and rightfully so – Tim was born with half a brain and suffered a condition called Hydrocephalus. Doctors said Tim would likely never walk, talk or live independently.

“He just looked straight into space, non-responsive,”she remembers. Nonetheless, Joanne strapped little Tim into a baby carrier and took him along with her own family to museums and parks - anything to give him stimulation.

Joanne’s friend and fellow foster mom, Jolyn Canty felt she and her family could take on Tim’s care, as they had adopted other orphans. The Cantys took in Tim at six months, ultimately adopting him.

“The Canty’s nurtured and loved Tim to the point that you’d have no idea where he started,” says Joanne.

Tim is now a senior at Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane – defying the dire predictions – thanks to Joanne’s love for children.

In a public speech recently, Tim summed up the experience many have about Joanne, saying simply, “Nana Joanne saved my life.”

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