This week, we met the Coggins family. Robert Coggins and his wife are active members of Supporting Adoption and Foster Families Together (SAFFT,) and have fostered several children in addition to their four daughters — two who live at home and two who are older. Having lived in Forsyth County for about 15 years, the two actively give back to their community by doing something that is dear to their hearts: Helping children and foster families.
“We’ve been here for about 15 years after moving from Alpharetta … and we’ve lived in three different houses in the county. In 2014, we decided that we wanted to foster, so we fostered a girl. She went back home that following November and it was very heartbreaking, and we weren’t comfortable with the system and wanted to volunteer in other ways.
About this series
Families of Forsyth is a twice-monthly series that tells the story, in their own words, of a different family each time, showing us the uniqueness and diversity of our neighbors who live in Forsyth County. Words may be edited for length. Presented by Hopewell Roofing & Restoration, which has been putting roofs over families’ heads, so many of which keep choosing Forsyth County, for nearly a decade.
In 2015, we had a huge medical issue with our family and that put everything on hold. At the end of 2015 though, we really started connecting with SAFFT in their parent’s night out program. I took on a role as parent’s night out coordinator, and then took on role as Safe Haven visitation monitor. At the same time, I also did a program with [Court Appointed Special Advocates] working with the juvenile court. I’m still working with SAFFT doing visitations and parent’s night out coordination, but I’m also working with CASA on a regular basis.
Basically, I’ve quit my fulltime job and have decided to pursue other means of fulfillment in life. Because of the CASAs we had when we were fostering [another] girl, we were able to reconnect with a family and now we get to see our foster daughter on a regular basis. We’re probably one of the lucky ones that we’re able to stay connected and have a different way of life, and even though we’re not a foster family anymore, we’re going to focus on [our foster daughter] and be her steady family.
Because I’m a CASA, we can’t foster, but it may be an option again in the future. I was a foster child myself, so it’s close to my heart and my wife’s heart and we really feel that we need to get back to community and we have things to do outside of our immediate family. We have four daughters and there are a lot of organizations that require hours of community service, and we volunteer, in part, so that they see us serving and then they want to serve.”