For Larado and Tamara Robinson, foster care starts with one goal: as Larado puts it, “These kids need a stable home. One that is secure and loving. That is what we do our best to provide every day.” Tamara advocates relentlessly for the children in their care, especially in the school system. The family places real value on giving kids structure and routine, so they know what to expect from one day to the next. They have seen too many siblings split up in the foster system, and it has been heartbreaking to witness, so doing their part to keep brothers and sisters under one roof is something they hold close to their hearts.
The Robinson family runs on a simple mission statement: “We love Jesus. We love people. We stay calm, act with courage and integrity, and stand in the gap for one another.” That statement guides how they parent every single day, whether they are working through a hard morning or celebrating a small win.
They are also a family of balance. Tamara is the planner, the one who makes sure these kids lack nothing, right down to a chore chart that has turned their 9-year-old’s responsibilities into a point system he actually gets excited about. Larado will tell you that Tamara is amazing and that he wouldn’t want to take this journey with anyone else. Larado is, in Tamara’s words, “her calm.” Between the two of them, they try to give these kids both structure and steadiness.
Larado will tell you he almost said no to this whole journey. Back in 2017, after raising three girls, he was not sure he wanted to start the parenting journey over again with fostering. He told Tamara he would pray about it, and in 2023, he says God made it unmistakably clear: he needed to get out of the way, because Tamara was made for this. So he did, and the Robinsons started fostering in May of 2024. When telling the story, Larado jokes that maybe it was a mistake to pray about it, but he now sees it was certainly the right thing to do.
He also thought that after a year he would be running on empty, knowing how exhausting kids can be. Instead, he says God has given him a second wind, a genuine, joyful season with these kids that he did not expect. His unofficial family motto these days: “I will rest when I get to heaven.”
Right now, the Robinson home includes five children: a 9-year-old, 2- and 1-year-old boys, and twin 3-month-old girls. Yes, they will tell you that it is exhausting. But ask either of them, and the answer comes back the same with a smile: “It is all worth it.”
Outside of foster care, Larado serves as the Director of Salem Water and Sewer and also runs his own leadership development business, Global Purposes, which helps people “transform purpose into excellence.” Tamara stepped away from her own career to be home full-time once their family needed her most.