She Opened Her Heart and Lansdowne Home to Children

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From left, Kash'ae, Kiaira, Flora (one of her biological children), Rah'mir, Flora (holding Amyah), Mark, Chase, and Zah'mir on the day Amyah was adopted.
Image via Heather Gabor
Flora and some of her extended family

Flora thought she was done with parenting after raising three biological children and adopting Shareef and his two sisters, writes Anndee Hochman for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

But then Rah’mir was born to Flora’s niece, who wasn’t ready for parenting. 

“When Rah’mir came, I thought: OK, looks like I’m starting over again, raising kids. I opened my door, opened my heart, and bought a crib,” Flora said.

After that, others came along: Zah’mir, son of Flora’s daughter’s best friend; Kiaira, a grandchild born when her mother was just 16; Kash’ae, who was Zah’mir’s little sister; then Chase, another child of Flora’s niece.

Flora, in Lansdowne, decided to keep her house open for foster children and last November, baby Amyah arrived.

She and husband Mark Durchsprung now raise their extended family together, though Flora lost Shareef in June 2021 to a drive-by shooting.

For Mark, who divorced in 2001 with two grown children, the expanded household was a chance to parent in a new way.

 “I realized it was a great opportunity to raise these children. You have to give everybody an equal opportunity in life. I love them as much as I love my own biological kids,” he said.

Read more about this couple’s expanded family in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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