‘Family Is Where I Feel at Home’: Daniela’s Foster Family Story
23.06.2026
In a picturesque village, near central Moldova, Daniela is doing what most 16-year-olds do: studying, dancing and spending time with her family. It is an ordinary life, but she is aware of how much that matters.
Daniela and her younger brother faced an uncertain early childhood. Unfortunately, their mother was unable to care for the two children, so they needed somewhere safe and permanent to belong. This moment came in 2015, when Daniela and her brother were fostered by Aliona and her husband Vladimir.
Aliona and Vladimir had already participated in foster care training delivered by Lumos Moldova, and their own children had grown up and had already left home, so they chose to open their family to Daniela and her brother. Aliona is candid about the challenges that came with it: “Even though I studied pedagogy, I studied psychopedagogy, that alone is not enough.”
Pictured: Aliona and Vladimir.
For Daniela, the early months were not easy either. “From the moment I came here, I was not very open,” she admits. “I would not allow myself to meet new people, and I stayed at home more.”
With time, Aliona encouraged Daniela to apply for new projects, to go to dance classes, to step beyond what felt comfortable. Her message was consistent, you are capable of more than you think.
Pictured: Daniela and Aliona.
The relationship between Daniela and Aliona has grown, “We are like sisters,” Daniela says. “We have a very close bond, at school, in projects, and at home.” Aliona, for her part, reflects on what it means to witness a child flourish. “It is said that children’s successes bring you more satisfaction than your personal achievements. I think, for us, they bring three times more satisfaction, tenfold.”
She speaks clearly about what she believes good parenting requires, being present when a child needs to talk, listening without judgment, and being willing to say, honestly, “I do not know this either, let us look for the answer together.”
Pictured: Daniela’s brother and Aliona.
Daniela has flourished in her family. She enjoys her studies, is curious and is close to her family and to the village she now sees as home. “Wherever I go, I miss home,” she says. “My parents, my pets, and the village in general.” She is also a member of the Lumos Moldova Youth Advisory Board for over a year, where she participates in the shaping of Lumos’ work around care reform.
The story of Daniela and Aliona is just one within a much larger shift in how Moldova cares for children that need safe and loving families. During Lumos Moldova’s 20 years of work in the country, the number of children living in institutions has dramatically reduced, and Moldova is actively supporting early childhood intervention services so children can thrive, lowering the risk of family separation.
For children who cannot remain with or return to their birth families, Lumos works with partners to strengthen family-based care systems such as foster families or kinship care. These approaches ensure children can grow up with the support of family instead of in an institution, with care that responds to their individual needs, identity and culture.
– Marcel Straton, Lumos Moldova Executive Director.
For Daniela, it’s not a system of care, it’s a home and a feeling she can now put into words. “Family is the place where everyone should feel good,” she says. “For me, family means the place where I feel at home.”
Many children without families are seeking what Daniela has found. Support Lumos today and help more children grow up in a family they can call their own.
