Try Again Homes in Fairmont helps place children in foster care.

It currently has about 40 kids in need of homes, with just 22 foster families. If the kids can't be placed in local foster homes, they are often sent out of state, said employees.

So this month, Try Again Homes is trying to highlight the need for families to foster or adopt these children.

Sheila Brown is a mother of five and a grandmother.

When her three biological kids reached their teens, she opened her home to foster kids with no place else to go.

For the past 13 years, she's been a foster mom to more than 20 children, even adopting two of them.

"I was adopted myself when I was 6 years so, so I figured you know, if I can help somebody, some kids, give them a home. So we decided to take that route," said Sheila Brown.

Brown is one of 22 foster families that work with Try Again Homes. It's a non-profit foster agency in Fairmont that works to find children a temporary place to live.

"Many {kids} come from abusive or neglectful homes, a lot these days are from drug parents," said Chrissy Powell, a home finder with Try Again Homes.

At any time the agency is trying to place between 40 and 60 kids.

And while, foster care can sometimes end in adoption, like with the Browns, Chrissy Pownell says the ultimate goal of foster care is to reunite families.

"That is the ultimate goal. Foster care is supposed to be just a temporary place while parents work on issues and problems," said Pownell.

Brown says she still keeps in touch with some of the kids who've left her care and gone back home.

She says that's one of the things that's kept her motivated through more than a decade of fostering.

"I just think the more people ought to reach out and try to help kids. Too many people say 'no, I'm too busy, not enough time, etc etc. I think once they do it, they'll really enjoy it," said Brown.

Try Again Homes says they are in need of foster parents.

There is a pretty extensive application process, with background checks and interviews.

To apply, call (304) 363-5863.