Once homeless sisters adopted by great aunt

CLINTON, N.C. (WTVD) -- Sisters Kaylyn and Aubrey Pope were precocious adopted by their large aunt and uncle, and they are thankful to beryllium celebrating the holidays with them.

Kaylyn, 14, and Aubrey, 8, unrecorded with their adopted parents successful Sampson County, 1.5 hours southbound of Durham wherever they were erstwhile stateless and yet landed successful foster care.

Last twelvemonth the girls were officially adopted by their large aunt and uncle Kathy and Arnold Pope.

Kaylyn officially changed her mediate sanction to Grace to grant her caller recovered religion and gratitude.

"I'm conscionable thankful for Gran and Pop due to the fact that they've been done a batch with us," Kaylyn said. "I'm conscionable thankful that they got to instrumentality america in."

According to the Popes, the girls' parents suffered from substance abuse. Their begetter precocious died from his addiction.
In 2018, the retired mates started the process of kinship fostering done Durham Social Services, becoming parents to school-aged children each implicit again. This clip portion they were successful their mid 60s.

"We had to bash it. I conscionable thought we had to bash it," Arnold Pope said. "They're family."

"It was a agelong journey. It was grueling and tough, but they were placed with us," Kathy Pope said. "We are precise fortunate that they person adjusted arsenic good arsenic they have."
It's been a displacement for the Popes too.

"A batch antithetic than raising boys," Arnold said.

"The necklaces, the jewelry, the digit nails, the haircuts, the hairdos the drama," Kathy joked.

Aubrey calls her large aunt and uncle ma and pop. She picture the acquisition being with them successful a word: "Good."

According to statewide information from the Management Assistance for Child Welfare, Work First, and Food & Nutrition Services successful North Carolina, In September 2021 an estimated 11,585 children were successful foster care; an mean of 16,652 children were successful attraction of the authorities during the play of July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.