Siblings Allan and Jessica hug after talking about their feelings for each other in front of other campers. It's part of "Inspiraton Night," an annual ritual at Camp to Belong.

He may be a U.S. Marine, but Randy Hubert cherishes the memory of making pillows with his two little sisters at camp. "They're actually kind of cool," he says.

On the cushions they scribbled "little girly messages" and then swapped pillows, he says. That way, they had a loving reminder of one another when they went back to their separate homes.

Hubert, 26, and his sisters have lived apart most of their lives.

"The people who gave birth to us did a lot of drugs and were not financially smart whatsoever. There was a lot of physical abuse in the home," says Hubert, who was 13 when the four siblings were separated and now lives in San Diego.

In the beginning, they didn't get to visit much because of foster care. When they did, it was in an office building with a social worker watching. Then, even those visits stopped, Hubert says.

"We never got to have that sibling bond," says Savannah, the middle sister. She is still in foster care in California, and her real name is being withheld to protect her privacy.

"I miss them all," says the 17-year-old, wistfully. "They're, like, my favorite people in the world."

Hubert, who says Savannah is his "heart and soul," grew increasingly frustrated as he got older and missed his sisters.

"I realized I wanted my family. I wanted to see my sisters, although I didn't want to see the people who gave birth to us."

Hubert ultimately got his wish: He was reunited in 1999 with two of his sisters at Camp to Belong, based in Highlands Ranch, Colo. (His other sister was married by that time and busy elsewhere.) But the other three siblings have seen each other most summers since.

Camp to Belong is an international nonprofit organization that is dedicated to reuniting siblings who have been separated by foster care. Its founder and director, Lynn Price, also once was in foster care and separated from her own sister while they were growing up.

Price says her research has shown that about 75 percent of kids nationwide are separated from at least one brother or sister when placed in foster care. About 513,000 children are in foster care nationally, according to federal government figures, and there's a shortage of foster-care homes in every state.

It's most difficult to find homes for teens and groups of brothers and sisters -- nationally and in Indiana.

"We all know how very critical it is to stay connected to our family members, and that is equally true for children in foster care," says Sharon Pierce, president and chief executive officer of The Villages, the state's largest nonprofit provider of therapeutic foster-care homes.

"The Villages always tries to place siblings together, if that is the desire of the county Department of Child Services, who refer the children to us," Pierce says.

The Villages has a targeted recruitment program to find families for sibling groups and teenagers. They bring siblings together in various summer camps but haven't sent anyone to Camp to Belong.

It's often a challenge to find foster parents for sibling groups because they don't have one vehicle that can hold all the children or enough space for all of them to live together in their home, says Diane Jackson, clinical director for The Villages. Other times, the kids have abused or hurt one another in the birth home and need time away for counseling.

But The Villages applauds programs like Camp to Belong and works to keep siblings in contact with one another in various ways when they can't live together. For example, one group is celebrating a birthday this month by making a meal together and taking lots of pictures to remember the occasion.

Price explains why the sibling connection is so critical: "For any of you who have a brother or sister, you know that you fight and you tease over who's going to sit where in the car, who's going to borrow that purple sweater or steal a boyfriend.

"But the reality is your siblings are your longest relationships in life most times. And that's where you learn social interaction and unconditional love and memories."

At Camp to Belong, siblings go horseback riding, whitewater rafting, kayaking, and do arts and crafts. At each camp, a birthday party is held for brothers and sisters to celebrate their special days together. For example, they shop for each other at a camp store and make birthday cards.

"We have a big birthday party, and each sibling group gets its own birthday cake with candles and blows them out. We sing happy birthday to as many sibling groups as there are," Price says.

Besides sponsoring camps in various locations, Camp to Belong offers therapeutic art programs and workshops for teens to prepare them for adulthood. It also helps siblings stay in touch with each other all year long.

This summer, more than 300 brothers and sisters were reunited at camps sponsored by Camp to Belong. Siblings attending camp came from all over the world. None of the brothers and sisters were from Indiana this year, but there have been Hoosier participants in the past.

Besides enjoying camp as brother and sister, both Hubert and Savannah have loved being counselors, too.

"My favorite part as a counselor is just watching the transformation in the kids throughout the week," says Savannah. They come to camp apprehensive, and leave wanting the week to last longer.

At camp, Hubert says he loves picking up on his sisters' silly habits, seeing what they look like first thing in the morning, eating meals together and talking, talking, talking.

"Just being there and being able to watch my sisters do the things that I don't usually get to see them do is great," he says.

Assistant editor: Cindy Mangan, 17.

Reporters: Johanna Richardson, 14; Caroline Payne, 11; Becky Mangan, 12.

_____________________________________________

Who we are

Y-Press is a nonprofit news organization with offices in The Indianapolis Star building. Stories are researched, reported and written by teams of young people ages 10 to 18. For more information, call (317) 444-2010 or send an e-mail to ypress@in.net.

Go online for more

To read more stories written by Y-Press or learn more about the youth news organization, check out www.ypress.org.