Alaska: Parents a safe port in storm

Gordon and Bonnie Lange have been champions of abused and neglected children for more than 30 years. As foster parents in Washington state and Alaska, they have opened their doors to about 700 children in crisis.

They have dealt with angry parents whose children have been removed from their care, and youngsters who can't understand why they aren't with their moms and dads. They have kept watch over newborns in the throes of alcohol and cocaine withdrawal, and sat by the hospital beds of children who were dying.

Since 1982, they have provided a haven for medically fragile children who sometimes require round-the-clock care. Vacations have been rare and sleep in short supply for most of their 34 years of marriage, but the rewards are substantial.

"We may not be rich in money, but we are very rich in the love our children and the other children have given to us," Bonnie Lange said. "We have each other, and that is more than we need."

July 16, the Langes, who are the 2003 Alaska Parents of the Year, learned they were selected as the National Parents of the Year by the National Parents' Day Council. Theirs was one of 50 nominations from 30 states.

"We were just honored to be picked for state," Bonnie said from the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Va. "When they called and told us we were the national winners, we were speechless."

While in the nation's capital last week, the couple was feted on Capitol Hill at a banquet attended by more than a hundred dignitaries, including congressmen and diplomatic and community leaders.

They were also slated to be featured on a program with Dr. Bettina Gregory, host of a weekly talk show about families on the Goodlife TV Network, and resident psychologist at the Capitol Hill Center for Family and Individual Therapy in Washington, D.C.

The National Parents Day Council staged the first Parents Day event in Washington, D.C., in 1994, said Eugene Harnett, head of the Alaska Parents' Day selection committee. Harnett has served on the committee for the Alaska award program each year since.

"I'm really tickled," he said of the Langes' national recognition. Harnett said the couple are the first Alaska nominees to receive multiple recommendations.

"Many of the children who are placed with them by the state of Alaska have been battered," one nominator wrote. "They come to the Langes with bruises from head to toe and broken bones. The Langes give them the most important thing these children need, and that is love, caring, comfort and affection."

The Langes began fostering children in 1972 in Washington state, where Bonnie also provided respite care for families with medically fragile children. They began fostering children with medical disorders in 1982. Bonnie wrote a manual for use by Washington state caseworkers titled "Caring for the Medically Fragile Child."

The couple moved to Alaska in 1989, and became part of a pilot program to provide home-based care for medically fragile children from hospitals and institutions. In recent years, theirs became an emergency care home for babies and toddlers during the first 30 days after being taken into custody.

The Langes raised three biological children, adopted four of the children they fostered over the years and are legal guardians to another. Bonnie has testified in court on behalf of their charges and participated in public outreach events to raise awareness of child abuse in Alaska.

They have received numerous awards for their contributions in both Washington and Alaska, including an award from HOPE Community Resources Inc. in 2000 for their "timeless vision and tireless efforts to build a community that meaningfully includes all human beings" and the 2002 Light of Hope Foster Parents of the Year award.

Bonnie said they intend to continue fostering children on an emergency basis. In a normal week, four children ages 8 and younger arrive at their home.

"Sometimes we have them a day, sometimes a month," Bonnie said. "We encourage more parents to open up their homes and become foster parents to these little ones."

The Langes will be honored at the ninth annual Parents' Day celebration and barbecue today on the Park Strip. Recipients of Excellence in Parenting awards Connie and Lloyd "Dude" Johnson, Pamela Radcliffe, and Judy and Steve Waldron will also be recognized.