August 28, 2000

Cocaine baby finds 'goo-goo' love in Buckner care
___By Scott Collins
___Buckner News Service
___LUBBOCK--Baby Gloria has had a lot of positive influences in her young life, but not all of them have been good.
___When she was born Dec. 27, Gloria tested positive for cocaine. She weighed barely 3 pounds and could easily fit inside the palm of an adult's hand, her little body reaching from

BABY GLORIA, born in December to a cocaine-using mother, has found love in the arms of foster parent Vicky Chagola through Buckner Child and Family Services.

the fingertips to the wrist.
___Her mother, a cocaine user, disappeared from the hospital within hours of Gloria's birth. That's when Child Protective Services stepped in. But because Gloria was born cocaine-positive, CPS workers knew she would require special attention.
___Caseworkers contacted Buckner Children and Family Services in Lubbock seeking a therapeutic foster home for Gloria. Since then, the influences in Gloria's life have been positively good.
___The primary influence has been Gloria's Buckner foster parents, Vicky and Carlos Chagolla.
___And while the term "goo-goo" may not sound very professional, it's the way Buckner foster care caseworker Amy Kiker describes the love and attention Gloria is getting from the Chagollas.
___"Everything that Gloria wears matches," Kiker said. "That's just Vicky's thing. The baby just has to be perfect. Pacifiers match outfits. I mean, she just goes way above and beyond.
___"I know that may not sound nurturing, just because you dress the kid perfectly, but she just goo goos all over this child. That's just how she is."
___Even with all the potential medical hurdles Gloria faces from the cocaine, those who know the little girl agree that what she needs most is love. That is one thing the Chagollas have plenty to give.
___"Are you ever going to run out of love?" someone recently asked the Chagollas.
___"Not as long as there are kids," Vicky responded.
___The couple has one biological son, and they have adopted two foster children. They are in the process of adopting two more children, ages 8 and 9. Adding Gloria to the clan only means that much more love to go around.
___The love Carlos and Vicky give to the children seems to multiply as the children receive it.
___"They have lots of love (now) and they were full of hate when they were first found," Vicky said of her two foster children. "I treated them like they were normal kids, and now they've learned responsibility and they've learned to take care of themselves."
___That approach is working for Gloria, too, Vicky said. But the first few days had scary moments, like the time Gloria began shaking and became rigid, apparently as a result of the cocaine still in her body. Since then, everything has gone normally and Gloria is growing rapidly.
___"I was expecting all these problems like screaming, shaking and having to hold her all the time, but she hasn't done any of that," Vicky said. "She's been real good. She eats and sleeps just like a normal baby."
___Like any adoring parents, Carlos and Vicky talk with pride about the progress Gloria is making. And for emphasis, they name all the things Gloria is capable of doing.
___"She's very smart," Vicky said. "She can do things that other babies can't do, like trying to hold the bottle."
___"She'll hold the pacifier with both hands up against her mouth and try to make sure it doesn't fall out," Carlos added.
___Running her index finger through Gloria's fingers, Vicky said she thinks the baby may someday grow up to be a musician. "Maybe she'll be a piano player to go with these long fingers," Vicky said.
___But when they talk about their hopes and dreams for Gloria's future, both Vicky and Carlos agree that what the baby needs most is a family.
___"That's what we really want," Carlos said. "She needs to be with family."
___Carlos, who works for Energas Co., said helping children as a foster parent is something he can't get away from doing.
___"I think that once you get a child like Gloria in your care, you can't help but want to do it. I mean, you get hooked," he said. "What can you do? You can't turn them down. You can't say no. You have a chance to help her. It's just that you can't turn them down and say, "No, I don't want to do this.'"
___

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