Adams County Commissioner Charles “Chaz” Tedesco spent five years in the foster care system, and throughout his life he has brought his experiences of being a foster child — and later an adopted child — with him everywhere he goes. 

After seeing countless different license plates on the roads that support causes such as childhood cancer awareness, the Denver Broncos and even greyhound lovers, Tedesco thought about one day having a specialty plate that would support the foster care system in Colorado.

Last month, after years of dreaming of one day seeing a foster care system license plate, Tedesco joined Foster Source, a non-profit organization based in Adams County, in filing a petition to make that dream a reality. 

“I’ve been working on this for a year and it’s been a dream of mine to get this done, and it’s (grown) over time, but it’s a project that I am very invested in.

“I really believe that this would bring a realm of highlighting to the fostering industry and really allow people to express their support and pride in being foster parents, providing a foster home, as well as providing some type of funding to these organizations,” said Tedesco.

After working together on a number of other projects Tedesco approached Thornton-based Foster Source to see if they’d be interesting in applying as a 501(c)(3).

Foster Source is a non-profit organization that provides training, resources and support needed for foster parents.

“We were brainstorming what we could do and we decided to work together and apply for this special group license plate, to bring awareness to foster care in Colorado,” said Renee Bernhard, co-founder and executive director of Foster Source. 

“We’re just hoping this might plant a seed in peoples head. We want and we need people thinking of foster care in Colorado, and that doesn’t mean everyone has to foster, because not everyone can, but everyone can help.”

Throughout the state, more than 4,500 children are in the foster care system. But there are only around 1,900 foster homes in the state, and many more children could be in the system, but due individual circumstances are not, Bernhard said.

Since the partners filed a petition for the specialty plate more than 600 signatures have been added to their list, but they still need at least 3,000 signatures to move onto the next step.

If they gather more than verified 3,000 signatures, the group will need to search for a local legislator to sponsor a bill for the specialty plate, which Tedesco says should not be too challenging since it’s a bipartisan issue.

“We’ve spoken to several legislators and they’re very interested,” he said. 

“They believe in Foster Source and they believe in the programs they offer to foster programs that enables a health environment for the kids.”

Tedesco is just happy to have gotten this far, but he won’t stop fighting until it’s finished.

“The reason I do a lot of this is because I’m a former foster child, and I’m an adoptive child. This whole process and system means a lot to me, and I’ll never stop believing in it,” Tedesco said.

Anyone interested in signing the petition for the new specialty plate can do so here.