This week is Foster Care Awareness Week, celebrating the dedication and hard work of people up and down the country who give vulnerable young people a place to call home - caregivers such as Hamilton woman Karen Knight.
Karen has been a caregiver for Child, Youth and Family since 2012, and has had 30 young people placed in her home on short and long-term placements since then.
The drive to be a caregiver was instilled in Karen from an early age, thanks to the unconditional love she received from two people in her otherwise "rugged" upbringing.
"If someone can do that for me then I can do that for someone else," Karen said.
Despite not having biological children of her own, young people have always been a huge part of Karen's life. Living in Hamilton for the past 28 years, Karen said she has always had children coming and going.