For most people, raising one child is exhausting. But to take care of your own and give shelter to dozens more is a feat not a lot of families can claim.

Marcia and Tom Korman, who have lived in their Glenview home for about 35 years, have fostered 40 local teenagers over 15 years while also raising their own son and daughter.

Once the only foster parents in Glenview, the Kormans, who have been empty nesters for about 13 years, also volunteer in different ways.

"Many people don't have a clue what they've done over the years because they're doing it from their heart," said Nancy Bloom, Tom Korman's second cousin, who has known the family for decades.

The Kormans, who both grew up in Skokie, volunteer at Youth Services of Northbrook/Glenview, helping children and teenagers with their homework.

"It gives you a good feeling," Tom Korman said of their participation in the community. "It's all part of giving back."

Tom Korman, 65, who works as a business and financial lawyer at the firm Gould and Ratner, will be honored on June 23 for his longtime community service with the Irving B. Harris Leadership Award by the Jewish Child and Family Services, a Chicago-area nonprofit, where Korman served as a past president.

Community members describe the couple as humble and willing to go to great lengths to help their community.

Howard Sitron, president and CEO of Jewish Child and Family Services, said he was blown away by what the Korman family has done. He met Tom Korman about three years ago.

"It was hard to imagine having so many kids flowing through the house," Sitron said. "I raised my two kids, and I was exhausted."

Bloom, who babysat for Tom Korman years ago, said the couple is an example of what giving and caring is all about. But most importantly, they are the type of people who don't do it for the publicity or money — but because it is the right thing to do, Bloom said.

Volunteering "is just a part of them," Bloom said.

"It does indeed take a special person to decide to foster a teenager" or any child, said David Clarkin, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

The number of children entering foster care in Cook County has declined by about 72 percent from a high of 4,703 in 1995 to an average of 1,328 over the last five years. But the need for foster families has remained consistent. When families like the Kormans retire from foster parenting as they become older, the need is underscored, Clarkin said.

In Illinois, there is a shortage of between 1,500 to 2,500 foster homes, and Cook County has a shortage of about 650 homes, Clarkin said.

"Hopefully, other families will consider passing along that tradition," Clarkin said, adding that foster families don't have to be just married couples and can include single or divorced parents, and gay couples.

The Kormans, who have been married for 42 years, said they first got interested in foster care when Marcia's cousin fostered two children through the Jewish Children's Bureau, which is now part of Jewish Child and Family Services.

The family first took in a 4 1/2-year-old girl for about a year, but then took a break because Marcia, who is now retired, was pregnant with their second child.

A few years later, Marcia saw a "foster homes wanted" poster at the Glenview Public Library, and the family returned to foster care.

"It's just our thing," said Tom Korman, crediting his wife for directing the family in its community service.

Marcia Korman looks back at the experience with a smile. Her son and daughter were 7 and 10 years old, respectively, when the family started fostering teenagers.

"It's a lot of cooking," Korman said, adding that the most number of teenagers the family fostered at one time was three.

She said both of their children liked having older siblings, even if it was for a short period of time.

In order to become foster parents, the Kormans had to go through a tough screening process that lasted about six months in order to get licensed to take care of other teenagers, Marcia Korman said.

The family decided to concentrate on teenagers because they are easier to take care of than younger children, she said.

"Teenagers come home and close the door," Marcia Korman said. "They're a lot more independent."

She said the family got high school students from Glenview, Northbrook and New Trier Township through Haven Youth and Family Services, which is now based in Wilmette. Each teenager was going through some type of family crisis and stayed at the Korman's at most for about a year and a half, with some leaving for college, finding their own place if they turned 18 or returning back to their own families.

The Kormans said they established one major rule — the teenagers had to call if they weren't going to come home for dinner.

"They were all really good kids," Marcia Korman said. "They knew that it was a privilege to stay at our home."

The couple said they treated those who stayed as one of their own, and they still keep touch with some of the teenagers they helped raise.

Sara, who was one of the teenagers the Kormans fostered, said the Kormans had a big impact on the rest of her life.

Now 43 years old and married with her own two sons, Sara, who did not want her full name used, said she tried to carry the Kormans' honesty and fairness into her own marriage.

"I really truly respect them," said Sara, who lived with the Kormans between the ages of 16 and 18. "No matter what the situation was, they would listen to each other."

When she was in high school, Sara said, she did not have a good home life, and a teacher suggested she contact the school's counselor.

"It was frightening," she said when she first considered the school counselor's suggestion of going to a foster home. "I really had no idea what to expect at all."

Now living in Milwaukee, Sara stays in touch with the Kormans. She never expected to bond with the family in the way she did.

Just last year, Tom Korman was a cantor at the bar mitzvah of Sara's son Thomas, whom she named after her fostering father.

"We're touched and blown away by how much (Sara) has grown," Tom Korman said.

He felt honored when Sara named her son after him.

achachkevitch@tribune.com