Dave and Deanna Mitchell appreciate the no-children-in-residence policy at their new home, the Stoneridge Creek Retirement Community in Pleasanton.

It's not that the Mitchells don't like children, it's just the opposite in fact. They needed to live somewhere that would finally prevent them from taking them in children to live with them.

From 1970 to 2013 the Mitchells, formerly of Danville, took in a total of 431 foster children.

"Unbelievable, huh?" laughs Deanna.

"It sounds like a big number," Dave adds, "but they only came one, two, or three at a time. Not all at once."

The Mitchells met in high school in the 1950's in Missouri and got married soon after. Dave and Deanna moved around a few times before settling in Georgia. It was soon after that the church they attended hosted a meeting about starting private foster care system.

After having their interest piqued by the opportunity, Dave and Deanna called a family meeting with their two young children. Initially, their son was not fully on board, so they did not move forward with the process.

But a little while later, things changed.

“Six months later he came and he said, ‘Remember when you talked about sharing my room and sharing my toys?’ I said, ‘Yeah,’ He says, ‘I think I’d like that.’ So, we went to the elder at church and said we were interested.”

A few short weeks later and the Mitchells had taken in not one, but three children.

After a few more moves, including a final move to California, the Mitchells had taken a break from hosting foster children when another opportunity presented itself to Deanna when she was volunteering at a treatment center for developmentally delayed children in Concord.

A young boy had been left there by his previous foster parents, with no place to go. So, knowing she had the experience and expertise, Deanna offered to take him in, and the Mitchells began opening their home to foster children once again.

“God just kept sending us children,” Deanna says. And, she adds, He didn’t stop for quite some time.

Taking up to five children at a time, the Mitchells continued to be foster parents up until just two years ago when they officially retired.

“I think we knew physically and mentally we probably needed to stop. But the heart wouldn’t let you.”

Their two biological children grew accustomed to having extra people in the house and Deanna even tells a story where her daughter’s sixth grade teacher asked her class how many people each person had in their family.

“I don’t know until I come down in the morning and count,” was her response, Deanna says telling the story with a smile. Dave and Deanna would often receive calls in the middle of the night from someone looking for a place for a child, and they always picked up.

“Once the child walked in our home, they were not a foster child. I don’t think we ever referred to them as foster children. They were our family.”