BENDIGO's Wendy Brittain knows first hand the rewards of taking on long-term foster care children and teenagers.

The Kennington resident has been a foster carer for St Luke's for about six years, and currently has two young people living with her, a boy, nine, and a girl, 16.  

Ms Brittain said a lack of carers in the central Victorian region at the time meant her youngest was originally going to be sent to Melbourne.

"This young person had been in and out of foster care most of his life, the only solid thing in his life was his school," she said.

"There was no way known I was going to let that happen.

"You move them away from their family, their friends, their school; even if that's all they've got, they need it."

She said two years on, the stability meant the boy was now learning life skills he could use later in life. 

"I have all my kids here leave with a toolkit. They need to be able to fix something," she said.

Ms Brittain, a former disability care worker, hasn't looked back since she "fell" into foster care almost a decade ago.

"I worked in disabilities first, I used to host young children with a disability once a month for a weekend," she said.

"DHS called me on Friday and said we've got this young guy and can't find anywhere to put him, do you want to take this boy for a night. He was still there two years later."

She said there were certainly challenges and hurdles along the way, like choosing to give up work and money to dedicate herself fully to role.

But she said the rewards, such as good relationships with some of her previous foster children, were worth it.

She said one example was a young woman who had been in her care for about four years and who left at the start of the year, but who still drops by for a bit of help sewing.

"She’s only short, so her dresses are always too long. She comes over here and we pin it and I take them up for her," she said.

"Her and her partner had Christmas with me, and another person who was in my care about four years ago and his partner turned up as well. We still keep in contact."

Her advice to those considering becoming a foster carer was to listen and be empathetic. 

"You've got to go in with your heart, hands, arms and mind open," she said.