PUKALANI — Paulette and George Yoshida keep a firm grip on discipline and maintain a strong faith in God when opening their home to children with nowhere else to go.

The Yoshidas marked their first 10 years as foster parents this month by being honored as Keiki Kokua's Super Hero Foster Parents of the Year. In addition, Maui Youth and Family Services acknowledged the Yoshidas at a separate event for their decade of service as the county marked Foster Care Month.

The Yoshidas, said Keiki Kokua executive director Alda St. James, "exemplify dedication to making a difference in children's lives. They help kids heal."

Daryl Selman of Maui Youth and Family Services called the Yoshidas "warm, loving, kind people" who have a knack for making teenagers feel safe. That's a remarkable gift, he said.

The Yoshidas' decision to become foster parents dates to 1997, just a few months after they adopted a 4-month-old girl they named Pualani.

Paulette, 58, and George, 68, had married in 1991 and already had four grown children from previous relationships.

George Yoshida said he knew Paulette was especially keen on raising a little girl, always "gravitating" to little ones they would meet at a mall, a restaurant or with mutual friends.

When Pualani, affectionately called "Pua," became their own, the Yoshidas, particularly Paulette, went to work almost immediately looking for a playmate for their new daughter.

They applied and became certified as foster parents for teenage girls.

After four years of housing dozens of girls, the Yoshidas said yes to a request from Maui Youth and Family Services to open their home to teenage boys.

This past week, they had four boys in the house, and on Friday morning, they were asked to take in one more. That would reach the capacity of their home.

The Yoshidas have been foster parents to approximately 80 children in 10 years.

The Yoshida home has been a 24-hour emergency shelter to runaways. It has also sheltered children in trouble with the law, those who have been abused and those who abuse themselves.

"We're usually the last chance for these kids," said George Yoshida, a retired construction worker.

He said he lets his wife take the lead with the children, welcoming them with love while setting up rules of discipline.

"In this home, she sets the rules. I back her up. When she says no, I say no," Yoshida said.

One of the non-negotiables in the Yoshida home is that the foster teenagers have to accompany them to church on Sundays. In 10 years, not one child has refused to join the Yoshidas at Grace Church in Pukalani.

They said that the children often get engaged in music ministry and service projects at the church. "On Sundays, we are all together as a family," Paulette Yoshida said. "We always do fun things after church. We go to the beach, to the parks, movies or sometimes parties."

As church volunteers at the Maui Food Bank, the Yoshidas sometimes take their foster youngsters with them to help out at the nonprofit.

"Our goal for the youth is always to plant the seeds of righteousness in their lives, and to someday be reunited with their families, if possible," Paulette Yoshida said.

She said she's learned that what teenagers really long for is that their parents will spend time with them and talk to them. "No talk, no communication and they don't know what's love," she said.

The Yoshidas said they have had their challenges with the teenage boys, having found drug paraphernalia with at least one of them and then being physically threatened by another.

Neither incident caused them to think twice about being foster parents.

In tough times, Paulette Yoshida said, she turns to prayer. "There's no way we could do this without the Lord," she said.

The Yoshidas said the best part of being foster parents is seeing the children years later as adults with their own children. "They thank us for what we did for them, and they say they understand now what we were trying to do," Paulette Yoshida said. "That's really rewarding."