Podcasts about Foster care

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. We're talking with Andrew Hopper, Lead Pastor of Mercy Hill Church in North Carolina. Planted in 2012 with just 30 people, Mercy Hill has grown into a multi-campus, fast-growing church known for its gospel clarity and sending culture. In this conversation, Andrew shares why adoption and foster care have become central expressions of Mercy Hill's mission—and how those practices flow directly out of the gospel. He also unpacks the heart behind his book, Chosen: Building Your Family the Way God Builds His. Is your church unsure how to engage big social needs without drifting from the gospel? Are you looking for a way to mobilize people beyond church walls while keeping discipleship front and center? Andrew offers a clear framework for doing both. Doing good as a sign of the kingdom. // Andrew addresses a common tension churches feel between community engagement and disciple-making. Mercy Hill refuses to treat these as competing priorities. Acts of service—whether foster care, adoption, or family restoration—are not the kingdom itself but signposts pointing to it. Meeting tangible needs creates openings for gospel conversations. These ministries don't replace evangelism; they amplify it by demonstrating the heart of God in visible ways. A church’s collective heartbeat. // Mercy Hill's deep involvement in adoption, foster care, and family restoration didn't start as a top-down strategy but emerged organically from the gifts and passions within the church. Many leaders and members have adopted children themselves, shaping the church's collective heartbeat. Rather than attempting to address every social issue, Mercy Hill chose to focus deeply on a few—believing churches are most effective when they lean into the specific good works God has prepared for them. This focus has mobilized hundreds of families and created a powerful witness in their community. Rope-holding and shared responsibility. // Not everyone is called to adopt or foster, but everyone can hold the rope. Drawing from the William Carey analogy, Mercy Hill equips members to support families on the front lines through prayer, childcare, meals, financial help, and presence. Over time, they've learned that rope-holding works best when built on existing relationships rather than formal assignments. The goal is to ensure no family fights alone in what Andrew describes as intense spiritual warfare. Big vision with baby steps. // Mercy Hill isn't afraid to cast a bold vision—whether for global missions, adoption, or church planting—but they pair that vision with accessible next steps. Prayer nights, giving opportunities, short-term service, and relational support allow people to grow into greater obedience over time. High challenge without guilt creates healthy discipleship. Why Andrew wrote Chosen. // Andrew wrote Chosen: Building Your Family the Way God Builds His not to promote a program, but to give churches a theological foundation for engaging adoption and foster care. The book weaves together Andrew's family story, Mercy Hill's journey, and a deeply gospel-centered motivation rooted in Scripture. Designed to be used individually or in groups, Chosen includes discussion questions and practical guidance for churches or small groups wanting to explore this calling in community. Andrew's prayer is that the book would catalyze thousands of Christian families to participate meaningfully in caring for vulnerable children and families. Gospel-driven motivation. // Underneath everything is Andrew's conviction that gospel motivation outlasts guilt. Behavior rooted in grace goes further than behavior driven by pressure. Adopted people adopt people. Chosen people choose people. That theological clarity fuels Mercy Hill's sending culture, their community impact, and their ongoing growth. To explore Andrew's resources on adoption, foster care, and grab his book, Chosen, visit andrewphopper.com/chosen or follow him on Instagram @andrewphopper. You can learn more about Mercy Hill Church at mercyhillchurch.com. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Portable Church Your church is doing really well right now, and your leadership team is looking for solutions to keep momentum going! It could be time to start a new location. Maybe you have hesitated in the past few years, but you know it's time to step out in faith again and launch that next location. Portable Church has assembled a bundle of resources to help you leverage your growing momentum into a new location by sending a part of your congregation back to their neighborhood on Mission. This bundle of resources will give you a step-by-step plan to launch that new or next location, and a 5 minute readiness tool that will help you know your church is ready to do it! Click here to watch the free webinar “Launch a New Location in 150 Days or Less” and grab the bundle of resources for your church! Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. We have got a multi-time guest on, and you know what that means. That means that I really respect, deeply admire, and want you to listen up, and today is no exception. Excited to have Andrew Hopper with us. He is the lead pastor of a church that they should be following, that you should be following. He’s a lead pastor of Mercy Hill Church with five locations, if I’m counting correctly, in North Carolina, and is repeatedly one of the fastest growing churches in the country. I love this church on many levels. They’re centered on the gospel and have a radical commitment to sending people to the nations. They have a desire to make disciples and multiply churches. Andrew, welcome to the show. So glad you’re here.Andrew Hopper — Man, I’m so pumped to be here. Love the podcast. Really appreciate it, man.Rich Birch — Yeah, I’m honored that you would come back. For folks that that don’t know Mercy Hill, give me a bit of a kind of an update. Tell us a little bit about the church.Andrew Hopper — Yeah.Rich Birch — Maybe update us from last time you were on.Andrew Hopper — Yeah, man. So just real quick, planted in 2012. We had 30 people, all you know kind of young professional age, and man, just really believe that God could do something incredible ah through, you know just through our our open hands, and he did.Andrew Hopper — And so it’s been 13 years. It’s crazy. We’ve been sort of pushing the same boulder up the same mountain for 13 years, just flywheel kind of concept and keep pushing. And ah the Lord has done an incredible thing, like you said, five campuses. And man, just moved into a new home and hub. That was from last time we had a chance. That’s been really great. Andrew Hopper — We were in a rented location for a long time as our main like broadcast campus. We’re a video-based multi-site. And so um it’s ah it was a three or four-year journey to raise the money and build this new facility. But we’re in, and the Lord has really blessed that with tons of new people, highest baptisms, sent ones, first time guest numbers, all everything that we’ve done. This has been a, you know, we’ve gone been on a ride – praise God for that. It’s it’s, um, it’s for his sake and his renown, but this year has been unlike the others. So it’s been…Rich Birch — Yeah, you were saying beforehand, it’s like 30 or something like 30 some percent year over year growth. That’s insane to keep up with.Andrew Hopper — It is man. And the, and the giving does not, uh, you know, the giving doesn’t happen.Rich Birch — Reflect that yet.Andrew Hopper — So it’s, it’s like, we’re trying to do ministry on a budget of a church that’s 3000, but a church that’s running 4,500. And it’s like, how do you do that effectively without killing everybody?Rich Birch — Nice.Andrew Hopper — All your staff, I mean, so, but we’re, we’re learning, man, we’re figuring it out. It’s fun. We got, we just planted our sixth church. So that’s apart from the campuses. This is first time, Rich, we’ve planted a church in our own city.Rich Birch — Oh, nice. That’s cool.Andrew Hopper — It’s been really, a really cool dynamic and it’s been fun. He’s doing great. Man, it was a college student that we met when he was 19 years old at North Carolina AT&T 10 years later. He’s an elder here. He’s done a lot of different things. And man, he goes and plants a new church in Greensboro about five minutes from one of our campuses and they’re doing great.Rich Birch — Wow. Yeah, that’s so good. Well, the thing, there’s lots I love about Mercy Hill, but one of the things that I’ve loved about your church from the you know the chance we’ve had to journey a little bit over the years about it is you just have real clarity around the mission, this idea of making disciples, multiplying churches. It’s like that has been rock solid from the beginning. When you think about we want churches to have discipleship at its core, this idea of a church that actually grows people up in their relationship with Christ. What matters most at the foundation? How are you keeping that so foundational to you know what’s happening at Mercy Hill?Andrew Hopper — Yeah, I think um I think that we always sort of bought into kind of what we see in Acts 2 as a little bit of a flywheel. We call it gather, group, give, go. A lot of churches have something like that.Andrew Hopper — The the difference, I think, at Mercy Hill a little bit than what I see ah in in in a lot of churches that we help mentor and coach is that 2020 hit and everybody was like, man, what is a church? What is discipleship? What are we going to do now? And and people were kind of… And I do think it was and it wasn’t, you know, it wasn’t just me. I mean, our, you know, our executive pastor Bobby, he was really integral in this. We sort of really doubled down on no, I kind of think the church is going to come back. Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And I kind of think what we were doing is sort of what our church is set up to do. It kind of a brand thing. We are sort of a big box sending brand. And that, you know, for us, when we look at Acts 2, we’re like, dude, the gathering, there’s no more there’s no more important hour for discipleship and evangelism. And I know there’s a lot of things written against that. And people are kind of almost like downplaying it. Andrew Hopper — We’re just like, man, we just don’t believe it. We believe people need to be in a group. You know, we they need generosity is lead step in discipleship, give. And we got to teach people that there’s a mission bigger than themselves. And if we do that, it’s going to funnel more people into the gathering. Andrew Hopper — So I think fundamentally what I would say, we need to get, you know, we could talk about our value, you know we can talk about values to gospel and [inaudible] identity, but I think landing on you know, it’s very hard now to, to not get a word salad book form or thing. When you ask somebody, how are you making disciples? It can just be like…Rich Birch — Right. Very vacuous. Who knows what that means? Yeah.Andrew Hopper — For us, it’s just been a very clear, simple process.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — Like, man, we believe if someone is in the gathering, if they’re in relationship, if they’re being pushed on generosity, and if they’re living for a mission bigger than themselves, that’s a current of maturity that will move them. They just get in the stream, they’ll move.Rich Birch — Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It’s so good.Andrew Hopper — that’s kind of So you know for us, I think that’s as, you know we’ve we’ve tried to simplify things there.Rich Birch — Yeah. And, and your last episode, I’ve pointed a ton of people to it, uh, to really, and we really unpack a lot of what you talked about there in more detail.Andrew Hopper — Right. Yeah.Rich Birch — You’re going to want to go back and, uh, and listen to that. You’ve reached as a church, you’ve reached a lot of people who don’t grow up in church that it’s like, there’s a lot of people who are there. You know, we used to say we ain’t your mama’s church, but mama didn’t go to church, you know? So, you know, and it’s been a long time that people were there. What challenges have you seen, you know, helping move people from curiosity into real ongoing discipleship? So like, I think there are, we’re seeing a swell of attendance across the country. People are like, oh, I’m kind of interested in this, but we got to move them from just, oh, this is something interesting to like, oh, I’m actually want to grow my relationship with Jesus.Andrew Hopper — Yeah, I mean, and it’s it’s funny too, Rich, you probably have a better bird’s eye view of this than I do. But I feel like churches that have been faithfully growing for like the last 10 years, they’re not really doing a lot different now. Or even though there’s this big swell happening, what I do think is that some churches have sort of decided like, oh, clarity does matter.Rich Birch — Yes. Yeah, that’s true.Andrew Hopper — And don’t try to be friends with the culture. We’re going to speak in and be prophetic. And, you know, even even to the you know Proverbs 25:26 says, you know, there’s there there’s no there’s no benefit in a muddied spring. You know, it’s like you got to be sort of you got to figure out if we’re going to be clear.Andrew Hopper — So, I you know, for me, I think like and you’re right, we do reach most of the people that we reach that are in the camp that you’re talking about our college age. We reach a lot of people, though, ah that are, you know, they’re they’re coming back to the faith because they’re a southerner.Rich Birch — Sure.Andrew Hopper — You know, they they kind of they kind of were, you know, they they did have some church in their background. They’re coming back. Their kids are not only born, but they’re realizing they’re sinners and they don’t have answers. They’re trying to figure that out.Rich Birch — Right. Right.Andrew Hopper — They’re coming back to church.Andrew Hopper — And, you know, I think the biggest thing that moves people from like interest into a decision point is just being very clear on this is what the gospel is. This is the life it compels you to. Are you going to be in or out?Andrew Hopper — One of the things we say at Mercy Hill a lot is like, man, if you’re if you’re just intrigued, you know, if you’re interested, you’re not going to stay at Mercy Hill because we’re never going to let you, you’re going to get pushed every week. And it’s like, man, people are not really in or like that. I’m not going to do that. You know, they’re just like, no I’m not going to sit here and get like pushed every single week on something I don’t really… And the flip side is when people say, all right, you know what? Stake in the ground. I’m in.Rich Birch — Yeah, we’re doing this, yep.Andrew Hopper — I wanna look like this, I want to build my life on this. It’s like, well, now, you know, it’s it’s man, I’m hopefully, you know, putting tools in the belt every single week to live that life.Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah, it’s good. I do think there was a time where people wandered into our churches where I don’t think that happens as much anymore. I think people, when they arrive, they come with questions, with live active questions that they’re trying to wrestle with, kind of regardless of where they’re they’re at in their journey.Andrew Hopper — Yeah.Rich Birch — And they’re what you to your point around, you know, there’s no benefit in a muddy stream. People aren’t looking for anything that sounds like, well, what do you think? Because the reason why they’re there is because they’re asking questions. And so, you know, they’re they’re looking for clarity, like I think you’re saying. Rich Birch — Well one of the things I love about your church is there’s a high commitment to, you’re you’re you’re tearing down what I think is a false dichotomy. Sometimes I think when churches come to this idea of outreach or making a difference in their community, there’s this there can be this gap or false dichotomy between doing good in our communities and making disciples. Like we gave that up at some point. We were like, you can’t, you know, we can’t do both of those things for some reason. Why, why did we do that? Why did we, as churches say, we can’t both make a difference in our communities and also make disciples?Andrew Hopper — Yeah, I think it’s, I actually have a lot of sympathy for the fundamentalist leaning. I know it sounds a little bit weird. Rich Birch — No, that’s fine.Andrew Hopper — Churches that led from the, you know, from the good do good in your city kind of thing. I don’t think they’re right, but I do have sympathy for that because I understand how quickly that sort of, you know, is so hijacked by liberal, by theological liberalism to where it’s finally man we’re digging wells and wherever but we’re not talking about who the true source of living water is. Like we don’t want to be offensive we just want to do good without speaking the whole you know you know live your life as a Christian only use words if necessary, whatever, you know. And and I so I understand why people kind of fled and have fled that.Andrew Hopper — Like, you know, I’ve even had our church before when I when I talk about adoption or we we have a ministry, and a ministry called No More Spectators. We’re like moving people towards community ministry. And we had people kind of going on like, oh, my gosh, this seems like a sign of like churches start going this way and then they lose the gospel.Andrew Hopper — And I’m like, well, the reason you’re kind of feeling like that is because a lot of churches have done that. You know, you’re not [inaudible] like that just out of nowhere. Now, of course, I think it’s a little bit immature and we’ve got to push through. The way we talk about it, Rich, is, man, we want to do good in our community as signs of the kingdom coming.Andrew Hopper — They are not building the kingdom. You know, if we go repaint a house or house a homeless person, one day that person would parted with that house, whether they, you know, get messed up and leave or whether they do great and then would die one day, you know.Andrew Hopper — Or, if we have, ah you know, if we go and, and you know, we’re going to, for example, we have ah ah a family in our church that they need a ramp built because, man, the the brother is struggling with MS and he’s, they’re they’re fighting it like Christians do. We’re going to go do that. You know, we’re going to go build that ramp. That ramp’s going to rot and die one, you know, rot and rot away one day. And, you know, whether it’s 100 years from now or whatever.Andrew Hopper — Like it’s not literally the kingdom. But when the outside world sees us engage and, you know, our church will talk about this primarily when we think about community ministry, we think about it in terms of adoption, foster care and families count, which I can talk to you about. I think it’s bringing a sign of the kingdom that is to the community around us to say, hey, this is not the gospel. But it sure points to the gospel. Rich Birch — Right, right.Andrew Hopper — You know, it’s a pretty good signpost of like, yeah, there’s a kingdom coming where kids aren’t separated from their parents, you know. And and so that’s kind of the way that we think about, it’s not, you know, it’s not the kingdom. It’s a sign of the kingdom that is coming.Rich Birch — Yeah, let’s let’s dive in. So adoptions, foster care, families count. These are not small issues. Like you started with like putting a ramp on, painting somebody – those are like, okay, I can organize my head around that. And then we jump to what I think are obviously significant. How, it can be easy, I think, for church leaders it can be easy where, you know, we got a lot of fish to fry in our own backyard. When you see big problems like that, help us unpack that. Why do you as a lead pastor, why are you passionate about these issues? Why are these the things that you’ve chosen?Andrew Hopper — I think it’s, man, I think it’s great. I mean if you can’t if you don’t mind I’ll go back and give you a little bit of context. I’m a context [inaudible]… Rich Birch — Yeah, absolutely. Let’s do it. Yeah. Andrew Hopper — …number one so I always want to frame it in where we’ve been. But the short answer to the question is I think that every church because it is made up of individual believers that have individual gift matrix, you know they’re they’re gifted the church is gifted in a unique way because the people which are the church are gifted in a unique way, right? Andrew Hopper — And so to me, you know, slapping, you know, a top down every single church has to to manifest signs of the kingdom in X way, which, for for example, I’m not to pick on it, but like, you know, the whole diversity church kind of movement. I love you know, if that’s your brand, that’s awesome. That’s great. Go, go bring signs of the kingdom in that area. But you know what people do is they take their thing and then slap it on every single church. You know, this is the sign of the kingdom that you have to manifest.Andrew Hopper — I don’t think that. It takes every kind of church to reach a city because there’s all you know, there’s every kind of people in the city. Right? For us, though, and I think for a lot of churches that that maybe are are made up a little bit like we are, I think there is a lot of meat on the bone for adoption, foster care, families count ministry. And I think churches could be greatly helped by latching on to maybe, you know, something in particular, maybe this, maybe this specifically. How we got there, Rich, was we had we had, you know, huge movement in our church in 2019. I was very convicted.Andrew Hopper — Some of the exponential stuff was coming out, you know, mobilizing people outside the walls of the church. And I really was, man, I was just really affected by that. And I don’t want the dichotomy, you know, I don’t want, well, you your people serve in the church and not outside the church. It’s like, no, most people serve outside the church. If you watch them, they are serving inside the church as well. It’s it’s like a it’s like, man, you know, just just because serving inside the church is not the finish line, don’t demonize it because it is a starting place.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — So it’s like, I don’t like that kind of whole thing. But but it did affect me to say, OK, what are we doing to push to the outside? So we we we did a thing. You would have loved this, man. But it except for the fact that it didn’t really work that good. OK, it was awesome.Andrew Hopper — It was, we still have the domain name – nomorespectators.com – I had the tagline: Jesus didn’t die to create spectators. He died to create servants, not spectators, workers, not watchers. We, man, you could go to nomorespectators.com and, you know, it was like, it was like a funnel for all of these community ministry opportunities in our city. So it was, you know, people from the housing, you know, authority type stuff would post things. And it was, it was all this kind of, it had a bunch of stuff in it. Andrew Hopper — In the end of the day, great idea. It was a little too complex. Our people latched on to the foster care, pregnancy network, you know, ended up being families count, Guardian ad Litem and adoption. So our guy that was over all that at the time our sending director, which is hard for me to have a good idea that ends up dying hard, okay that’s just tough for me.Rich Birch — You had a great sticky statement and everything. Come on.Andrew Hopper — I’m the king of sunken cost bias. Okay. Like, I’m like, dude. And so finally around 2020, he came to me and he said, bro, I know this is hard for you. Cause it was like a two year initiative. He’s like, this is hard. He said, No More Spectators needs to just turn into Chosen. And it needs to be like, you had this idea for 30 different things. It just, this needs to be our niche, man. You know, we we don’t do a lot of these other things, but we do this really well.Andrew Hopper — And it was hard for me. Ultimately, it was great wisdom by them, not me. And we started going down that road. And partly, I think it’s because, Rich, is heart is near to my heart. I have an adopted daughter. A lot of our staff have adopted kids. We just have a guy right now. Our associate director of first impressions at the Rich campus is in Texas right now, you know, bringing their daughter home.Andrew Hopper — I mean, so it’s just, and so it’s sort of started to morph into, and the the the big thing I’ll say, and I, you know, I’ve been talking a lot here, but the big thing I’ll say is, if you think about the way I just ah described all that, it doesn’t start with the need in the community. It starts with the gift matrix of the church. The poor we will always have with us. Like there there is no there’s no scenario until Jesus comes back that there’s no kids that need to be adopted, you know.Rich Birch — Right, right.Andrew Hopper — And it’s just the reality of it. And so there’s always going to be need in the community. It’s more about, okay, what are the Ephesians 2:10 works that your church, because the church is made up of people who are individually called, what are the you know what are those works that God has set out for your church? Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — And, you know, so for us, we just felt like, dude, this is a a heartbeat thing. Our people got more, they get more fired up. The greatest thing I’ve ever been able to mobilize our people for prayer for is go to the abortion clinic and pray. I mean, a thousand people on their face in the pavement. It’s like, it just strikes a chord with our church and who we are. So we wanna run after that.Rich Birch — Yeah. Well, I love that. And we’re going to dig out a bunch of this, but let’s think about it first from a perspective of somebody who’s maybe attended your church. They just started. They’re they’re relatively new, you know. The idea of something as weighty as adoption or foster care, that’s a big ask. And you know when you yeah how do I experience that as someone who’s just new? What are some ways that I could get plugged in? What does that look like? That, that, cause I, I’m hard, it’s hard to imagine that I go from zero to, to, you know, adoption, you know, how do I end up or flying to Texas to, you know, pick up a kid. That’s a lot. Help me understand. How are you, cause I know you guys are so good at moving people along from kind of where they are to where you’re hoping to – what’s that look like? What’s the kind of, how do you bring people along in this?Andrew Hopper — Man, totally. I think you’re right. I think it’s a combination of big vision on one end and then baby steps on the other. But the big vision matters.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — Like we don’t want to be scared of the big vision. So, you know, for example, our weekender process, which I know you talked about some, you know, that weekender process, you know, people literally for years, we would give them a passport application in the weekender process. Because we’re like you’re at this church you’re probably going to be overseas at some point on a mission trip. And so to me it’s like people are like dude that probably scares the crap out of people. And it’s like well, I mean we want to make sure they know what they’re getting into, you know. We’re not telling them they got to do that tomorrow… Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — …but that is the, and then and then there’s all these baby steps, right? Like hey come to you know, every February we do Sent weekend. Come to the prayer night. Like that’s a baby step. That’s not you getting on a plane to go to Nepal. But you know hey we’re doing this missions offering at the end of the year, like maybe get you know. So there’s all these I would say that our the way we think about Chosen ministry, which again: adoption, foster care, families count, and rope holding, which is a big part of this discussion… Rich Birch — Okay. Andrew Hopper —…is that way. It’s big vision on the front end so we’re never going to tell somebody, hey you know, I know you could never do this. Like I’ll never…I think people can do it and they should. Or or you know more Christians than are should. At the same time we’re also not guilting anybody. Like so I’m I you know the the first thing I’ll tell people is like, hey, you know we start talking about adoption. I always say always say, hey, we have not lined up a bunch of little kids in the lobby for you to take one home today, okay. And then I’ll tell them, that’s next week.Rich Birch — That’s great.Andrew Hopper — Okay, so yeah but and we we try hard to like put some levity in it. Man, we’re not everybody’s not going to do that. In fact, a minority, of a small minority is going to do it. But everyone can be involved and there are baby steps.Andrew Hopper — So we try to highlight giving, man. Like if you someone adopts from Mercy Hill, we pay 25% of their adoption. Okay.Rich Birch — Wow. Yep.Andrew Hopper — If they’re a member and they’re in a community group, they get 25%. All right, well, you know, we’re going to connect that. Like, man, you you are never going to adopt. You feel like that’s, but it’s like, well, I give $100 a month to the church. Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — Well, hey, what? You know, you’re you are you are supporting.Rich Birch — We’re making a difference.Andrew Hopper — We do parents night out, you know, for all of our foster and adoptive parents. We do it quarterly. It’s like, hey, those are opportunities to come and serve, man. You can serve the meal you can do. We do rope holding, which I know we’ll probably talk about. But but the the idea of rope holding is just like, man, I’m not going to do this, but I can be in the corner for somebody. They’re in my community group. I want to be their first call if they need a babysitter or they need, you know, a gift card, or whatever they need.Andrew Hopper — So I think, man, we try to do big vision. You know, we’re going we’re going to set a huge vision, you know, for 2030 for 2030. Actually, we just hit our vision for 2025, which is 200 adoptive or foster families. There’s a lot of ways people can be involved with it.Rich Birch — So good. There’s, I think thing I would encourage friends who are listening in, you really should be following Mercy Hill, Andrew, because I do think you’re a very unique communicator where you, and you just described it. And I think to you, it’s just like, that’s just what you do. But this idea of like, you’re calling people to a high bar, but you’re not leveraging shame, guilt. you know, it’s, and I think so many times our language can kind of lean in that direction. Or we can, if we really are trying to push people towards something, or we can just undersell the vision. You know We can be like, oh, it’s not that it’s not that big of a deal. You know It’s not for everybody. So I would encourage people to listen in.Rich Birch — Talk to me about rope holding. How is that, what’s that look like? Unpack what that looks like a little bit.Andrew Hopper — Yeah, so rope so the the the rope-holding analogy, which a lot of your listeners probably gonna already know this, but you know William Carey, Andrew Fuller, William Carey, father of modern missions, he’s he he he makes the statement, “I’ll dangle at the end of the rope in the pit, if you’ll hold the rope,” talking to Fuller. And Fuller held the rope for him. Like, you know, Carey the mission field, Fuller’s raising money, preaching sermons, organizing mission boards. So that’s kind of the picture. Right.Andrew Hopper — So we say, all right, not everybody is going to go down into the pit of foster care adoption, even even families count. I mean, these are these are massive spiritual warfare battlegrounds you know um which is one of the reasons why our church wants to be involved so much. I mean you if you want to talk about getting to the you can do all the rhetoric in the world, brother, you want to get to the very bottom of societal issues, you you be involved in somebody’s story that’s trying that’s trying to get their kids back from the foster care system. You’re trying to help them with that. I mean, every you could fatherlessness, poverty, drug abuse. I mean, everything you can think, you know.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — So this this is just spiritual war. So what we tell people is like, hey, man. If we got people that are mobilizing for for adoption and foster care, we better have people in their corne,r because the enemy is going to bring his war machine.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And we see it all the time. I mean, you’re going to see, you know, a family steps in to adopt and you’re going to start seeing them, you know, there can be sickness. They can have marital problems. They can have financial things that come up. They can begin to believe lies, frustrations. I mean, There’s just so they can become, you know, their their heart can start getting hard toward the system. I mean, there’s so many things that come at them. And so what we say is we need people in their corner, right. Andrew Hopper — Now, it’s funny because like the way our church has operated was at first we said, all right, we’re going to we’re going to do, you know, the the community group is going hold the rope for the people. And and that that was fine. The problem is when we really kicked off this ministry, so many people got involved that it became overwhelming to the group. So we said we got to start this… Rich Birch — Right. Andrew Hopper — …rope holding ministry. The rope holder ministry is good. It’s like, what does a rope holder do? They kind of do whatever the person needs them to do. Rich Birch — Right. Andrew Hopper — So there are examples of the rope holding ministry going really well, where it’s like, hey, man, they’re they’re helping with ah child care with the other kids when they’re going to foster care appointments in court. And or, hey, we’re we’re helping you do some things around the house whenever you’re overseas doing your adoption, which is going to put you three weeks in country. You know, there are some good examples like that. Andrew Hopper — But the other thing that we’ve learned is, you know, foster care and adoption families that are that are walking through this, they’re going through a very trying time. And to just pair them with somebody they don’t know and say, hey, look, here’s your supporter, it can be a little bit like, oh, that’s awesome, and then they never reach out to them.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — They never reach out – the rope holder’s ready.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — But it’s just like, dude, I don’t I don’t know you. And this is a hard time.Rich Birch — Who are you? Yeah, yeah.Andrew Hopper — And so what we’re trying to figure out now as we reboot that rope holder idea is, you know, how how do you kind of integrate relationships they’ve already had? Almost like, hey, do you have this massive pool of people called rope holders? Or when an adoptive family comes up, you say to them, hey, who can we shoulder tap, rope holder for you.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — And then we’ll train them.Rich Birch — Oh, that’s cool. Yeah.Andrew Hopper — But not have this pool, but say for you, we’ll put them in. So that’s kind of what we’re, so as part of our reboot for 2030, you know, that’s sort of what’s in our mind right now.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s cool.Andrew Hopper — We have a whole playbook for the way we’ve done it, which anybody, you know, if anybody wants any of those things, they can go to AndrewPHopper.com/chosen. And I can send you any of that stuff we have, but on the rope holder side, you know, just full transparency, we’re still, you know, kind of, of you know, and I’m sure it’ll always be that way that we make an improvement.Rich Birch — Yeah, always trying to make it better. Yeah. And I want to, yeah, at some point in this journey, you decided, hey, we’ve got to put this vision and framework into writing, like we and you actually ended up writing a book, and friends who are listening in, I want to encourage you to pick up a copy of this book. Listen, we’re almost half an hour in. I know you’re interested in this. This is the kind of thing you, Andrew’s a trusted leader. He’s, I’ve had a chance to take a peek at the book. This will be super helpful for you. But, but that’s a lot of effort to put this together into a book. What pushed you from just leading this ministry to ultimately saying, hey, I want to capture this into a resource that could help other people?Andrew Hopper — Well, you know, Rich, I never really saw myself as like a writer, just like a practitioner, man. Let’s just keep keep working on the thing and going.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And truthfully, I got approached. Hey, would you have any interest in writing? You know, New Growth Press is the one that’s editing this book and putting it out. And it was funny, though, because the second I was asked, I was like, man, I know what we should do [inaudible] that should be what we should do. It’s it’s our it’s it’s my story’s family story with our special needs child that we’ve adopted. It’s our church’s journey. But more important than either of those two things, it’s a grounding in the gospel-centered motivation. Because I think that is what is so important. We don’t do guilt motivation. And you know, cute kids and sad, cute kids and and sad stories are good reasons, but they you need a great reason, because it’s hard. Rich Birch — That’s good. Yep.Andrew Hopper — You know, and the great reason is of course, adopted people adopt people. And so we delve way into the helplessness of our spiritual condition, how God adopted us and then how, you know, that provides a deep motivation for us to go and do the same for others.Rich Birch — Can you unpack that a little bit more? Because I think this is, ah to me, a core part of the book that I think is really helpful. Even if you’re maybe listening in, you’re thinking, okay, I’m not sure adoption or foster care is necessarily the thing, but you unpack this idea of gospel rather than guilt. And can you talk us through, you know, how, yeah, just talk us through that part, that concept a bit more. Just double click on that a little bit.Andrew Hopper — Yeah. So, you know, when we think about behaviors that flow from the Christian life, there’s really only two ways to think about it, right? Like one of them is we try to do things in order that God would approve of us, you know, that he would, you know, he would, ah he would, he would let us in his family, you know, those those types of things. And we, you know, this is for a lot of Baptistic world, which I am, this was kind of like, wow, this is really revolutionary, but that was 20 years ago – Keller and all that. You know, we just started understanding what more of a gospel center motivation. Andrew Hopper — Of course, the other way to think about Christian behaviors is you are part of the family because of what Christ has done for you. And the family has a culture. The family works a certain way. There’s fruit that will pop out in your life, not so that you can gain entrance into the vine. That’s not how it works. Like, ah you know, you don’t you don’t produce fruit to get in the vine. You produce fruit because you’re in the vine. Andrew Hopper — And so, you know, when we think about like like Titus 2, for example, we think about how the grace of God appears to all men, teaching us not just salvation, but teaching us to obey his commands. So there’s something about salvation that and is inherent to the gospel-centered motivation of of of going out, living the Christian life. You know, it’s it’s kind of the John Bunyan idea when they said, man, if you, you know, if you keep preaching this gospel message, people are going to do whatever they want to do. And he said, no, if I keep preaching this gospel message, people are going to do whatever God wants them to do. Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — You know, and so I think what we’ve done in this book is just say, hey, that that is true universally in our Christian life. Like if I’m not tithing and I’m stingy, I can do motivation in two ways. Number one, how dare you, you piece of trash that you never, you know why would you never give? Look what God, you know, blah blah blah, blah, blah, guilt, guilt, shame, shame. Right. Andrew Hopper — Of course, the other way to say is like, man, what kind of riches has God given you in the gospel? And what kind of inheritance do you now have as a son of the king? It’s like, all right, that’s powerful, you know, and it will it will take us places that guilt never can. Guilt will work for a while. You can put fire under somebody and it’ll move them. But if you put it in them, they’ll run through a wall, you know. Rich Birch — So true.Andrew Hopper — And so it’s like it’s like, hey, OK, so you could do it with all these different things. We’ve tried to take this book and do that with adoption to say, all right.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — We know James 1:27, we need to care for the fatherless and the orphan. We understand. I mean, dude, there ain’t, when you talk about metaphors, there’s two big ones, marriage and adoption, you know? And so if you want to do adoption well, we can do it from two motivations. One motivation is look how many kids need. That’s all and that’s all true. That moves my heart. You know, look, can you believe this story of this kid? And that’s fine.Andrew Hopper — Of course, you could do guilt, too. Like, how dare you, you know, have this nice, happy family and not go adopt a little poor orphan kid. You know, you could do guilt. All those things will be fine. They’ll put fire under you a little bit. But if you want to put the fire in someone that is going to carry them through the long haul of all this stuff, I think it’s better to start with: All right. There’s kids that need to be chosen. Were you chosen?Andrew Hopper — You know, so like one of the you know, one I’ll give you an example. We know of a family here in the tribe. They’ve got an awesome son that is 20-something years old, kids got Down syndrome, and they adopted him from Ecuador. And his story was one day a carpenter was working on this building and he heard cries coming out of a dump, like a trash heap. This child had just been born and been left you know with his deformities had just been left for the dumpster. Andrew Hopper — And they brought him to the orphanage. And next thing you know, you know about three or four years later, he got adopted by this family that we know. And that family’s father, he said, Eddie’s story is my story. I was pulled from a trash heap by a carpenter. And if you it’s like that is powerful. Rich Birch — Right. Yes.Andrew Hopper — You know, when you start thinking about, man, in my sin, I was one who had no part and parcel in the kingdom of God. I was headlong in rebellion. I had rejected. I was not a son. And God lavished his love upon me, that I would be called his child. And if if that has happened to me spiritually, how could I not want to do that? Or at least help those. you know I’m not saying that’s a call for everybody, but be involved in others that are doing that as well.Andrew Hopper — And so that’s what we say. Adopted people, adopt people, chosen people, choose people. And hey, I didn’t answer your last question. Rich Birch — That’s fine.Andrew Hopper — Okay. Your last question was, why did we write the book? Very simply, I think more people just need to think about what I just said. You know, and I think churches do. And I think that if, you know, a lot of churches have adoption-minded people and a little bit of of fuel in that fire might create some really cool ministry in that church. And this book lays really well for being like, man, make it a small group resource for eight weeks. You know, it’s got questions at the end of each chapter.Andrew Hopper — Like my my prayer is that this book would catalyze tens of thousands of Christian adoptions. Rich Birch — Wow. Andrew Hopper — And that’s why we wrote the book.Rich Birch — Yeah. It’s and I thought the same thing as I was looking through it, that this would be a great resource for a small group, a great resource as a staff training thing. Because again, I think there’s two things happening on two levels. From my perspective, there’s what you’re actually talking about – adoption, but then there’s how you talk about it. And I think even both of those, I think could be interesting as a as a staff team to kind of unpack and think about. How do we ensure that what we’re doing is so gospel-infused. That’s part of why i love you as a communicator. I think you do such a good job on that. It’s just fantastic. So I would strongly encourage people to pick it up.Rich Birch — Help me understand the connection. So Mercy Hill is known for, or at least from my perspective, known as a sending church. You know, the thing, one of the and I’ve told again, I told you this before, you’re the first church leader I’ve ever bumped into that has connected new here guests to number of missionaries sent. This like idea of like this funnel of how do we move people all the way along to that? I think that’s incredible. How does that kind of sending culture and adoption, how does that fit together? How does that help kind of fuel the flywheel of what’s happening at Mercy Hill?Andrew Hopper — Well, you you helped me think about this when you came and did our one day for our for our Breaking Barriers group, you know, for the pastoral trainings that we do. Because in your church growth book, you talk about how, ah you know, community ministry is used as an evangelism tool. I’m not, I’m probably butchering the way you talk about it.Rich Birch — Yep. Yep. Oh, that’s good. Yep. That’s great.Andrew Hopper — That was like a big light bulb for me because because we we definitely do that, but we have not leveraged the communications of that.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And so, um you know, for us now, what we’re trying to really think about is how does our adoption of foster care ministry and rope holding and families count ministry, how does that create open? We call them open doors, right? Rich Birch — Yep.Andrew Hopper — Like, how does it create open doors, questions in the community, where people come in? And we’ve seen it. You know, so like when we’re talking about the sending culture, that pipeline starts when new people get interested in faith, they get interested in church.Andrew Hopper — And, you know, like, for example, we we had a guy, we just did a historic video. Man, he’s saved, baptized, serving now, ah or, you know, family, young family, prototypical Mercy Hill guy, like, man, just you know blue collar heart, white collar job, just that. I mean, just everything we talk about. Right. He’s our he’s kind of our guy. And the way he got connected was his boss had signed up to be a rope holder. And it just blew his mind. Like, why would a guy take limited time and go help these families? I mean, he of course, he thought it was a good thing. But it really intrigued them. Andrew Hopper — And so we’ve tried to we’re trying to leverage more of the communication side. It’s tricky. You don’t want to be like, hey, look at us you know in the community. At the same time, I’m like, man, this year, you know when we’re going to do a pretty significant upgrade to some of the there our foster care system has, there’s a house that has a backyard and the backyard is where families come to play with kids, play with their kids they’re trying to get back from the foster care.Rich Birch — Right. Yep.Andrew Hopper — And we’ve said like, you know what, man, if these parents are putting in, that needs to be like the best, the best backyard, and you know?Rich Birch — Right. Yeah, absolutely. 100%.Andrew Hopper — And so, you know, we’re, we’re going to do a significant investment in some, you know, whatever…Rich Birch — Play structures and yeah. Andrew Hopper — …like a, you know, whatever, like a pergola type thing. They’re going put a shed out there. All going to connect it, pavers, all that stuff is what we want to do. And, you know, we’re, we’re looking at that and I’m going like, yeah, I mean, I get it. Like you don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, but at the same time, that’s not for us. That’s for people that are interested to say like, why would a church do that? You know, like why do they care so much?Andrew Hopper — And it’s because, Hey, sign of the kingdom. We want to build families through adoption. We want to restore families through foster care and families count. This is part of that. So we’ve tried to we’ve tried to use it as a way. And I would really encourage church leaders to think about that. Like, hey, is your community ministry actually an evangelism strategy?Rich Birch — Right. Yeah, that’s good. Love that. And yeah, I would encourage you continue to encourage you to think through those things because I do think that there’s, we’ve seen that there’s huge opportunity for folks who don’t normally attend church. They’re interested the way I’ve said in other contexts is they see it as a good thing. We see it as a God thing. We’re not going to fight them over the semantics of it at the front end. Because like you say it’s it’s the kingdom puncturing through that grabs their attention and you’re like oh what what you know what’s going on there? It’s a first step – how do we encourage those people? Rich Birch — Like on that backyard project, I no doubt if you’re rallying a bunch of guys to go work there, I know that there are guys in your church who have friends who they could invite who don’t attend church who maybe would never walk in your church who’d say, hey, will you come and work for a Saturday for a couple hours and swing a hammer and help us do this thing? Let me explain what this is about.They absolutely would show up, right? 100% they’d show up and and they’ll get intrigued by that. And they’ll be like, oh, what’s going on there? That’s that’s fantastic. Rich Birch — Well, friends, unabashedly, I want you to pick up copies of, not just a copy, copies of this book. So where do we want to send people to pick up copies, that sort of thing?Andrew Hopper — Yeah, man, they can just go to andrewphopper.com/chosen. Rich Birch — Perfect. Yep.Andrew Hopper — The book’s out so they can pick up a copy. I mean, it’s also just like on Amazon or whatever, but that link will take you straight to New Growth Press.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — So, yeah, man, would love it. Would love to hear from anybody who’s using it well in a church context um to catalyze Christian adoption.Rich Birch — Love it. Anything else you want to share just as we close and how can people track, go to the website, other places we want to send them as we close up today.Andrew Hopper — Also on Instagram, we have a lot of stuff on Instagram, andrewphopper on Instagram. Yeah, the last thing I would say as a closing thought, Rich, is you know, the Christian adoption boom has sort of happened 20 years ago. People started talking about this a lot more. And now you can feel in some of the podcast world and all that, there’s a bit of a backlash, not not to don’t do it, but also like, hey, no one told us how hard this was going to be. Andrew Hopper — You’re dealing with traumatic situations, kids that have been brought, you know, I mean, it’s, it’s crazy. One thing I try to do in this book is I try to say, Hey, that’s not a good reason to take our ball and go home, you know.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — Instead we just need to try to shoot as straight as we can. And I do that in this book, man. It is hard. It’s you’re on the front lines of spiritual war. I mean, it’s almost like, dude, the, the, the greatest transfer of faith from one generation to another happens in the home. We love it when adults get saved. I get that. But let’s be honest. Statistically, where does it normally happen? Right. Rich Birch — Yeah. Kids. Andrew Hopper — And so if you got a home that’s broken apart, that Christians are trying to put back together, what did we think Satan was going to do? You know, and so instead of taking our ball and going home, let’s just call it what it is, and then ask the Lord to steel our spine… Rich Birch — That’s good. Andrew Hopper — …and to move forward with the mission. So, yeah, man, I’d love for people to pick it up. And I appreciate the time to talk about it today.Rich Birch — Andrew, thanks so much. Appreciate you. Just want to honor you for the work you do. You’re a great leader. And I love how God’s using you and your church to make a difference. Thanks for being on the show today.Andrew Hopper — Thanks, brother.

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Question: Hello, thank you sincerely for your podcast and the work you do. It has helped me feel less alone and allowed me to better navigate foster parenting and adopting from foster care. My husband and I have two amazing boys; they have the same bio mom, and two older siblings each in a different family. Our youngest is 5. We met when he was 3 months. Our oldest is 8. We met when he was 3. He was removed at birth, then placed with his bio mom at 2 months, removed at 8 months, moved to a new foster family at 10 months, and placed with his legal father at 2.5. His bio mom took him illegally after a few months (with the legal father's consent). When he and his baby brother were removed and placed with us, he was sad and scared. We formally adopted our boys three years ago. He has grown into a beautiful, highly intelligent, and athletic boy. However, he has never accepted me as his mother. He refuses affection, pulls away, and looks at me with what I perceive as disgust. We are close with his bio family (siblings and mom), and he is regularly upset that he can't live with his bio mom. Sometimes he blames me. I try to explain, but he shuts me out. His siblings are not with their bio mom either. I keep trying to build a connection, but after 5 years, I am losing hope. It is very easy and natural with my youngest. When we are affectionate, I am afraid my older son will feel left out, but he pushes me away and often won't even let me be near him. When we have special time (just the 2 of us), I plan activities with him that he likes and is excited for, but he often complains and is unhappy during his time with me. He does not remember his life before we met very well, but will recollect things we did and say it was his bio mom. His professional evaluations report that he is well adjusted, but my husband and I have concerns. I know this may be normal, but I desperately want to connect with him. The constant rejection is painful. Any tips or advice are greatly appreciated.Resources:Why Foster Kids Create Fantasy FamiliesAttachment-Informed Tools for Working with Kids6 Tips for Creating Attachment8 Ways to Strengthen Attachment with Your ChildNavigating Challenging Behaviors: Practical Strategies for Parents (Free E-Guide)Support the showPlease leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcasts Weekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Kaitlin Davis is a social worker in Oklahoma who drives close to nine hours round-trip in the flatlands to meet face-to-face with foster children. With a shortage of foster families, especially in rural areas, long-distance placements are stretching a child welfare system that aims to help youth navigate sudden loss. Davis shares her Brief But Spectacular take on building hope for better futures. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Join us to learn about family rituals—how to create and why they can help build strong families. Our guest will be Elizabeth Barbour, the author of a new book, Sacred Celebrations: Designing Rituals to Navigate Life's Milestone Transitions. She's also a reunited adoptee and an adoptive mom.In this episode, we discuss:Why are rituals important for families? Define the culture of family-this is who we areThis is what we doWhat's the difference between rituals and routines?What's the difference between rituals and habits?Examples of family rituals. Family meetings, kid/parent dates, game nightsgratitude practicesprayer and meditationfamily altarstravelvolunteering togetherWhen families are created through adoption, any specific rituals that can help them?TipsKeep it simpleGet input from all members of the familyConsistencySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcasts Weekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Infertility, miscarriage, failed IVF, and foster care—what happens when the family you imagined takes a different path?In this episode, Rachel Fulginiti shares her journey through unexplained infertility, pregnancy loss, failed IVF, and an unexpected ectopic pregnancy that required emergency surgery. After years of trying to conceive, fertility treatments, and grief, Rachel and her husband began exploring foster care as another way to build their family.Rachel opens up about navigating loss, releasing expectations around pregnancy, and saying yes to fostering—eventually welcoming the children who were meant to be theirs. This conversation offers honesty, hope, and perspective for anyone facing infertility, miscarriage, or considering foster-to-adopt as part of their family-building journey.

Send us a textToday, New Year's Eve 2025, I thought I'd take a look back at a few episodes from the last year. I am in my 5th year of the East Anchorage Book Club podcast and last year I released 78 episodes. This podcast is extremely meaningful to me as both as a legislator and as a person: I learn about issues that I am unfamiliar with, I create relationships with unexpected people, and it really is through editing the conversations that I internalize them and come out of them changed. Alaska needs foster families. Click here to learn how to become one.Today's episodes includes excerpts from the following interviews:Hollis French: former AK Senate Minority Leader, gubernatorial candidate, and AOGCC CommissionerRep. Jubilee Underwood (R-Wasilla): Former President of the MatSu School BoardJosh Revak: Former Alaska State Senator & Iraq war veteranMara Kimmel: Director of the ACLU of Alaska discusses ICE detainees held at the Anchorage Correctional ComplexPRIDE 2025: JJ Harrier, Chair of the Anchorage Pride ParadeRep. Zack Fields (D-Anchorage) discusses the US Congressional Budget Reconciliation Act of 2025AK MEDIA: Dan O'Neill: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Columnist 1998-2002LEAVING AMERICA: Aaron Poe on relocating his family to Ireland in 2025Margaret Stock: Immigration attorney, MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, & 2016 AK US Senate CandidateLes Gara & Amanda Metivier: Audit of the Office of Children's ServicesFoster Care in Alaska 2025: Deko Harbi, Shannon Smith, & Tali Stone

In this episode of the Foster Friendly Podcast, hosts Courtney Williams and Travis Vangsnes welcome Andrea Forringer and Sarah Davis, from Jackson's Gift, an organization dedicated to supporting youth aging out of the foster care system who are enlisting in the military. The conversation explores the life of Andrea's adoptive son, Jackson, who faced numerous challenges in his early life, including entering foster care at a young age. The discussion highlights Jackson's aspirations to serve in the military, his experiences in foster care, and the founding of Jackson's Gift to honor his legacy by providing financial support to foster youth transitioning to military life. The episode emphasizes the importance of community support, mentorship, and advocacy for these young individuals.Checkout their website:https://jacksonsgift.com/TakeawaysJackson's Gift honors the legacy of Andrea's son, Jackson.The organization supports youth aging out of foster care who enlist in the military.Jackson faced significant challenges in his early life, including foster care and adoption.He aspired to be a Marine and wanted to help others in similar situations.The importance of mentorship and community support for foster youth is emphasized.Jackson's experiences in foster care prepared him for military life.The organization provides monetary awards to eligible youth.Advocacy for foster youth navigating military enlistment is crucial.The founders aim to raise awareness about the challenges faced by foster youth.Jackson's Gift is committed to making a positive impact on the lives of young people.

Kaitlin Davis is a social worker in Oklahoma who drives close to nine hours round-trip in the flatlands to meet face-to-face with foster children. With a shortage of foster families, especially in rural areas, long-distance placements are stretching a child welfare system that aims to help youth navigate sudden loss. Davis shares her Brief But Spectacular take on building hope for better futures. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

In this episode of The Jason Cavness Experience, Jason sits down with Taylor Black for a wide-ranging conversation that spans AI, startups, big tech, and family life. Taylor shares his experience working at Microsoft, where he's been close to how AI is being built, adopted, and misunderstood inside large organizations. He talks about how startups and founders should think about AI realistically not as hype, but as a tool that rewards clarity, discipline, and execution. Beyond tech, Taylor opens up about his family's journey through fostering and adoption, what it's taught him about responsibility, patience, and long-term thinking, and how building a family reshapes how you approach work and leadership. He reflects on balancing ambition with presence, and why success isn't just about what you build professionally, but what you commit to personally. This is an honest conversation about building companies, adopting new technology responsibly, and choosing to show up fully  at work and at home. Topics Discussed • Taylor's role at Microsoft and exposure to AI at scale • How large companies actually adopt AI • The gap between AI hype and real-world execution • How startups should think about using AI • Discipline and clarity as advantages in tech and business • Lessons from working inside a major tech company • Fostering and adopting children and what it teaches about leadership • Balancing startup ambition with family responsibility • Long-term thinking in both business and life • Redefining success beyond career milestones Support CavnessHR CavnessHR is building an AI-native HR system for small businesses with 49 or fewer employees  automation plus a dedicated HR Business Partner.  Invest on Wefunder https://wefunder.com/cavnesshr  Download 7 free eBooks https://www.buildcavnesshr.com/ebooks Join the Builders Club https://www.buildcavnesshr.com/ Connect with Taylor Black LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blacktaylor/  

Accountability Denied exposes a troubling pattern across the West Coast where government institutions appear more focused on protecting themselves than protecting children or upholding transparency. In Washington State, lawmakers quietly move to expand sanctuary-style policies that limit cooperation with federal authorities, raising serious concerns about oversight and public safety. Meanwhile, explosive court filings in Idaho detail a disturbing pattern of alleged sexual abuse within the Boise School District — and accusations that administrators obstructed investigations. Back in Washington, questions mount over how funds meant for foster children are being handled, as state officials dodge accountability while vulnerable kids are left behind. This episode asks a simple but urgent question: who is the system really protecting?#LeftCoastNews #AccountabilityDenied #SanctuaryState #GovernmentFailure #SchoolScandals #ProtectTheKids #FosterCareCrisis #PublicTrust #BrokenSystem #WestCoastPolitics #TransparencyMatters #InstitutionalFailure #JusticeForKids #StateOverreach

"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,…" -1 Peter 1:8   Welcome to The Adoption & Foster Care Journey—a podcast to encourage, educate and equip you as you care for children in crisis through adoption, foster care and kinship care.   On this episode, host Sandra Flach, talks with Kim Patton. Kim is an adoptive and foster mama living in North Carolina. with her husband and 2 daughters. She writes online, has been the host of the Book Therapy podcast since 2022. Her book, “Nothing Wasted: Struggling Well Through Difficult Seasons” encourages readers to recognize personal growth amidst hard times. She is passionate about depending on God as she takes care of herself and others.   Listen to Sandra's conversation with Kim Patton on Episode 512 wherever you get your podcasts.   Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share it on your social media. Links mentioned in this episode: The Adoption & Foster Care Journey justicefororphansny.org justicefororphansny.org/hope-community     Email:  sandraflach@justicefororphansny.org sandraflach.com Soul Care Saturday—52 Devotions for Foster and Adoptive Moms Orphans No More—A Journey Back to the Father book on Amazon Filled Retreat Mobilize Ohio ReNew Retreat in NC KimPatton.com

What happens when a pastor and his wife adopt a child with Down syndrome—and it transforms their entire church? Andrew and Anna Hopper share their adoption journey with daughter Faith Anne, the challenges of special needs parenting, and how Mercy Hill Church built a foster care and adoption ministry that mobilized 200+ families. But here's the key insight: they discuss how churches need to find the community ministry lane that resonates with their unique heart and calling—not just copy what others are doing. For Mercy Hill, it was adoption and foster care. For your church, it might be veterans, addiction recovery, or another form of caring for the vulnerable. This honest conversation offers biblical wisdom on orphan care, practical guidance for finding your church's ministry sweet spot, and an inspiring vision for how authentic passion creates lasting kingdom impact. Discover why adoption is more than adding to your family—it's a powerful testimony of the gospel to a watching world.Chosen Book: www.andrewphopper.com/chosen

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Question: We have been matched with an expectant mom due in a couple of months. She is having twins. As we are preparing for the next steps, sleep training has come up frequently in newborn care books. What research is there on the cry-it-out method or other popular sleep training methods in relation to adopted children? We want to make sure they know their needs will be met and build a strong adoption bond, but we also want to eventually work towards them being able to sleep through the night.Resources:Did Denmark Actually Ban "Cry it Out?"Video: The Attachment Cycle - Empowered to ConnectSleep Issues with Adopted, Foster, or Relative ChildrenBalancing Attachment with Getting SleepSupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcasts Weekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on all aspects of family building

This episode contains very strong language and isn't suitable for small ears. Sophie Willan is a double BAFTA award-winning writer, comedian and actor, perhaps best known for her BBC comedy drama, Alma's Not Normal. But it wasn't always red carpets and award ceremonies. Willan experienced an unsettled childhood with spells in foster care, which she talks openly about in this episode. We also talk about a failed Edinburgh show that coincided with an ‘intense' relationship and what these experiences taught her. Moving, funny and honest, this episode was recorded in front of a lovely live audience at The Lowry in Salford, Manchester. ✨ IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Introduction 02:00 Alma's Not Normal: Success and Challenges 03:00 The Emotional Toll of Comedy 03:55 Awards and Recognition 05:03 Personal Struggles and Triumphs 08:43 Reflections on Care Experience 14:39 Family Stories and Humor 23:46 The Fine Line Between Madness and Comedy 24:49 A Disastrous Improv Show 26:55 The Novice Detective: A Misplaced Comedy 27:55 Facing Criticism and Misogyny in Comedy 31:32 Stories of Care: Empowering Voices 32:27 The Edinburgh Experience: Highs and Lows 38:06 Writing Process: Chaos and Creativity

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Are you looking for practical ways to build your child's resilience and sense of safety, and to strengthen your family's connectedness? Listen to this conversation with Ginger Healy, MSW, LCSW, director of programs for the Attachment & Trauma Network and host of the podcast “Regulated and Relational.” Ginger speaks across the nation on trauma-informed schools, therapeutic parenting, and community engagement.In this episode, we discuss:What made you decide to write a book for educators?What were you observing about children's needs around emotional language, self-regulation, and connection?Knowing that at home we often deal with a different rhythm, different dynamics (for example, one caregiver rather than teacher + many students), what initial advice do you have for parents and caregivers to translate this book's classroom tools into a home context? Why is it essential that children learn social/emotional language — not just “feelings words” but the capacity to talk about self, other, relationships, safety?How does having more social/emotional language help a child feel “seen, safe, valued” in a family environment?What are the risks when children don't have that language or opportunity to practice it?We often hear culture around us say, “Kids are resilient.” Why is that a misconception, especially in our community of adopted, foster, or relative children?Why does a child who has experienced trauma need specific, intentional scaffolding to develop their social/emotional language and build their capacity for emotional strength?What are the themes of the workbook that parents or caregivers can bring into their everyday conversations at home?Understanding my story within my family structureReframing my narrative: navigating family challenges and conflictBuilding confidence, hope, and a positive futureCan you suggest a few strategies to get families started with the conversations?What if we are struggling with or lacking these skills ourselves? How do we learn them so we can teach and model them?What practical strategies can we use to integrate these skills into our daily rhythms?How do we know our kids are ready for adjustments in how we practice these skills, or to “level up”?How will they know if these strategies are effective? Do you have practical tips for families that want to strengthen their family dynamics but already feel overwhelmed by the long list of To-Dos? Support the showPlease leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcasts Weekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on all aspects of family building

In this episode of the Foster Friendly Podcast, hosts Travis and Courtney, along with guest Bethany Hall, discuss the complexities of navigating the holidays for children in foster care. They explore the emotional challenges, the importance of managing expectations, and strategies for preparing both parents and extended family for the unique dynamics that arise during this time. The conversation emphasizes the need for trauma-informed approaches and the significance of creating supportive environments for children. This conversation delves into the complexities of navigating holidays for families involved in foster care. It highlights the emotional challenges faced by children, the importance of preparing them for new experiences, and the need for understanding from extended family members. The speakers share personal anecdotes and practical strategies for creating a supportive environment during the holidays, emphasizing the significance of cultural heritage and empowering birth families. The discussion also touches on the role of education in fostering awareness and compassion within the community.Visit Chosen.care to learn how Chosen's services and training can make a difference in your family's life.

As we head into Christmas week, Fostering Change brings you an extraordinary story of resilience, determination, and transformation.Rob Scheer is joined by Carolyn Aronson, founder and CEO of It's A 10 Haircare — one of the most successful Latina-owned beauty brands in the world.Carolyn's journey began in foster care, where she learned independence, grit, and perseverance at a young age. From those early experiences, she built a career as a hairstylist and salon owner before creating a single product that would change the beauty industry forever. Today, It's A 10 Haircare is a billion-dollar global brand, selling more than 10 million bottles annually in over 130 countries, and inspiring a new generation of entrepreneurs.Beyond her business success, Carolyn is a devoted philanthropist whose generosity supports foster care organizations, youth empowerment, LGBTQ+ advocacy, disaster relief efforts, and workforce development programs. Her message is simple yet powerful: success isn't measured only by what you build — but by how you give back.In this inspiring conversation, Rob and Carolyn explore how her time in foster care shaped her vision, the creation and growth of an iconic global brand, and why purpose and philanthropy remain central to her work.In this episode, Rob and Carolyn discuss:How Carolyn's early experiences in foster care fueled her ambition and compassionThe creation and explosive growth of It's A 10 HaircareBuilding a billion-dollar company rooted in authenticity, quality, and empowermentHigh-profile collaborations with DJ Khaled, Fat Joe, Travis Kelce, Tyson Beckford, and moreHer commitment to philanthropy — from pandemic aid to wildfire relief to youth empowermentThe upcoming 20th anniversary of It's A 10 in 2026Carolyn's forthcoming book on beauty, confidence, and perseveranceAbout Carolyn AronsonCarolyn Aronson is a self-made Latina billionaire, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. After navigating the foster care system, she built It's A 10 Haircare into a global beauty powerhouse now valued at over $1 billion. Her Rewind It 10 men's line has earned national attention through celebrity collaborations, and she has donated millions in products and funding to causes nationwide. Carolyn continues to inspire through her message of grit, generosity, and reinvention.Connect with Carolyn:

Mary Fields shares her deeply personal journey of resilience and healing on the podcast, emphasizing that kindness can be a powerful tool for change. Growing up in the foster care system, she faced immense challenges that could have turned her bitter, but instead, she found strength in the support of kind individuals along the way. As an author of the memoir "Forever and a Day," Mary opens up about her experiences, including the struggle of reconciling her past trauma with her present as a mother of four. In a candid conversation with host Rachel, they dive into how humor became a coping mechanism and the importance of recognizing the inner child's voice. This episode is a heartfelt exploration of survival, compassion, and the transformative power of kindness, reminding us all to seek and spread love wherever we can.Mary Fields shines a light on the often-overlooked realities of growing up in the foster care system in this heartfelt episode of Foster to Forever. Her conversation with host Rachel delves into her personal experiences, offering listeners a raw and unfiltered look at the challenges she faced while navigating a childhood filled with instability and trauma. Mary's story is one of resilience, as she reflects on how kindness from others helped her survive a turbulent upbringing. From her early memories in foster homes to the complexities of her relationships with her biological parents, Mary's narrative is both poignant and relatable. She emphasizes that while she could have become a bitter person, the compassion she received sparked a fire of hope within her, leading to her current role as a loving mother and author.Mary's memoir, 'Forever and a Day', is not just a recounting of her past; it's an invitation to understand the intricacies of trauma, healing, and the power of kindness in transforming lives. Throughout the episode, she discusses the misconceptions surrounding foster children, urging listeners to recognize that these kids are often victims of unfortunate circumstances rather than delinquents or bad kids. Mary's reflections inspire a call to action, reminding us all that kindness can break cycles of negativity and foster a sense of belonging in those who need it most. As she navigates the challenges of motherhood, Mary shares how she strives to provide her children with the love and security she was denied, showing that healing is possible and that every child deserves a chance to thrive.In this episode, Mary Fields recounts her transformative journey from a troubled childhood in the foster care system to becoming a nurturing mother and an inspiring author. The conversation with Rachel is a powerful exploration of resilience, hope, and the profound impact of kindness. Mary's experiences highlight the harsh realities many children face while in foster care, yet her narrative is not solely about hardship; it's about the healing power of compassion and connection. She reflects on her time in various foster homes, sharing both the struggles she endured and the moments of kindness that kept her spirit alive.As Mary discusses her memoir, 'Forever and a Day', she reveals the irony behind its title—a phrase her mother used in letters despite her failures as a parent. This duality underscores the themes of love, loss, and the journey toward self-acceptance that permeate her writing. The episode emphasizes the importance of advocating for foster children, challenging listeners to confront their biases and support the vulnerable. Mary's insights on motherhood reveal her commitment to breaking the cycle of trauma by fostering an environment filled with love and understanding for her own children. This engaging conversation serves as a reminder that while the past can shape us, it does not define our future, and that kindness is a powerful tool for change.Takeaways: Mary shares her incredible journey from a challenging childhood in foster care...

This week, I talk with Brittany Penner about her memoir Children Like Us, a haunting, deeply reflective exploration of identity, faith, and survival. Brittany shares what it was like growing up as an Indigenous child adopted into a Mennonite family that fostered dozens of other children, unpacking the long-term impact of the Sixties Scoop, religious indoctrination, and being taught to feel “grateful” for circumstances rooted in colonial harm.We dive into dissociation, self-abandonment, storytelling as a tool for healing, and the complicated reality of holding love for family while confronting the systems that caused lasting damage.We discuss grief, nuance, and reclamation, ultimately asking what it means to trust your own memory, honor your pain, and slowly learn how to walk yourself home.Learn more about Brittany here Check Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackGet Bookwild MerchFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrianMacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

If you've been in foster care — or you're supporting a student who was — there is real money on the table that so many eligible students miss. In today's episode, I'm breaking down 3 foster care student scholarships worth a combined $5400, all designed to support you in college or university without adding financial stress. Whether college feels financially overwhelming or you're trying to navigate money after foster care, these scholarships can make a real difference! Plus, if you want more scholarship opportunities without the stress of searching, I've got you covered. I consistently help students find $10,000–$30,000 in scholarships for college, university, grad school, law school, and more. Want to learn more?

On this week's episode of Inside West Virginia Politics, our guests join Rick Johnson to discuss foster care issues, Martinsburg's growth, holiday travel and state of West Virginia infrastructure.

With more than 5,000 children in the care of the state, there is a huge reliance on foster care. A shortage of foster carers remains a continuous problem however. We are joined by the Chief Executive of the Irish Foster Care Association, Corrinne Hasson.

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Question: I would love to hear about family profiles for adopting older teens. Resources:Adopting a Child of a Different Race or CultureAdopting Older KidsEvaluating Risk Factors in Foster Care AdoptionSupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcasts Weekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Rob Henderson, known for coining the term "luxury beliefs," joins us to discuss his memoir Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class. Rob shares his extraordinary path—from homelessness and the LA foster care system, to adoption in rural Northern California, to enlisting in the Air Force at 17, and eventually studying at Yale and Cambridge. Rob shares research that shows how childhood instability (more than poverty alone) shapes life outcomes; why the foster system is so under-resourced; how elite cultural narratives can unintentionally harm the very communities they claim to help; and how certain "status beliefs" spread through universities and media. We discuss the hypocrisy and social dynamics of campus ideology, the "Halloween costume controversy" at Yale, and why honest conversations about family structure, class, and social policy are so hard to have yet so critical for making real progress. Key themes and Quotes Luxury beliefs give status to the elite—and the costs are paid by people with the least power." Poverty alone doesn't predict failure. Instability does." The people most skeptical of family are usually the ones who grew up in intact families. "They live like it's the 1950s—and talk like it's the 1960s." "I benefited from structure, plan to give it to my kids—and publicly argue others shouldn't." "Elite students condemn capitalism on Monday and interview at Goldman Sachs on Wednesday." "If your beliefs cost you nothing, they're probably luxury beliefs." Foster Care / Instability Truths "You don't need the worst childhood to feel the damage of instability."  Privilege / Backlash Lines "Telling struggling kids they're privileged doesn't create compassion—it creates resentment." "If your only options are self-flagellation or rebellion, don't be surprised when kids choose rebellion." https://www.sarahhurwitz.net Check out our website: https://meantforyoupod.com Reach out to us: meantforyoupod@gmail.com Follow us on IG If you enjoyed this episode, you may like these conversations:   Brandy Shufutinsky on the Marxist Roots of Ethic Studies Your School's Ethic Studies Curriculum with Monica Harris from FAIR For ALL Key Topics + Timeline 01:00–02:13 – Why labels like "privileged/unprivileged" flatten real life; every story is individual 04:15 – Rob explains who he wrote the book for: the typical educated reader + the kid in chaos who needs hope 07:30–12:00 – Rob's "three names" origin story: biological parents, homelessness, foster care, adoption 11:16 – Red Bluff, CA: family fragmentation, addiction, instability in a working-class town 12:40–16:30 – Foster-care policy: frequent moves to avoid attachment; "least bad option" dilemmas 18:15 – Why foster care gets little attention (and why stories are painful to face) 19:00–23:30 – What made Rob "successful": curiosity + the military as structure, mentors, and environment shift 25:17–29:46 – Research distinction: harshness (poverty) vs instability (unpredictability) as predictors 27:38 – Striking stats: college graduation rates—poor kids vs foster kids (as cited by Rob) 32:10–36:52 – "Luxury beliefs": elites "walk the 50s, talk the 60s"; the social mechanism of cultural messaging 39:18 – After-school programs, screens, and class gaps in supervision/structure 41:39–46:20 – Luxury beliefs as social currency: status signaling through "virtue" positions (white privilege, defund police) 46:20–53:21 – Ethnic studies curricula + backlash: why telling struggling kids they're "privileged" can fuel resentment 57:46–01:02:27 – Yale 2015 Halloween controversy + the irony of Rob being told he's "too privileged" 01:03:00–01:07:07 – Veblen → Bourdieu → Henderson: from luxury goods to cultural capital to luxury beliefs 01:09:09–01:11:18 – Careerism + hypocrisy: condemning institutions while competing to join them 01:11:18–01:15:45 – Post–Oct 7 campus protests; when beliefs meet real consequences 01:15:45–01:18:03 – Hope for higher education: reform, alternatives, and "you don't have to go to college" 01:18:03–01:20:27 – Why the story resonates beyond foster care; instability, immigration, divorce, loneliness

When children enter the foster care system, they often arrive with little more than the clothes they're wearing. For Leigh Esau, founder of Foster Care Closet of Nebraska, that reality is deeply personal—and it's what inspired her to create an organization focused on restoring dignity, choice, and compassion for youth in crisis.In this episode of Agency for Change, host Lyn Wineman sits down with Leigh to explore her lived experience in foster care, her journey into purpose-driven leadership, and the powerful impact Foster Care Closet has across the state of Nebraska. Leigh shares moving stories of children who have “shopped” the closet, explains why brand-new clothing matters, and discusses how the organization supports foster and kinship families during some of their most challenging moments.Leigh also opens up about a critical turning point for Foster Care Closet, including the urgent funding challenges the organization is facing—and what's at stake if community support doesn't step in.This conversation is a powerful reminder that dignity can change lives—and that meaningful change happens when communities show up together. Welcome to the Agency for Change PodcastConnect with Leigh and Foster Care Closet of Nebraska at: ·       Website – https://fostercarecloset.org/·       Make a Donation – https://fostercarecloset.networkforgood.com/projects/244758-2025-year-end-giving·       View Foster Care Closet's Amazon Wish List: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1UFYICF88PL7Y/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_2

In this episode of Leaders of Today: Teens to Titans, Lorraine Connell sits down with Shannon Thompson, founder of Dream Bigger Publishing. After aging out of foster care, becoming a young mom, and spending time in prison, Shannon had to learn every part of “adulting” the hard way – from rent and credit to careers and money management. Now she's turned those painful lessons into a practical life skills curriculum that helps teens (especially those aging out of systems) understand what life really costs, how to build a dream career, and how to avoid the financial traps she fell into. You'll hear: How aging out of foster care with no safety net shaped Shannon's path Why so many young people feel 10–20 years “behind” in adulthood The 3 core pillars of her Dream Bigger curriculum Her message for any teen who feels like their past defines their future Connect with Shannon Website: https://www.dreambiggerpublishing.com Books on Amazon: search “Dream Bigger Shannon Thompson” Instagram & Facebook: Dream_bigger_publishing LinkedIn: Dream Bigger Publishing / Shannon Thompson

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: From Foster Dreams to Family: Emil's Christmas Miracle Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2025-12-18-08-38-20-sv Story Transcript:Sv: I det lilla svenska byn, omgivet av snöklädda träd, låg ett fosterhem.En: In the small Swedish village, surrounded by snow-covered trees, lay a foster home.Sv: Det doftade av gran och nybakat pepparkakor.En: It smelled of pine and freshly baked gingerbread cookies.Sv: Inuti växte en stor julgran som lyste upp med små, skimrande ljus och handgjorda prydnader.En: Inside grew a large Christmas tree that lit up with small, shimmering lights and handmade decorations.Sv: Det var vinter och det var nästan jul.En: It was winter, and it was almost Christmas.Sv: Emil var en tioårig pojke som bodde där.En: Emil was a ten-year-old boy who lived there.Sv: Han hade stora drömmar.En: He had big dreams.Sv: Han älskade att läsa sagor och önskade sig en familj som alltid skulle finnas där för honom.En: He loved reading fairy tales and wished for a family that would always be there for him.Sv: Men i år hade han ett särskilt mål: att göra den vackraste julprydnaden till granen.En: But this year, he had a special goal: to make the most beautiful Christmas decoration for the tree.Sv: Emil vandrade genom korridorerna, med snön som yrde utanför fönstren.En: Emil wandered through the corridors, with snow swirling outside the windows.Sv: Han kände sig lite osäker.En: He felt a bit insecure.Sv: Han saknade både material och talang, trodde han.En: He thought he lacked both materials and talent.Sv: Skulle hans prydnad verkligen kunna sticka ut?En: Could his decoration really stand out?Sv: Och skulle någon familj någonsin välja honom?En: And would any family ever choose him?Sv: En natt tog Emil ett modigt beslut.En: One night, Emil made a brave decision.Sv: Han smög ner till konstmaterialrummet.En: He sneaked down to the art materials room.Sv: Dörren knarrade lätt när han öppnade den.En: The door creaked slightly as he opened it.Sv: Där hittade han glittrigt papper, färgglada band, och små bjällror.En: There he found glittering paper, colorful ribbons, and small bells.Sv: Men han behövde mer hjälp, så han bad Astrid om hjälp.En: But he needed more help, so he asked Astrid for assistance.Sv: Astrid var en volontär som alltid log varmt mot Emil.En: Astrid was a volunteer who always smiled warmly at Emil.Sv: Hon älskade hans entusiasm och godhjärtade sätt.En: She loved his enthusiasm and kind-hearted nature.Sv: "Vi kan göra något tillsammans," sa hon och hjälpte honom tänka ut idéer.En: "We can make something together," she said, helping him brainstorm ideas.Sv: Tillsammans arbetade de varje kväll.En: Together, they worked every evening.Sv: De klippte, limmade och fnissade när prydnaden växte fram.En: They cut, glued, and giggled as the decoration took shape.Sv: Emil valde en stjärnform.En: Emil chose a star shape.Sv: Den glittrade som snö och hade små bjällror som klingade som julens egen melodi.En: It glittered like snow and had small bells that chimed like Christmas's own melody.Sv: Festivaldagen kom.En: Festival day arrived.Sv: Snön föll mjukt och barnen sprang omkring, förväntansfulla.En: Snow fell softly and the children ran around, excited.Sv: Granen i fosterhemmet strålade.En: The tree in the foster home glowed.Sv: Mitt i den, på toppen, satt Emils prydnad.En: In the middle of it, on the top, sat Emil's decoration.Sv: För första gången kände Emil sig stolt.En: For the first time, Emil felt proud.Sv: När besökarna strömmade in, stannade en familj vid granen.En: When visitors streamed in, a family stopped by the tree.Sv: Deras barn pekade och log.En: Their children pointed and smiled.Sv: "Titta på den där stjärnan!"En: "Look at that star!"Sv: utropade de.En: they exclaimed.Sv: Föräldrarna frågade vem som hade gjort den.En: The parents asked who had made it.Sv: När de fick veta att det var Emil, bad de att få träffa honom.En: When they learned it was Emil, they asked to meet him.Sv: De pratade länge.En: They talked for a long time.Sv: Det visade sig att de älskade konst och att deras hem var fyllt av skapelser.En: It turned out that they loved art and that their home was filled with creations.Sv: De log mot Emil och sa: "Vi skulle gärna vilja ha dig i vår familj."En: They smiled at Emil and said, "We would love to have you in our family."Sv: Emil kunde knappt tro sina öron.En: Emil could hardly believe his ears.Sv: Hans hjärta bultade, fylld av hopp och glädje.En: His heart pounded, filled with hope and joy.Sv: Han hade verkligen skapat något magiskt, och nu hade han chansen att få den familj han alltid önskat.En: He had truly created something magical, and now he had the chance to have the family he had always wished for.Sv: Så på den kalla, snöiga kvällen i det lilla svenska byn, omgiven av julens värme, fick Emil inte bara se sin dröm gå i uppfyllelse, utan han började också tro på sin egen förmåga och framtidens möjligheter.En: So on that cold, snowy evening in the small Swedish village, surrounded by the warmth of Christmas, Emil not only saw his dream come true but also began to believe in his own abilities and the possibilities of the future. Vocabulary Words:surrounded: omgivenfoster home: fosterhemsmelled: doftadegingerbread: pepparkakorshimmering: skimrandedecorations: prydnaderdreams: drömmarinsecure: osäkerwandered: vandradeswirling: yrdesneaked: smögcreaked: knarradeglittering: glittrigtribbons: bandbells: bjällrorvolunteer: volontärenthusiasm: entusiasmkind-hearted: godhjärtadebrainstorm: tänka utgiggled: fnissadechimed: klingadearrived: komglowed: stråladestreamed: strömmadepointed: pekadeexclaimed: utropadepounded: bultademagical: magisktbelieve: troabilities: förmåga

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.What is it like to be the only biological child in a large transracial adoptive family? Our guest, Elaine Duncan, shares her story of how transcultural adoption impacted her identity and resilience. She is a writer, speaker, and strategist whose work bridges storytelling, healing, and social change. She has a passion for improving outcomes for underserved young people and is currently working on a memoir of her life journey.In this episode, we discuss: What did your home look like growing up, and what was it like for you to be the only biological child in a transracial/transcultural adoptive family?Families who adopt across race or culture often wonder how to bring all of those differences together under one roof. How did your family handle conversations about race, culture, and identity?  Were these things openly acknowledged, celebrated, or avoided?How did your parents support (or struggle to support) you in building your own sense of identity — not just as their child, but as an individual?Did you ever feel overlooked or lost in the mix? How could parents avoid that happening for their kids?What were some of the biggest challenges you carried from growing up in this transracial/transcultural adoptive family?How have those challenges shaped your adult life, relationships, or even your current work?What are the gifts or strengths you gained from growing up in such a diverse family?Are there ways your unique upbringing has given you perspective, resilience, or empathy that you now value?Additional Resources:Intergenerational Trauma (podcast)The Impact of Fostering & Adoption on Kids Already in the Family (free on-demand course)Raising a Transracial or Multicultural Child (resource page)Support the showPlease leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcasts Weekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on all aspects of family building

In this episode of the Foster Friendly Podcast, host Courtney Williams engages with cybersecurity experts Chad Rychlewski and Kae David to discuss the critical importance of protecting children in the digital age. They explore various topics including digital footprints, the risks associated with social media, and the necessity of open communication between parents and children. The conversation emphasizes the need for parents, especially foster parents, to be proactive in safeguarding their children's online presence and understanding the technology they use. The episode also highlights practical tips and resources for parents to navigate the complexities of digital safety.Checkout their website:www.cybersecurityparents.comTakeawaysUnderstanding digital footprints is crucial for child safety.Parents must teach children about online risks.Open communication is key to building trust with children.Cyber bullying is a significant risk for kids online.Locking children's credit can prevent identity theft.Foster parents can set rules for technology use.Conducting tech audits helps ensure safety.Behavior contracts can clarify expectations around technology.All devices with internet access need to be monitored.Staying updated on technology changes is essential for parents.

Each year in New York City, thousands of young people in foster care face a life-altering transition: aging out of the system at 18—or 21 if they opt in—often without stable housing, financial support, or guidance into adulthood.This week, Leslie speaks with Nancy Jarecki, longtime board member of New Yorkers for Children (NYFC), and Eyhdi (Eydi) Osorio, NYFC Scholar, Youth Advisory Board Vice President, and aspiring mental-health professional, about what it truly means to age out of foster care—and how targeted support can change a life's trajectory.Together, they explore the realities of aging out, the housing crisis facing foster youth, the critical role of emotional support and mentorship, and how NYFC builds community, confidence, and opportunity through programs like Career Choice, which funds trade and technical education and housing. This episode offers an honest, hopeful look at the foster care system—and the impact of investing in young people as they transition into adulthood.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

How open are you to learning? When we know more we do better. So lifelong learning isn't something to be shunned by our impatience, but welcomed in. Listen in as Rashunda who adopted three teens from the welfare system shares her learnings on learning.Rashunda Williams joined the CHRIS 180 team in 2023 as the Director of Foster Care and Adoptions, before being promoted to the role of VP, Community Residential Services.Williams is responsible for the leadership and strategic direction of our community and residential programs that serve children, young adults and families, including CHRIS 180's adoption homes, foster homes, and Summit Trail Apartments.For more than two decades, Williams has worked in the social service sector and holds a Bachelor of Science in Social Work and a Master of Business Administration. She has extensive knowledge of psychiatric hospitals, community-based services, adolescent group homes, foster care, the juvenile justice system and the mental health spectrum. Additionally, she has experience in client-centered therapeutic services to children, adolescents and couples.Prior to joining the CHRIS 180 team, Williams served in several leadership roles within the social service sector in Nevada, California, and Georgia.Her professional interests are resiliency across the life span, challenges of families with limited access to mental health and healthcare services, people centric leadership, diversity and equity in the workplace, prevention services, and continued training and development of mental health professionals.Williams enjoys traveling, interior designing, reading and is an avid community volunteer.Find out more about Rashunda and her organisation here:https://chris180.org/https://www.facebook.com/CHRIS180Advocate/https://www.linkedin.com/company/chris180/https://www.instagram.com/CHRIS180_Advocate/https://www.linkedin.com/in/rashunda-williams-b18437202/ Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

This week on Fostering Change, Rob welcomes a cherished friend and longtime champion of Comfort Cases — actress, producer, author, and foster care advocate Jen Lilley.While millions know Jen from her work in television and film, her most meaningful role has been off-camera: as a foster and adoptive mother deeply committed to supporting children and families in crisis. Jen recently served as emcee for the 2025 Fostering Futures Gala — her second time hosting Comfort Cases' signature event — and continues to use her platform to elevate foster care awareness nationwide.In this heartfelt conversation, Rob and Jen dive into themes of faith, courage, storytelling, and the transformational impact fostering has had on Jen's life. They also explore her book, Wake Up Your Faith, and her upcoming 2026 release, Called to Foster?In this episode, Rob and Jen discuss: • Why Jen remains deeply committed to Comfort Cases and the foster care community • Her book Wake Up Your Faith and the message she hopes readers embrace • Called to Foster?, a forthcoming guide for prospective foster parents • What fostering and adopting two children taught her about love, patience, and identity • How Jen balances motherhood, advocacy, and a thriving entertainment career • The responsibility and privilege of using her platform to inspire compassion • Practical encouragement for anyone considering fostering or adoption⸻Guest BioJen Lilley is an award-winning actress, producer, author, and passionate child welfare advocate. She has appeared in an Academy Award–winning film, starred in multiple Emmy-winning series, and featured in a wide range of beloved movies. Off-screen, Jen is a devoted mother to two children adopted from foster care and a powerful voice for families navigating the child welfare system. She is the author of Wake Up Your Faith and the upcoming Called to Foster?, arriving May 2026. Jen is also a treasured supporter of Comfort Cases and recently served as emcee for the 2025 Fostering Futures Gala.⸻Connect with JenWebsite: www.jenlilley.comFacebook: facebook.com/JenLilleyOfficialInstagram: @Jen_LilleyX (Twitter): @Jen_Lilley

My friend Kristie and her husband Scott have been through years of infertility, adopting two daughters, and most recently adopting their foster son. She shares the real, honest truth about this road - the heartbreak, the waiting, the surrendering, and the joy that comes from saying yes to kids who need families. If you've ever wondered about fostering or adopting, this will feel like having coffee with a friend who's been there. In this episode, we talk about: Her journey from infertility to adoption and fostering What the adoption process actually looks like - the waiting, the costs, the heartbreak The difference between fostering and fostering-to-adopt How anyone can support foster and adoptive families Connect with us! Website: ⁠⁠https://www.pzazzonline.com/⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠www.facebook.com/pzazzartstudio⁠⁠ Instagram- ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/pzazzartstudio⁠⁠  Text us: 1-334-249-1818

On this week's episode, Imprint reporter Michael Fitzgerald was in Washington last week to interview Alex Adams, who was confirmed in October to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Family Support at the Administration for Children and Families.Fitzgerald asked Adams about a wide range of subjects. They discussed the administration's goal of “A Home for Every Child” and how Adams plans to achieve that; how and why he plans to "barbecue" much of the regulatory language for states when it comes to federal funding and practice; why the administration has made demands that states roll back policies that are meant to protect LGBTQ+ youth; the role of kinship caregivers; and much more. Thanks to iFoster and Binti for sponsoring this episode of The Imprint Weekly Podcast.Reading RoomIt's Newsmatch season! Please consider donating to support this podcast and theincredible work that our Imprint reporters do every day. If you donate thismonth, your contribution will be DOUBLED!www.Imprintnews.org/donateWhite House Watch: Our Ongoing Coveragehttps://imprintnews.org/special-series/white-house-watchAlex Adams Nominated to Lead Administration for Children and Familieshttps://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/alex-adams-nominated-to-lead-administration-for-children-and-families/259907Trump's Child Welfare Leader Vows to Protect Benefits Paid to Foster Youthhttps://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/adams-vows-curb-abusive-practice-foster-youth-benefits/268451Trump Appointee Demands States Roll Back Foster Parenting Rules That Aim to Protect LGBTQ+ Youth https://bit.ly/453vaxFTrump's Child Welfare Leader Vows to Protect Benefits Paid to Foster Youthhttps://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/adams-vows-curb-abusive-practice-foster-youth-benefits/268451Idaho Child Welfare Leader Pushed Rapid Reforms in Brief Tenure Before Trump Appointment To Federal Officehttps://imprintnews.org/top-stories/idaho-child-welfare-leader-pushed-rapid-reforms-in-brief-tenure-before-trump-nomination-to-federal-office/267413Oregon Senator Presses Trump Admin for Action on Foster Care, Head Start and Migrant Youthhttps://imprintnews.org/youth-services-insider/oregon-senator-presses-trump-admin-for-action-on-foster-care-head-start-and-migrant-youth/268868Acronyms and initials used in this interview:TANF: Temporary Assistance for Needy FamiliesCFSR: Child and Family Services ReviewsPIP: Program Improvement PlanAPSR: Annual Progress and Services ReportSSBG: Social Services Block GrantCSBG: Community Services Block GrantRGA Republic Governors AssociationFYI: Foster Youth to IndependenceETV: Chafee Education and Training Voucher

    Slam The Gavel welcomes back Investigative Journalist, Richard Luthmann. Richard was last on the podcast Season 5, Episode 228. When he was last on, we discussed Family Court cases and Cancel Culture. Today, we discussed Title IV-E funding and children lost and missing in the foster care system in several states, including the 30 children missing in Minnesota. We also talked about how there are no consequences for false claims.     Richard also brought up the Paul Boyne and the Taran Nolan case and others. Federal Court issues in regards to Rabbi Belinski were explained. We discussed how advocacy and court watching plays a role in family court issues.To Reach Richard Luthmann:  https://linktr.ee/rluthmannSupportshow(https://www.buymeacoffee.com/maryannpetri)Maryann Petri: dismantlingfamilycourtcorruption.comhttps://www.tiktok.com/@maryannpetriFacebook:  https://www.youtube.com/@slamthegavelpodcasthostmar5536Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guitarpeace/Pinterest: Slam The Gavel Podcast/@guitarpeaceLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryann-petri-62a46b1ab/  YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@slamthegavelpodcasthostmar5536  Twitter https://x.com/PetriMaryannEzlegalsuit.com   https://ko-fi.com/maryannpetrihttps://www.zazzle.com/store/slam_the_gavel/about*DISCLAIMER* The use of this information is at the viewer/user's own risk. Content on this podcast does not constitute legal, financial, medical or any other professional advice. Viewer/user/guest should consult with the relevant professionals. IRS CIRCULAR 230 DISCLOSURE: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Service, we inform you that any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (1) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (2) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein. Reproduction, distribution, performing, publicly displaying and making a derivative of the work is explicitly prohibited without permission from content creator. The content creator maintains the exclusive copyright and any unauthorized copyright usage is strictly prohibited.  Podcast is protected by owner from duplication, reproduction, distribution, making a derivative of the work or by owner displaying the podcast. Owner to be held harmless and indemnification. Support the showSupportshow(https://www.buymeacoffee.com/maryannpetri)http://www.dismantlingfamilycourtcorruption.com/

#foryou #podcast When Chell was just 18 months old, her father—a police officer—shot her mother in the face while she slept and walked free. What followed were years of abuse, foster care, loss, and survival. In this episode, Chell shares the trauma that shaped her life, the night her husband died in her arms, and how she found purpose after everything tried to break her. Chell's Links: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondtheMonsters Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyondthemonsters TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@beyondthemonsters ApplePodcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-the-monsters/id1778966880 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3gmVkvzX4xNWwsWFamRUai?si=hKz97XK2Rh6eSEU5GL0XCA Linktree: https://linktr.ee/BeyondtheMonsters Time Stamps: 00:00:00 — What does it mean when a child's first memories involve extreme violence in the home? 00:03:41 — How does surviving an attempted murder by a parent affect a family long-term? 00:07:58 — Why do children normalize chaos when abuse is part of daily life? 00:11:44 — How does growing up in constant fear rewire a child's nervous system? 00:14:09 — Why do abusive punishments often feel more humiliating than painful? 00:18:12 — What happens psychologically when a parent chooses an abuser over their child? 00:21:07 — Why do children in foster care experience higher rates of secondary abuse? 00:24:03 — How does institutional neglect allow abuse to continue unnoticed? 00:27:41 — Why do trauma survivors struggle to trust authority figures meant to protect them? 00:31:19 — How does early exposure to violence influence relationship patterns in adulthood? 00:34:48 — Why do abuse survivors often defend or return to harmful partners? 00:37:06 — What happens to the brain during sexual assault when survival instincts take over? 00:39:52 — Why do trauma survivors minimize events that would devastate others? 00:42:21 — How does prolonged trauma distort a person's sense of safety and faith? 00:45:02 — Why do some people ignore gut instincts right before life-changing events? 00:47:58 — How does alcohol amplify conflict in emotionally volatile situations? 00:49:41 — What happens psychologically when a loved one dies suddenly in front of you? 00:52:06 — How does performing life-saving measures affect long-term trauma processing? 00:55:18 — Why does shock make devastating news feel unreal or delayed? 01:01:27 — How does unresolved trauma resurface during moments of perceived stability? 01:09:42 — Why do survivors expect disaster even during periods of happiness? 01:17:36 — How does repeated loss shape a person's emotional resilience or numbness? 01:28:54 — Why do trauma survivors struggle with peace more than chaos? 01:45:18 — How does a lifetime of survival mode affect identity and self-worth? 02:06:11 — What does healing look like after decades of compounded trauma? Topics: Attempted Murder, Family Violence, Foster Care, Widow, Loss If you have a unique story you'd like to share on the podcast, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/ZiHgdoK4PLRAddiB9 or send an email to wereallinsanepodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The MSM is getting coal this Christmas. Santa's last straw: a recent Washington Post story that attempted to portray DC National Guard ambush suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal as a struggling Afghan immigrant weighed down by job issues and post-war stress. Despite their years-long insistence to “trust the experts” the media immediately changed their tune once Trump returned to the White House. Suddenly, major outlets are eager to decry the FDA's demands for a science-based approval process of vaccines, post headlines defending criminals, and publish countless paragraphs speculating about the President's health (Biden excluded, of course). Curtis Houck is the Managing Editor of NewsBusters. He previously served as a news analyst for the Media Research Center's News Analysis Division, covering network evening newscasts, primetime cable shows, and late-night programs. Follow at https://x.com/CurtisHouck Rob Henderson is the author of “Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class”. His work explores social class and human behavior and has earned praise from public figures including Jordan Peterson and Vice President J.D. Vance. Follow at https://x.com/robkhenderson Dr. Chloe Carmichael is a clinical psychologist and author of “Can I Say That?: Why Free Speech Matters and How to Use It Fearlessly” and “Nervous Energy: Harness the Power of Your Anxiety”. She serves on the Women's Health Magazine Advisory Board and is a USA Today bestselling author. Follow at https://x.com/drchloe_ 「 SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS 」 • AUGUSTA PRECIOUS METALS – Thousands of Americans are moving portions of their retirement into physical gold & silver. Learn more in this 3-minute report from our friends at Augusta Precious Metals: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drdrew.com/gold⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or text DREW to 35052 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠• FATTY15 – The future of essential fatty acids is here! Strengthen your cells against age-related breakdown with Fatty15. Get 15% off a 90-day Starter Kit Subscription at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drdrew.com/fatty15⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • PALEOVALLEY - "Paleovalley has a wide variety of extraordinary products that are both healthful and delicious,” says Dr. Drew. "I am a huge fan of this brand and know you'll love it too!” Get 15% off your first order at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drdrew.com/paleovalley⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • VSHREDMD – Formulated by Dr. Drew: The Science of Cellular Health + World-Class Training Programs, Premium Content, and 1-1 Training with Certified V Shred Coaches! More at https://drdrew.com/vshredmd • THE WELLNESS COMPANY - Counteract harmful spike proteins with TWC's Signature Series Spike Support Formula containing nattokinase and selenium. Learn more about TWC's supplements at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twc.health/drew⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 「 ABOUT THE SHOW 」 Ask Dr. Drew is produced by Kaleb Nation (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://kalebnation.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Susan Pinsky (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/firstladyoflov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠e⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). This show is for entertainment and/or informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Executive Producers • Kaleb Nation - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://kalebnation.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • Susan Pinsky - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/firstladyoflove⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Content Producer & Booking • Emily Barsh - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/emilytvproducer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Hosted By • Dr. Drew Pinsky - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/drdrew⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Question: I have a friend whose 12-year-old adopted son (adopted at age 6) has been sexually abusing his younger siblings. She self-reported to CPS and law enforcement,  but they have not done a formal removal yet, and their solutions involved bringing the child back home or kinship (not an option). The offending child is currently in a temporary behavioral hospital, and a Refusal to Assume Parental Responsibility was opened on my friend because she will not pick him up, especially not until he receives specialized treatment for sexual aggression. The other children deserve a safe home to heal. Has anyone been through this before? If, after treatment, she still does not feel like it's in the children's best interest for him to return home, what are her options? Resources:Resources for Finding an Adoption-Competent TherapistGil Institute for Trauma Recovery & EducationHelping a Child Heal from Sexual AbuseSupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcasts Weekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Manhattan Institute's Rob Henderson shares his extraordinary journey from the chaos of the foster care system to becoming one of the leading voices on human nature, social class, and culture. He joined Rep. Crenshaw to break down the roots of America's growing crisis of meaning—especially among young men—and explore why childhood instability, not poverty, drives so many social outcomes. They dig into the failures of the foster system, the erosion of family structure, the search for purpose, and how discipline, responsibility, and strong values can rebuild the foundation of American society.   Rob Henderson is the best-selling author of "Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class." He is a Senior Fellow at Manhattan Institute. Find him on X at @robkhenderson.

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.We're thrilled to introduce you to our new Executive Director, Linda Fiore. Listen to today's conversation about her journey to Creating a Family and where we're heading in this next chapter under her leadership.In this episode, we discuss:What first brought you into the world of adoption, foster care, and kinship care?When you started out, what was your “why”?What values or goals drove your work in those earliest years?What was your first introduction to Creating a Family?When presented with the opportunity to pursue the position of Executive Director, what was it about our mission or the organization's evolution that drew your interest?How did you know this was the right next step for you?What are the pivotal lessons or challenges that shaped your leadership approach?When you look at where Creating a Family stands today, what are our greatest strengths?Kinship care has become a growing focus area for us. Why do you think kinship support is so critical right now?What are some of the plans Creating a Family has to deepen our impact in this space?Our online education programs reach families and professionals across the country. From your experiences in the field, why is education so crucial in these spaces?As we continue to raise awareness of who we are and how we serve this community, what message do you want people to associate with Creating a Family?What stories or values do you hope will come through most clearly?Where do you think Creating a Family is heading in the next few years?Your “why” has probably evolved — what keeps you going now?What's one thing you've learned that you hope every family advocate carries with them from today's conversation?Finally, for those listening or reading who are inspired — individuals, professionals, or organizations — what can they do to join the mission of Creating a Family? Support the showPlease leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcasts Weekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on all aspects of family building

In this episode of the Foster Friendly Podcast, host Brian Mavis and co-host Courtney engage with Hollie Strand, a forensic examiner with extensive experience in child safety and trafficking. The conversation delves into the complexities of sex trafficking, the grooming process used by predators, and the alarming connection between foster care and trafficking. Hollie shares insights on the importance of internet safety for children, the role of parents in protecting their kids, and the necessity of building a supportive community for vulnerable children. The episode emphasizes the critical need for foster care as a proactive measure to prevent trafficking and offers practical advice for parents and foster families.TakeawaysHollie Strand has 26 years of experience in child safety and trafficking.Sex trafficking is often misunderstood; it involves the exchange of goods for sexual acts.Victims of trafficking may not see themselves as victims due to psychological manipulation.Grooming involves breaking down a person's spirit to make them compliant.Foster care can create vulnerabilities that lead to trafficking.Internet safety is crucial for children to prevent exploitation.Parents must actively supervise their children's online activities.Building a safety net of supportive adults is essential for at-risk youth.Foster parents can play a significant role in preventing trafficking.Community involvement is vital in supporting foster care and child safety.

In this inspiring episode of Warriors Unmasked, Chuck Thuss sits down with Adrienne Caldwell — a survivor, author, and advocate whose journey proves that even the darkest beginnings can lead to a life filled with purpose, peace, and hope. Adrienne opens up about a childhood marked by trauma and instability, but also the powerful turning point that set her on a path toward healing, rebuilding, and reclaiming her voice. Today, she uses her story to help others feel seen, supported, and empowered in their own healing. This conversation is emotional, courageous, and ultimately uplifting — a reminder that no matter what you've been through, it's never too late to rise, heal, and write a new chapter. Guest Bio Adrienne Caldwell is the author of the forthcoming memoir Unbroken: Life Outside the Lines — a raw and unflinching account of her journey through trauma, survival, and ultimately, healing. The book sheds light on the darkest corners of the human experience, including untreated mental illness, homelessness, foster care abuse, incest, addiction, and sexual violence, and emerges with a message of fierce resilience and unbreakable hope. More than a chronicle of pain, Unbroken is a story of identity, family, love, and finding your voice when the world refuses to listen. It's about reclaiming power and choosing purpose over despair. You'll hear About The childhood trauma that shaped Adrienne's early life How repression, addiction, and self-medicating became survival tools The moment that changed her healing journey How writing her book forced her to face decades of buried trauma Finding peace, stability, and purpose after a lifetime of hardship   Chapters 00:00 Welcome and Introduction 01:10 Adrienne's Mission and Early Life 02:14 Trauma Beginning at Age Five 04:39 Suicide Attempts and a Life-Changing Moment 07:01 Growing Up with Mental Illness in the Home 09:23 Moving Homes, Instability, and Emotional Repression 11:51 Attachment Disorder and Numbing the Pain 13:50 The Psychiatric Ward Epiphany 16:41 Discovering the Truth in Her CPS Files 18:49 Emotional Abuse in Foster Care 20:53 Beginning the Writing and Healing Process 23:36 Overcoming Grief, Loss, and Hardship 26:07 Family Patterns and Lack of Awareness 28:30 Gratitude, Stability, and a New Life 30:53 Living with Purpose and Inspiring Others 33:20 A Message to Anyone Who Feels Hopeless 35:42 Chuck's Closing Reflections Chuck's Challenge This week, take one honest step toward facing something you've been avoiding. Stop the numbing, stop the running, and give yourself permission to feel what needs healing. You don't have to do it alone — just start with one step. Connect with Adriene Caldwell Book: https://www.unbrokencaldwell.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/UnbrokenCaldwell Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/UnbrokenCaldwell/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnbrokenCaldwel/ Connect with Chuck Check out the website: https://www.thecompassionateconnection.com/ Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuck-thuss-a9aa044/ Follow on Instagram: @warriorsunmasked Join the Warriors Unmasked community by subscribing to the show. Together, we're breaking stigmas and shining a light on mental health, one story at a time.

This episode features Corree Roofener—an accounting firm owner, podcast host, nonprofit founder, and fierce advocate for youth in foster care.A wife, mother of six, and Nana, Corree has spent more than thirteen years alongside her husband, Chad, opening their home and hearts as foster parents. Their journey revealed both the heartbreak and the hope within the foster care system—and inspired them to co-found Fostering the Summit, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring no teen ages out of care without family, belonging, and support.

On this week's podcast Maddy Day of Maddy Day and Associates joins to talk about what it takes to provide stability on college campuses for youth who have experienced aging out of foster care, homelessness or both. She is helping to coordinate a Congressional briefing planned for 2026 on the subject. It's Newsmatch season! Please consider donating to support this podcast and the incredible work that our Imprint reporters do every day. If you donate this month, your contribution will be DOUBLED!www.Imprintnews.org/donateMaddy Day is the founder of Maddy Day and Associates. She co-founded the University of Washington Champions Program, in 2010, and directed the Fostering Success Michigan statewide initiative at Western Michigan University until 2018.Reading RoomWhy Isn't Community College Working for So Many Foster Youth?https://imprintnews.org/podcast/why-community-college-not-working-so-many-foster-youthMaking my Dream of Attending College Possiblehttps://imprintnews.org/youth-voice/making-my-dream-of-attending-college-possible/64932Grieving the Loss of Housing and My Mother While Navigating College as a Foster Youthhttps://imprintnews.org/youth-voice/grieving-the-loss-of-housing-and-my-mother-while-navigating-college-as-a-foster-youth/65080The Imprint's Archive of Educationhttps://imprintnews.org/topic/education

Many churches struggle with community ministry that feels disconnected from making disciples. In this episode, we break down how adoption and foster care ministry serves as a powerful evangelistic tool—not just a "feel good" initiative. From reaching biological parents to discipling children in Christian homes, Pastor Andrew and Pastor Landon share practical insights from helping 200+ families engage in foster care and adoption. Plus: why knowing your church's unique gifts matters more than copying another church's model. Perfect for pastors wanting mission-aligned community impact.Chosen Book: andrewphopper.com/chosen

Send us a textJust in time for the holidays, we whisk away on a cozy, magical journey through the enchanting world of The Snowman Code with Simon Stephenson. Warm yourself with this comfortable conversation about friendship, mental health, inner strength, and the transformative power of empathy as Simon shares the creative process behind his debut middle grade novel. SummaryThis week on the Adventures in Learning, Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor welcomes author Simon Stephenson, who unveils the American publication of his debut middle-grade realistic fantasy The Snowman Code. Simon shares his journey from being a children's doctor to writing for films like Luca and Paddington 2. Discover how his experiences with foster care children influenced The Snowman Code, a story about friendship, magic, empathy, resilience, depression, and finding your inner strength. We explore Simon's familial inspirations for the pompous and loving Albert the Snowman. Learn more about the artistic brilliance of illustrator Reggie Brown, whose rich multicultural illustrations add depth and unexpected surprises into this heartwarming story. Plus we envision how the book translates into a potential cinematic adaptation. Timestamps:01:02: The Author Behind The Snowman Code03:26:Blessing, Foster Care, Trauma, and Resilience07:28:Familial Origins of Albert the Snowman12:20:Themes of Empathy, Kindness, Compassion, and Sacrifice15:30:UK Reaction to The Snowman Code18:21:Exploring the Insightful, Layered Illustrations of Reggie Brown20:43:Imagining The Film Version23:52:What Brings You Hope?Links:Purchase The Snowman CodeFollow Simon Stephenson on InstagramDiscover more about Illustrator Reggie BrownSupport the showSubscribe & Follow: Stay updated with our latest episodes and follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and the Adventures in Learning website. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts! *Disclosure: I am a Bookshop.org. affiliate.

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Question: Help for a youth dealing with being bullied because they are in foster care?Resources:5 Steps to Effectively Advocate for a Child Who is Being BulliedAre Transracial Adoptees More Likely to Be Bullied?Helping Our Kids Cope with Bullies at SchoolStopBullying.govSupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcasts Weekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Do you feel like raising a child with a history of trauma has stirred up your own traumatic past? If you wonder how to parent from a position of healing, listen to this conversation with Dr. Robyn Koslowitz. She is a psychologist, trauma expert, and author of the new book, Post-Traumatic Parenting: Break the Cycle, Become the Parent You Always Wanted to Be.In this episode, we discuss:You open your book by saying, ‘It's not you, it's your trauma.' That feels like both a relief and a challenge. Can you unpack that for parents and caregivers who blame themselves for every misstep in their parenting?When you use the term post-traumatic parent, what do you mean? How does that differ from saying ‘parent with trauma' or ‘healed parent'?Many caregivers feel haunted by an internal guilt that says, “How can I give what I never received?” How can parents or caregivers move from guilt to agency—without glossing over the pain?What are the 5 post-traumatic parenting defaults you identify in your book? What do they look like in real-life moments of parenting? How does a parent choose not to opt into those old trauma-driven defaults (e.g., yelling, withdrawal, overcontrol) in the moment? The metaphor of trauma as an appWhat is the concept of cycle-breaking versus cycle-making, and how is it valuable for breaking those unhealthy parenting patterns?What are some practical applications of this post-traumatic parenting reframe? How can a parent create and maintain trauma-responsive routines or rituals that will increase a child's sense of felt safety, without being rigid or feeling like a bunch of rules they must follow?Support the showPlease leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcasts Weekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on all aspects of family building

When the odds are stacked against you, how do you succeed anyway? Foster kid turned NFL athlete, Anthony Trucks shares his 3-step method to upgrade your identity and succeed, even when it seems impossible. Watch my Free Masterclass: Stop Making These 3 Profit Killing Mistakes… Before It's Too Late → https://www.marieforleo.com/freeclass Are you struggling through those moments where your brain just goes, "ugh, not now"... and you can't get moving? Grab my 1-Minute Motivators to get you back on track FAST. → https://marieforleo.com/motivators COME SAY 'HI!' Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/marieforleo Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marieforleo Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/marieforleo Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/marieforleo If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review!

Jon covers the news pertinent for conservative American Christians including the rise in religious "nones," the new CEO of Christianity Today, Summit Church's continued soft-peddling of illegal immigration, Trump's executive order to help Christian families participate in the Foster Care system, Jonathan Leeman's defense of Mark Dever and acknowledgement that Christians shouldn't vote for pro-choice candidates, and more!Order Against the Waves: Againstthewavesbook.comCheck out Jon's Music: jonharristunes.comTo Support the Podcast: https://www.worldviewconversation.com/support/Become a Patronhttps://www.patreon.com/jonharrispodcastSubstack: https://substack.com/@jonharris?Follow Jon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonharris1989Follow Jon on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonharris1989/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/conversations-that-matter8971/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy