Since May is National Foster Care Awareness Month, I will be bringing you stories every week from the different perspectives of the foster care community – agency workers, foster parents, vulnerable adults, and children.
To kick off our episodes for this month, today I’m sharing my conversation with Candace Franklin, who is not only a Social Worker Supervisor, but also a foster parent and advocate for the foster care community.
In this episode, Candace reminds us that there is a place for you to step into this community, and shares what her life as a worker is like, how challenges with infertility have influenced her journey, and the joy she gets to see when reunification is possible.
I hope this episode is a support to you this week!
(Starting today, applications are open for YOU to become a TFI Advocate, bridging the gap between foster care agencies and churches right in your local community. Learn more and apply here!)
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/candace-franklin-181/
Learn More About Samaritan Ministries: https://samaritanministries.org/theforgottenpodcast
Here at The Forgotten Initiative, we get to support incredible volunteer leaders called TFI Advocates who are leading local foster care ministries across the nation.
Joining me for today’s episode is one of our TFI Advocates, Tess Dykstra. Tess has been an Advocate for Cobb County, GA since November 2021, and she is an incredible leader! In addition to her role as a TFI Advocate, Tess is a foster parent, mom to two boys (one through adoption), and works remotely in logistics and supply chain operations.
Tess is going to give us a look behind the curtain of what it means to be a TFI Advocate. She shares more about what a TFI Advocate does, what skills they might need, and her own story of getting involved.
Too many in the foster care community feel forgotten. They feel unloved and even uncared for. It’s our passion to change that reality. Coming up in May, we are opening up the applications for additional TFI Advocates. We only accept applications twice a year, so I want to invite you to consider if this role might be for you!
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/tess-dykstra-180/
Learn More About Samaritan Ministries: https://samaritanministries.org/theforgottenpodcast
TW: This episode does contain mentions of abuse, sexual abuse, human trafficking, and Satanic Ritual Abuse that we want you to be aware of before listening.
We know that youth in and out of foster care are a very vulnerable population and at risk for trafficking. However, what you might not realize is that 60% of all child sex trafficking victims have histories in the child welfare system, according to the National Foster Youth Institute.
My guest today knows the reality of human trafficking on a very personal level. Tiffani Price is a survivor of human trafficking and Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA). She deeply understands the many difficulties facing this vulnerable population as she was trafficked by her adoptive parents. Today, Tiffani has founded a nonprofit called GloryB to help support other survivors.
In this episode, Tiffani bravely shares her story and helps us understand how we can protect children in our care by recognizing signs of grooming and trafficking.
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/tiffani-price-179/
Learn More About Samaritan Ministries: https://samaritanministries.org/theforgottenpodcast
Tyler Daily wasn’t planning on becoming a foster parent. But his work in education as a middle school teacher ended up becoming the gateway to foster care.
Foster parents are so important in the foster care community, and single foster parents are an incredible group of people. There is no specific data on the number of single foster parents nationwide; however, the 2019 Child Welfare Outcomes report shows that single parents make up 29% of the adoptive family structure with just 3% of that number being single men.
Parenting alone presents a lot of challenges that other foster parents may not encounter. As Tyler has fostered 7 children in the course of one year, he says, “It’s a circus, but it’s a fun circus!” I pray you are encouraged by his story and experience this week.
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/tyler-daily-178/
Learn More About Samaritan Ministries: https://samaritanministries.org/theforgottenpodcast
Welcome back to The Forgotten Podcast! I am eager to share another story from the foster care community with you this week.
My guest today is a foster parent herself, but she primarily works alongside birth parents and infants recovering from drug withdrawal. Heather Simpson is a mom to four biological boys, a foster parent, and a charge nurse at Brigid’s Path, an infant recovery center.
In today’s episode, she is sharing how she got connected to the foster care community, what it looks like for infants to withdraw from drug exposure, and the perspective shift she has made from working closely with birth moms. Listen in as Heather shares her important perspective with us!
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/heather-simpson-177/
Learn More About Samaritan Ministries: https://samaritanministries.org/theforgottenpodcast
Bethany and her husband, Benji, originally planned to foster school-age kids or older and did not plan to accept any babies. But when they got the call for Journey, they couldn’t say no. Little did they know she would be diagnosed with a brain tumor with an unknown prognosis and months of appointments and treatments that followed.
Today on the podcast, I’m thrilled to be able to have one of our TFI Advocates, Bethany Riley, with me. Bethany first had a heart for international adoption but as newlyweds, her husband Benji and herself were led to foster care in the United States. She has been a foster parent to teens and little ones for the past 15 years.
Her story isn’t just one of diverse experiences of foster parenting, but also of adoption and loss and grief. Their daughter, Journey, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. As they walked through the challenges of her complicated medical treatment as foster parents, they made the decision to adopt her regardless of the outcome of her treatment. They finalized her adoption just eight days before she passed away.
The journey isn’t always easy, but it is worth it. I think that’s the message you’ll walk away with after today’s conversation.
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/bethany-riley-176/
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When loss, grief, hardships, or tragedy hit our own lives, most of us are ill-prepared to deal with it.
Davey Blackburn experienced an unbelievable tragedy when he came home to find his pregnant wife had been shot during a home invasion. She would pass away just 24 hours later, leading him on a journey of learning to process the loss and grief he felt at the sudden loss.
While Davey’s story isn’t directly about foster care or adoption, it is about a topic that I think affects many of us in the foster care community. This is the question of what we do with pain and how we handle traumatic events.
In this conversation, you’ll hear Davey’s story, truths he has learned about the healing process, where many of us need to shift our view of God, and much more. I hope this episode is as meaningful to you as it has been to me.
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/davey-blackburn-175/
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TW: There are brief mentions in this episode of abuse, self-harm, and suicide, which we wanted you to be aware of before listening.
There are some episodes of the podcast that simply pack so much wisdom into a short conversation. This is one of those episodes.
Children enter foster care for many different reasons. And despite some of the hard work we do to overcome and heal from the past, our stories can still be messy. My guest knows this all too well!
Kristen Thomas entered into kinship care after suffering abuse, but experienced deep-rooted challenges when she felt misunderstood, unsupported, and became homeless after aging out of care. As an adult, Kristen has taken the time to move towards healing those parts of her past. Today, she is going to grad school for Counseling and is an adoptive parent to her daughter, with only a 10-year age difference between them.
Kristen is very well-spoken and I greatly appreciated her coming onto the show. I know you will be encouraged by her story!
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/kristen-thomas-174/
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Welcome back to The Forgotten Podcast! In this episode, I have the opportunity to talk with Shyann Skelton. Shyann came from a broken home where she did not know her biological father. After her mother’s death, she was adopted by her grandmother, but experienced deep pain through loss, bullying, and hardships as she was rejected by family for being biracial.
Shyann’s story begins with odds that were stacked against her, but she has taken those experiences and used them for good! As an adult, Shyann is a foster mom to teen girls and soon will be working with a nonprofit whose goal is to fill the gap while children are waiting for foster homes.
Thank you for listening to her story!
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/shyann-skelton-173/
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We love bringing you stories from the foster care community as a way to encourage and equip you in your foster care journey. I’m excited to be able to share my conversation with not only a foster parent and adoptive parent, but the Executive Director of a non-profit whose mission is to help aging-out youth.
My guest is Nick Sgarlata. Nick and his wife, Carrie, started fostering in 2015. Today, he works closely with aging-out youth through Bridge to Brighter in Wisconsin. Nick has three biological children, two adoptive children, has fostered 15 children, and they just renewed their foster care license.
My hope is that you will benefit from hearing about the unique work that Nick does with aging out youth and connect with his experience as a foster parent. He has a generous heart, and I’m eager to share this episode with you!
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/nick-sgarlata-172/
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Today on the podcast, we are talking about a special kind of care in the foster care community called kinship care. Kinship care is when children are cared for by grandparents, extended family members, or unrelated adults with whom they have a close family-like relationship.
Caregivers providing kinship care often face unique challenges and abrupt changes to their life plans. In addition to dealing with the circumstances leading to the need for kinship care, their lives are overhauled with the unexpected introduction of the child now in their care.
Sharing her experience with us is Rachel Mahnke, a Certified Wellness Coach, Trauma Informed Parent, Life Coach, Therapeutic Art Facilitator, author, and adoptive parent of her biological grandchildren. When life took an unexpected turn, Rachel went from a soon-to-be empty nester to providing kinship care to her two little grandchildren.
This episode holds so much wisdom and honesty, and I am eager to share it with you!
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/rachel-mahnke-171/
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The LGBTQIA+ conversation has intersected with foster care heavily in recent years and it has prompted many people in the foster care community to have questions such as: How can we care for our LGBTQ+ kids as foster parents who hold to a traditional view of marriage? How should the Church come alongside LGBTQ+ foster parents who do not hold to the traditional view of marriage? And many more.
If you are unaware of what each of the letters stands for or haven’t seen the “IA” part of LGBTQIA+ here’s what each letter represents: L – lesbian, G – gay, B – bisexual, T – transgender, Q – queer, I – intersex, A – asexual. The “+” indicates many more that could be mentioned, but I’ll pause there for now.
I’m thrilled to have Laurie Krieg with me as we navigate this topic of sexuality and gender through the lens of the Gospel. Laurie identified a default to a same-sex attraction when she was starting at five years old. She wrestled with what this meant for her Christian faith throughout her young adult life. Laurie identifies as both a Christ-follower and a part of the LGBTQ+ community and has been on the front lines of the sexuality conversation since 2014.
Today, Laurie is the president of Impossible Ministries, a coaching ministry with the mission to equip the Church with a gospel-centered approach to marriage and sexuality. Laurie is also a coach, speaker, author, podcaster, mom to three, and has a mixed-orientation marriage with her husband, Matt.
This conversation is so important, and I want to encourage you to listen in!
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/laurie-krieg-170/
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I love every time I get the opportunity to talk with Jenn Hook here on the ol’ podcast! Jenn has a deep passion for the adoptive and foster care communities. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Replanted—a ministry that helps empower the Church to support adoptive and foster families by providing emotional, tangible, and informational support.
Last time I spoke with Jenn, we discussed her first book, Replanted, and navigating reunification. In this episode, Jenn is back with a new book that builds on the foundation laid by her first book. In this new book, Thriving Families, Jenn provides resources for navigating the grief children in foster care feel, maintaining relationships with biological parents, preserving the cultural background of your child, and much more.
We’re diving into some of those same topics today, and I hope our conversation is a great encouragement to you this week!
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/jenn-hook-169/
Use code "forgottenpod" for 10% off the Who Loves Series: https://www.wholovesseries.org/
Do you have some hard questions when it comes to adoption and foster care? Maybe you’re unsure if you’re up to the challenge. Maybe you’re unsure how to best support a child in adjusting to their new circumstances. No matter what you’re facing, you’re not alone.
April Guffey is dedicated to being a resource for adoptive and foster parents, as well as the children in their care. April is an adoptee, former foster youth, and owner of Mercy and Healing, which is an adoption coaching practice. She has an incredible story of finding true wholeness through Christ and unexpectedly reconnecting with her biological father.
Through her own lived experiences as a former foster youth, April has seen the gap in services for adoptive parents and adoptees. Her passion is to fill that gap by providing a safe place to ask questions, vent, and gain new insight. Join me as April shares her story and wisdom today!
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/april-guffey-168/
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I have a great episode for you this week. Children in foster care have so much going on beyond what we can see on the surface. But what is it that can sometimes cause our children to act out, rebel, or “push our buttons”? My guest today was not only a former foster child for over 7 years, but she also now works with parents to uncover how to better show up for their children, especially their teens.
Serena Rice is a Supervised Visitation Specialist, parenting coach, children’s book author, and former foster child. Her experience as a foster child influenced her to start her own coaching practice to help parents build deeper trust and strong connections with their children. In today’s episode, she shares her story of jumping from foster home to foster home, how parents can better communicate with teens in foster care, what her healing journey has looked like, and much more.
Whether you care for a teen in foster care or not, you don’t want to miss Serena’s story, perspective, and wisdom.
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/serena-rice-167/
Use code "forgottenpod" for 10% off the Who Loves Series: https://www.wholovesseries.org/
TW: As part of John’s story and experience, you will hear specific descriptions and terms related to adult themes, including both physical and sexual child abuse, trafficking, and suicide. We do encourage discernment in your decision to listen or with whom you share this episode with.
I met John Gibson briefly at the Replanted Conference where he shared his story for the very first time. John is a former competition team member of Valko Brazilian Jiu-Juitsu in Chicago, IL. But at the age of just five years old, he was declared a ward of the state. After 11 homes and 2 group homes, John aged out of the foster care system. Through therapy, mentors, and lots of time, John is able to look back at everything he went through with positivity and hopefulness.
I am so grateful to John for his willingness to be open about his life experience, as well as his journey towards healing. Foster care is often a community filled with both hurt and hope, and John’s story is an honest testament to that reality. I hope his story provides valuable perspective for your own foster care journey!
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/john-gibson-166/
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Life is full of seasons. Sometimes those seasons are filled with joy and laughter, but other times those seasons include sorrow, grief, and loss. These hard seasons may come from the unexpected loss of a loved one or a child no longer being a direct part of your family. Today's conversation is especially for those currently walking through unexpected grief or those who love someone walking through grief.
Joining me is Tim Challies. Tim is a pastor, author, and co-founder of Cruciform Press. He had to navigate loss and grief in his own life when he unexpectedly lost his college-aged son, Nick, in 2020. As a result of walking through his own season of grief, Tim shared his family’s journey in a book titled Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God.
I deeply appreciated Tim’s openness about his story and his firm confidence in who our God is. I believe you’ll receive a lot of truth from what he has to share today.
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/tim-challies-165/
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It’s no secret that I love sharing stories of hope and healing. My guest today has an incredible story that includes both of those things! I met Peter at a conference recently and we quickly became friends. He is a surviving street kid, foster dad to over 18 kids, single adoptive dad, an author, speaker, and advocate for children everywhere. Wow!
Peter Mutabazi grew up in an abusive home in Uganda and eventually ran away at the age of 10. God used a man in khakis to show Peter that he was loved and valued. Today, Peter’s passion is that every child and young person, especially the forgotten, neglected, or abused, deserves to be celebrated, seen, heard, and known.
Show Notes: theforgotteninitiative.org/peter-mutabazi-164
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Even with Christmas morning already in our rearview mirrors, I love this time of year! Not only because of the holiday traditions, the smell of candles, our Christmas tree, and freshly baked pies in the oven. My love for this time of year is also not only because of the sounds of the Christmas music that fills my home, the crackling of the fire, or the old handmade-by-kids Christmas ornaments on the tree, but I love this time of year because it always makes me reflective. As I reflect, I can't help but see the Goodness and Faithfulness of God. What about you? How has God grown you this year? How has He shown Himself faithful?
I’m not sure what your year has looked like or what’s in store for the next. What I do know is that Christmas is good for the soul, reminding us each year of the goodness and kindness of our God in making a way for redemption.
Thank you for being on this journey with us, and we are so excited to be in this space TWICE as often. You are not alone!
As you may know, stepping in to support the foster care community can be messy sometimes. We are broken people stepping into broken situations. None of us are perfect, yet we are called to step into these situations anyway. My guest today has personal experience with this. Cynthia Yanof is a former attorney, foster mom, author, and host of the Pardon the Mess podcast.
When Cynthia and her husband felt the call to step into foster care, they had fears, the urge to cling to safety, and the feeling of being completely ill-equipped. Can you relate!? In spite of all their fears, they stepped out in faith and were amazed by how God provided for them on their journey.
In this episode, Cynthia shares her family’s experience of being called to foster, overcoming some common objections people have, and the values they have learned along the way. Cynthia is a dynamic bundle of energy and I know you will be blessed to hear her passion and perspective on foster care.
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/s13e13/
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It’s National Adoption Month! In honor of that, the podcast has been weekly this month to provide more opportunities for you to share episodes with friends who might not know as much about foster care or adoption in order to increase awareness. Let's spread the word!
I have a very special guest on the podcast today. He was adopted from Guatemala at just 10-months old and he just so happens to be my son. Hudson Kaeb (or “Huds” as I like to call him) is sharing today about his story of adoption, the feelings he carries toward his birth family, and how he has processed his own story as he has gotten older. This was a really special episode for me and I am so proud of him for his openness, growth, and maturity. Hudson has shared his story in the past and I know you will be just as blessed and encouraged to hear it today!
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Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/s13e12/
It’s National Adoption Month! In honor of that, the podcast will be weekly this month to provide more opportunities for you to share episodes with friends who might not know as much about foster care or adoption in order to increase awareness. Let's spread the word!
As many of us know, not every family gets to be reunified. In fact, in just under half (48%) of cases are children reunified with their parents. How should we respond to that reality? My guest today is unique in that she was an adoptee and also a biological mother who experienced her own children being placed in foster care. Brittany Marler’s life was turned upside-down when her mother was killed, which eventually led to her adoption by her grandparents. In our conversation, she vulnerably shares with us her experience of growing up without her birth mother, the painful circumstances that led to her to prison and surrendering her children, and their foster parents who relentlessly pursued a relationship with her.
Though Brittany’s story up to this point is not one of reunification, it is one of restoration and healing. God is doing incredible things in her life, and I am so grateful for Brittany’s openness and willingness to share her story with us here on the podcast.
Get 10% off the Who Loves Series (use code "forgottenpod"): https://www.wholovesseries.org/
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/s13e11/
It’s National Adoption Month! In honor of that, the podcast will be weekly this month to provide more opportunities for you to share episodes with friends who might not know as much about foster care or adoption in order to increase awareness. Let’s spread the word!
In the adoption and foster care community, we often encounter stories of brokenness and heartache. At the same time, we find stories of hope, healing, and God’s faithful purpose. For Maria “Mia” Arrington, God’s purpose and faithfulness were weaved throughout every part of her story, from being a child in foster care to an adoptee to today being a licensed social worker, therapist, wife, and mom to a beautiful daughter and stepson. In today’s episode, Mia openly shares her journey of entering foster care as a toddler, experiencing a disrupted adoption, living in a group home, eventually being adopted, and how she is using her story to spread hope and healing to others.
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Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/s13e10/
It’s National Adoption Month! In honor of that, the podcast will be weekly this month to provide more opportunities for you to share episodes with friends who might not know as much about foster care or adoption in order to increase awareness. Let’s spread the word!
Once you become aware of the need within the foster care community, it’s hard to focus on anything else, right? For Jessica Hurlbut, that is exactly what happened when she adopted a sibling group from foster care in 2015. Once she became aware of the needs in the foster care community, she knew she needed to display to others how they can help. In fact, she founded a run that led to the amount of foster homes in her county doubling! In today’s episode, Jessica shares her journey of advocacy, how to push past the fluff and be real, what it’s been like to be a mother to five children, and much more.
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Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/s13e9/
Today’s episode is a special one! Not long ago my team and I got to spend the weekend at Replanted Conference, a conference in Naperville, Illinois, that provides a time away for caregivers to be refreshed, equipped, and inspired. While there, I had the privilege of speaking at some breakout sessions and also doing a live recording for this podcast! I sat down with Jessie and Carrie, whose stories are connected and intertwined in powerful ways. This was a very inspiring conversation, and I'm glad I can share it with you today!
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/s13replanted
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