Foster Connect

Thanks God for Fall break 🍂

Big Boy: Sissy how long are you staying?
Sissy: a week little bro
BB: only a week?! You should move back, I missed you.

If you are near Raleigh please share a good affordable or FREE pumpkin patch we can go as a family of six ✨️

Happy Monday 🌞
Do you have the energy for a new week?

Adults in our home are always low on vitamin D and B12 for some reason, we have changed our diet to increase intake for those vitamins, we have tried multiple B12 vitamins and our kept showing low every blood work until about 6 months ago.

About a year ago my teen daughter, husband and I had to do vitamin 💉.
First month weekly shots, second month every other week and third month 1 shot 🥴 besides the fact that shots are painful it was VERY expensive because each shot was $25 and it was three of us.

After trying different brands with no to very minimum results we finally found one brand that helped us 🙌 and our blood work finally showed normal.

My husband is also taking Elite Focus and he can feel the difference it makes on his daily work routine, he started taking two and now he takes 3 a day. His type of work is mentally demanding.

I'm not affiliated to any of the brands, and I'm not a doctor so I'm only sharing what workes for us. Ask your doctor if you have any medical questions or concerns.
I'll share the links on the comments.

Happy bday Sara Ashley Meadows 🎈your dedication and support to the foster community thought NC for FAMs and Village 127 are remarkable ❣️enjoy your special day!

🎉 Happy Birthday, to our Executive Director, Sara! 🎉

Today we’re celebrating someone whose joy is contagious, whose excitement is infectious, and whose heart for people is impossible to miss. 💙

If we had to choose one word for Sara, it would just be excited. She gets excited about people, possibilities, what God is doing, and what can happen when we work together. And somehow, she turns that excitement into something big and beautiful, bringing people along with her and inspiring them to serve.

Sara is a BIG dreamer with a deep heart for vulnerable children and families and an even deeper love for collaboration. She has a gift for making everyone around her feel like they are the absolute best at what they bring to the table. She sees people, celebrates their gifts, and makes them want to jump in and be part of something bigger.

She works incredibly hard and brings so many gifts and skills to this work. She is an incredible leader, someone who inspires others, sees the best in people, and has a way of bringing people together around a shared vision. We are especially grateful for the joy, encouragement, creativity, vision and energy she brings to our team and this mission.

Sara, we hope today you feel SO loved and celebrated, and that you get to experience even a little of the joy you bring to everyone around you. We are so thankful for you and all you bring to this team, and we can’t wait to see what this next year holds! 💙

Happy Birthday, Sara! 🥳🎂 We love you!!
Join us in celebrating her below!

What a blessing and incredible opportunity to be able to be part of CAFO.

Christian Alliance for Orphans puts together this amazing event where more than 2,500 people from more than 40 countries gather to share, inspire and encourage people like us to continue caring for the vulnerable.

Being panelists and sharing part of our journey during Cultivating the Identity and Character of Children in a Multi-Cultural Family was a blessing.

We met friends, made new ones, learn strategies for the foster ministry and recharged our minds and hearts.

NC for FAMs
Watch Me Rise
Isaiah 117 House Johnston Co NC
Sara Ashley Meadows Jodi Jackson Tucker Jodi Bailey Kristen Thomas Kristi Copley Chris Johnson Joy Fahmer Boutin Joy Bey Village 127 Vision Church, Raleigh

💛🙏

There’s something powerful about walking through the hallways of a national foster care and adoption conference in Atlanta and seeing so many familiar faces from North Carolina.

We came to CAFO to learn, connect, and be encouraged, but one of the sweetest parts has been simply seeing so many of our partner organizations here together.

We grabbed a quick lunch with some of our NC friends today, and looking around the table felt like such a picture of what we believe so deeply at NC for FAMs: we are better together.

Different organizations. Different roles. Different pieces of the puzzle. But all showing up because we care deeply about children and families impacted by foster care.

And in between sessions and hallway conversations, we’ve also gotten to meet new organizations doing incredible work across North Carolina and start dreaming about how we can be more connected when we all get home.

Sometimes collaboration looks like big projects and shared initiatives.

And sometimes it simply looks like finding each other in the hallway, pulling up a chair at lunch, sharing what we’re learning, and remembering that none of us have to do this work alone.

So grateful for all that we've learned and are ready to bring back to NC AND for all of the people God continues to bring together across our state! There really is more than enough when we work together. 🧩

If we missed tagging your church, organization, or agency, please tag yourself in the pic! 😊

💛Definitely blessed and excited to see friends, make new friends, share what God has done in our lives during this journey and absorb all the knowledge and resources this amazing event offers to continue helping the vulnerable 💛

Atlanta, here we come! We are heading to Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit today, and we’re so excited for all this week holds!

One of our favorite parts is seeing familiar faces, sharing hugs, and catching up with people who have become dear friends. It feels like a family reunion, a chance to gather with others who share our heart for children and families.

We’re looking forward to new friendships, meaningful conversations, and seeing how God moves this week.

🚒 raise your hand if you had a 👩‍🚒 visit 🚒

Around 8pm when kids were getting ready to go to bed, I felt a strong smoke smell 🤨 I thought to myself as soon as I put the kids to bed I'll check around (I knew the stove was off, no smoke in the rooms since 2 minutes ago I had to go to all the rooms hunting for a missing stuff animal)

Kids are in bed so now I'm on a mission to see where the smell is coming from, checked everywhere and nothing. The smell was strong on the kitchen area and the laundry room.

I opened the doors and windows and started watching tv, 5 minutes later the fire alarm is in action 🤦‍♀️ all the kids scared getting out of bed, getting out of their rooms, some scared and some wanting to go back to sleep.
With Big Boy's help I was able to put the alarm off then called the non emergency number, I mean the kids were safe and just wanting to go back to sleep.
I was instructed to call 911 so the fire department can come and make sure we are safe.

I called and WOW 5 🚒 2 EMT and two other white vans showed up. Around 15 adults coming in and out of the house, kids outside excited to see them so close and "in action" - me: so embarrassed because all of them here with no actual fire but at the same time so thankful because we are safe and the 👩‍🚒 were making sure everything was ok.

After checking everything and finding nothing we were given the ok to go inside. I wish I could say we all were ready to go to bed but in the contrary we had 3 very excited and super stimulated kids wanting to talk about how cool the night was 🫠

✨️Big Boy finally lost a front tooth 🧚‍♀️

Before going to bed while our nightly zoom call with Sissy:

Big boy super excited: sissy guess what?
Sissy curious: what bro?
BB: my front tooth is lose!!
Sissy: aww nooo, my baby is growing 🥹
BB: yep! Almost a teenager now (😅 he wishes)

Yesterday morning on our way to 🏫:

BB: mom, 🦷 its wiggly 😃 almost gone!
Me: let's be patient, don't play with it

When I picked him up from school:

BB: can you hold this for me?
Me: sure 💁‍♀️ ---- he hands me his tooth 🤨🙄

✨️🦷✨️🦷

I would love to hear stories about tooth fairy or kids being extra quick on getting them out 🤦‍♀️

⏳️Court Day ⌛️

Lives can be rebuilt or destroyed when in court.

▶️Child is removed = Court Date
▶️Child has been place and has a case = Court Date
▶️Progress of child in foster care, DSS reaching out or working plan for bio parents or relatives = Court Date
▶️Plan moving forward to reunification or adoption = Court Date
▶️Termination of Paternal/Maternal Rights OR reunification = Court Date
▶️Adoption = Court Date

The sad part is that most states take years to get to either reunification or adoption meanwhile the children are on hold.

While some bio parents work their plan to be able to provide a safe place and provide for their children other bio parents take advantage and prolong the process so their parental rights are not terminated not for good of the child but because they want to be on control.

Some foster parents are able to open their hearts and homes to provide a forever home for this children, some other foster parents might not be able to do this for different reasons.

Court dates are some of the most stressful days in the foster community while they also can be one of the most complex and happy days when adoption is finalized.