The Heart Behind the Work

My adoption journey didn’t start with a plan, it started with proximity. I was volunteering with a local adoption agency, simply trying to help where I could. Somewhere along the way, they encouraged me to take foster care classes. At the time, I wasn’t thinking, “This will change my life.” I was thinking, “I can do something useful.”

I started as a respite foster mom for teens, showing up on weekends and giving other foster parents a break. We kept it simple, movies, local spots, just getting out of the house. Nothing extravagant, just consistency, presence, and a safe place to land for a couple of days.

That’s how I met my daughter. What started as a respite placement became something more. She stayed. Over time, she became my foster daughter, and our relationship shifted from temporary support to something much deeper and more permanent.

There’s a part of this journey people don’t talk about enough: how much foster parents rely on each other. At one point, I had to travel out of town and needed a respite provider myself. That experience reinforced something I now tell everyone, get licensed for respite care. It matters more than you think. It’s the backbone of sustainability in foster care.

Six months after she came into my home, I was asked if I would consider adopting her. There wasn’t a long pause. There wasn’t a pro/con list. It was an immediate, full-body yes.

Yes, yes, yes.

What began as “helping out on weekends” became building a family. And that’s the thing about this journey, it doesn’t always start with a calling. Sometimes it starts with simply showing up. And then showing up again.