Fostering Change

To wrap up National Adoption Awareness Month, Rob and Dana talk to Amaya and Makai Scheer about their family and what it's like to be adopted. Listen as Amaya shares some of her earliest memories of being with Rob and Reece and Makai talks about how it feels to be part of a big family. 🎥  Watch the full video episodes on YouTube! Head over to  Comfort Cases on YouTube  to catch eve...

As part of our National Adoption Awareness Month series, this week’s podcast features author and foster care adoption advocate Marcy Bursac. Marcy adopted her two children from foster care and just released a book, The Forgotten Adoption Option , which serves as a guide to adopting from foster care. Marcy talks about why she decided to adopt from foster care, how she met her children, and how they...

This week we welcome Alexis and Justin Black back to the Fostering Change podcast. Alexis and Justin are newlyweds who both grew up in foster care. In their first novel, Redefining Normal: How Two Foster Kids Beat the Odds and Discovered Healing, Happiness, and Love , Alexis and Justin reveal how they overcame traumatic childhoods and developed a healthy relationship. Listen as they share some det...

November is National Adoption Awareness Month and we are looking forward to featuring guests with various adoption experiences. Today Rob and Dana welcome April Dinwoodie, a writer, coach, consultant, and host of the Born In June, Raised In April podcast . As a woman of color who was adopted into a white family, April offers her insight into the complexities of transracial adoption. Learn more abo...

This week Rob and Dana talk to foster care advocate and former pro-football player Gaelin Elmore. First removed from his parents’ home at 10 months old, Gaelin spent several years in and out of foster care. When he was 16, his high school football coach became his legal guardian. He earned a scholarship to play football in college and in 2017 he signed a contract with the Cincinnati Bengals. After...

On this week’s Fostering Change podcast, Rob and Dana talk to author and foster care survivor Sasha Martin. Sasha spent the first ten years of her life going back and forth between living with her mom and living in various foster homes. When she was 10 years old, she went to live with a family friend who became her permanent guardian. A few years later, they moved to Paris and then Luxemburg. Year...

On this week’s Fostering Change podcast, Rob and Dana talk to Foster Care Institute founder John DeGarmo. As a foster and adoptive father, author, and industry consultant, John offers his insight on a number of child welfare issues. He created the Foster Care Institute after experiencing frustration with the system and lack of support as a foster parent. His training programs are used by child wel...

This week Rob and Dana talk to foster care survivor, writer, and advocate Quay Bowen. Quay is sharing her story on her website in the hopes of writing a book. She talks about her life growing up, her relationship with her birth family, and how poorly she was treated by the Atlanta foster care system. 🎥  Watch the full video episodes on YouTube! Head over to  Comfort Cases on YouTube &nb...

On this episode of Fostering Change, Rob and Dana talk to Foster Boy creator and attorney Jay Paul Deratany. Set to be released this weekend, Foster Boy tells the story of a teenage boy who was failed by the foster care system. Combining his passion for acting, writing, and advocating for children in foster care, Jay Paul wrote this film in the hopes of inspiring people to take action to change th...

On this week's Fostering Change podcast, Rob and Dana talk to Connect Our Kids founders Jennifer Jacobs and Jessica Stern. Connect Our Kids is a website that helps child welfare agencies find and track family connection and data for children in the foster care system. Jennifer and Jessica have used their backgrounds in government, homeland security, and communications to create a unique program th...

In this episode, Rob and Dana talk to high school student Joe Davis about why he chose Comfort Cases for his Eagle Scout project. We are inspired every day by the number of kids of all ages who are doing big things to support our mission to help other children. Joe is not only passionate about collecting donations for Comfort Cases as part of his project, but he is also focused on the importance o...

In this episode, Rob and Dana talk to married couple Alexis Lenderman-Black and Justin Black. Both Alexis and Justin spent time in foster care and are now advocates for children in the system. They are getting ready to release their first book, Redefining Normal , in November. The book is about how they overcame difficult childhoods and learned how to have a healthy relationship with each other. L...

On this week’s episode of Fostering Change, Rob and Dana welcome Keri Richmond, the founder of Foster Strong. Keri previously told her story on Episode 40 of the podcast , and now she is sharing information about the organization she is building with other former foster youth. Foster Strong is about embracing the resilience of men and women who grew up in foster care and ending the stigma about ch...

In this week's episode, Rob and Dana welcome the newest member of the Scheer family, 19-year-old Alex. Rob and Alex share the story of how they met and what life is like as a family of 7. Alex also talks about his struggles in foster care and what got him through the most difficult times in his life. 🎥  Watch the full video episodes on YouTube! Head over to  Comfort Cases on YouTube &nb...

On this episode, Rob and Dana talk to Ivymarie Washington about her journey in foster care and how she became a part of the Foster Strong organization. Ivy and her older brother were removed from their parents’ home when she was 6 years old. They were placed in a children’s home for the maximum 180 days and were then placed in a foster home when she was 7. She remained in that foster home until sh...

In this week’s episode, Rob and Dana talk to Comfort Cases Ambassador Bryanna Williams. Bryanna talks about her role as a Comfort Cases Ambassador and why she has such a passion for children in foster care. She is the reigning Mrs. Tri-State All-Star United States and promotes both Comfort Cases and Ronald McDonald House as part of her pageant platform. Bryanna is a special education teacher at a...

In this episode, Rob and Dana talk to Smirna Savino. Smirna told some of her story at our Comfort Cases Gala in 2018 and shares more with us on this podcast. She is one of 14 children, all of whom were removed from their mother and separated. Smirna was the only one to live with family for a few years, she was sent to live with her aunt and uncle. At the age of 5, she went into foster care. She re...

In this episode, Rob and Dana talk to social worker and Foster Strong digital manager Lino Martinez. Lino talks about his experience in foster care and reflects on how he persevered through the many challenges that faced him early in his life. Lino is also part of Foster Strong, an organization with a mission to end the stigma about youth in foster care and to show them that a successful future is...

In this episode, we shift focus from foster care to fatherhood and welcome Robert Selby, one of the dads featured in the DADS documentary on Apple TV. Through their participation in the film, Rob Scheer and Robert have become friends. We wanted to hear more about Robert’s story, his relationship with his son and his son’s mother, and what’s next for him and his amazing family. 🎥  Watch the f...

In this episode, Rob and Dana talk to Matt Anderson, the VP of Programs and Business Development for the Children's Home Society of North Carolina. Matt talks about his role at The Children's Home Society and how the organization has evolved since it's inception 120 years ago. Matt is also the producer of the documentary "From Place to Place" which follows 3 young adults who aged out of foster car...

In this episode, Rob and Dana talk to Dan Shufelt, CEO of Arizona Helping Hands. Arizona Helping Hands supports thousands of foster families throughout the state of Arizona. They provide everything from cribs and diapers to birthday gifts and bicycles. So far in 2020, they have distributed over 1,100 beds to foster parents. They also supply potential foster parents with items they need to pass the...

In this episode, Rob and Dana talk to mom and author Keri Vellis. Keri’s incredible story was recently featured in People Magazine . When she became a foster mom, Keri tried to find children’s books about being in foster care and she realized there wasn’t much out there. She decided to write a book herself… and a few years later she wrote another one. Keri talks about what inspired her to be a fos...

In this episode, Rob and Dana welcome LaTasha Watts, founder of The Purple Project, back to the podcast. LaTasha grew up in foster care and now hosts an annual conference for former youth in foster care. She is also and advocate for children in foster care. This week we wanted to shift focus to the larger issue facing our country right now - systemic racism and injustice. LaTasha talks about how s...

In this episode, Rob and Dana talk to Jamerika Haynes about her experience in foster care and how it shaped her into becoming an advocate for children in the system. She is a journalist and the reigning Ms. Evergreen State 2020, and she uses her platforms to educate others about the challenges facing children in foster care. Listen as they discuss poverty and racial bias in the child welfare syste...

In this episode, Rob and Dana talk to It’s a 10 Haircare founder and CEO Carolyn Aronson. When she was an infant, Carolyn and her 11 siblings were removed from their mother’s home and placed in foster care. At the age of 2, she and one of her biological brothers were adopted into a loving family. At 26, she set out on a mission to find her biological family and 9 months later they met. Caroyln has...