Fostering Change

Today is International FASD Awareness Day, a day that deserves our full attention. On this powerful episode of Fostering Change, host Rob Scheer is joined by Patricia (Patti) Kasper, a Neurobehavioral Coach and Trainer who discovered she had FASD as an adult. Patti’s story is one of resilience and advocacy. After learning about her diagnosis, she shifted her work to focus on the 15 million U.S. ad...

Welcome to Season 7 of Fostering Change! Believe it or not, this is our 243rd episode — and it’s all thanks to YOU and your support. Starting this season, new episodes will drop every Tuesday, just like you requested! 👉 We’d love your help: after watching/listening, please leave a review. It takes just a minute and makes a huge difference with the “mysterious algorithm,” helping us share our incr...

Welcome to our final Best of Summer episode of Fostering Change! 🌟 Next week kicks off Season 7 (premiering Tuesday, September 2) and—by popular demand—we’re back to WEEKLY episodes. This week, Rob Scheer is joined by: 👩‍💼 Jennifer Perry – Co-Founder of FosterMore & Executive Director of Children’s Action Network 📚 Lara Love Hardin – FosterMorey Award Winner & New York Times bestsellin...

"When good people get together, great things happen." – Jamie Truman In this Best of Fostering Change episode, Rob Scheer sits down with Jamie Truman of Truman Charities, an organization dedicated to helping both local and national charities — including Comfort Cases — by hosting multiple fundraising events each year. The best part? 100% of the funds raised go directly to the charities they suppor...

Welcome back to a special Best of Fostering Change episode! This week, we revisit a powerful conversation originally aired in March, featuring two changemakers in the world of child welfare and LGBTQ+ advocacy: Kate Trambitskaya, CEO of Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children, and Brian Rosenberg, founder of GWK Academy Family Building. Join host Rob Scheer for an honest and urgent discuss...

Happy July and welcome back to a Best Of episode of Fostering Change! In this lively and heartwarming conversation, host Rob Scheer reconnects with fan-favorite Doogie Sandtiger, also known as The Croc King — a man with a passion for comfort and color who has collected over 3,000 pairs of Crocs. You may have seen Doogie on The Today Show or follow him on social media. But beyond the viral Croc fam...

BEST OF SEASON 6 — As we close out Season 6 and gear up for Season 7 of Fostering Change, we’re highlighting some of our most powerful conversations from the past year. With over 220 episodes behind us, we’re grateful to every guest and listener who has helped us grow this platform into what it is today. In this featured episode, Rob Scheer is joined by guest co-host Rita Soronen, CEO of the Dave...

Welcome to the Season 6 FINALE of Fostering Change! 🎉 What an incredible season it's been — filled with inspiring, motivating, and heartfelt stories. THANK YOU for being part of our journey, for tuning in each week, and for all your comments and reviews. We do this for YOU. 💙 📅 Coming Soon: Starting June 17, join us for our "Best of" Summer Series — a special collection of our favorite episodes...

Welcome to Fostering Change! Today marks the final installment of our special episodes for National Foster Care Awareness Month. We hope you've enjoyed the series—and, more importantly, learned something meaningful from each conversation. As always, we encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments and pass these episodes along to others. In today’s episode, we welcome back one of Rob’s favo...

On today’s episode of Fostering Change, we continue our special acknowledgment that May is National Foster Care Awareness Month. We hope you have taken some moments to reflect on what you can do to support those in the foster care system: donate, volunteer your time, mentor, or even consider taking steps to be a CASA or foster parent. Thank you for all you do! If you’d like a simple way to support...

In this week’s episode of the Comfort Cases Podcast, Rob Scheer sits down with Amy Vale, foster parent and founder of For the Cubs, a purpose-driven brand creating sensory tools to support emotional regulation in children and adults alike. Amy shares how her own foster care journey inspired a mission: to design products that provide real comfort, like Percy, a weighted plush bear that mimics the f...

May is National Foster Care Awareness Month, and we’re kicking it off with one of our most powerful episodes yet. This week on Fostering Change, host Rob Scheer is joined by special guest co-host Jennifer Perry, Executive Director of the Children’s Action Network and Co-Founder of FosterMore. Jennifer’s tireless advocacy has brought national attention to the urgent needs of the 108,000+ children i...

When people think of fostering or adopting, the image that often comes to mind is a cute little baby. But what’s often forgotten are the older children—pre-teens and teens—who are just as in need of love, support, and a forever family. On this episode of Fostering Change, Rob Scheer welcomes Randi Thompson, co-founder of Kidsave—a remarkable nonprofit helping youth ages 9–17 in foster care and orp...

On today’s episode of Fostering Change, Rob Scheer sits down with another incredible “Good Human” — Tristian Smith. After losing his mother at the age of seven, Tristian entered the foster care system, where he experienced over 25 placements and attended 13 different schools. Despite these hardships, he never let his circumstances define him. Tristian shares the powerful story behind his memoir, A...

Don’t you just love a really good person? On today’s episode of Fostering Change you’re about to meet one. Shawn Henss is truly the definition of what we call a “Good Human.” A nice guy, with a HUGE heart. Shawn is the founder of Giving Sole, a non-profit organization that gives new shoes to youth in foster care. Technically, Shawn’s son came up with the idea for Giving Sole at the age of 10! Sinc...

It’s always special when we can welcome both a returning guest and a first-time guest who are making a real difference. Join our host, Rob Scheer, as he sits down with Kate Trambitskaya and Brian Rosenberg for an urgent and eye-opening discussion about how federal cutbacks are impacting youth in foster care, LGBTQ+ youth, and other vulnerable communities. Why This Episode Matters: Kate, who last j...

How do you feel when you receive a hand-written note? Not an email, not a form letter. But an actual note that someone took the time to sit down and write out with a good old-fashioned pen or pencil? Pretty special right? On today’s episode of Fostering Change we welcome Jeremy Su, co-founder of “Cards for Cubs”, an organization that demonstrates how a simple handmade card can profoundly impact a...

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of difficult subject matter, including child abuse and the tragic death/murder of a young child. Listener discretion is strongly advised. If these topics may be triggering or upsetting, we encourage you to prioritize your well-being and consider this before listening to this episode. Welcome back for the second part of our special 2-episode series...

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of difficult subject matter, including child abuse and the tragic death/murder of a young child. Listener discretion is strongly advised. If these topics may be triggering or upsetting, we encourage you to prioritize your well-being and take this all into consideration prior to listening to this episode. On today’s special episode of Fostering Cha...

Happy New Year! On our first episode of the New Year, we are so happy to bring you an amazing human, Hunter Beaton. Hunter is the founder of Day1bags.org. Day1’s mission is right in line with Comfort Cases’ mission: to provide hope and dignity to youth in foster care by giving them new luggage or backpacks in place of the disgusting black trash bags that are still given out in so many states. Hunt...

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! This is our final episode of Fostering Change before we launch into 2025. And what a year it’s been. We’ve celebrated amazing guests on our show, learning so much about each other and our society. Thank you to all of you who have written in with comments and guests suggestions about what you’ve listened to this year. We truly appreciate YOU ALL! Our charity, Co...

Welcome back to another thought-provoking episode of Fostering Change. Today, we speak with Jason Green, a friend and amazing filmmaker. Jason’s documentary, Finding Fellowship, is a story of hope about the unlikely merger of three segregated churches in the 1960s. Jason and Rob belong to this same church, which is how they first met, and both have the same passion for community coming together. W...

A reminder that through the end of November  (National Adoption Awareness Month), when you visit www. BarelyCanadian.com our friend Kelly and her team will donate a Comfort XL Duffle bag for every one of their amazingly plush items purchased.  Today, we go back almost exactly 3 years to revisit a special episode about a remarkable woman, Pam Willis and family.  We know you’ll enjoy!...

It is National Adoption Awareness Month, and Comfort Cases is honoring the occasion with special promotions. Our “Coats for Comfort” Coat Drive, co-sponsored by CNN’s Laura Coates, is in full swing. There are donation boxes throughout the DC Metro area (including Maryland & Virginia), and for those of you outside the district, you can purchase coats and have them delivered directly to Comfort...

“When good people get together, great things happen.” - Jamie Truman On today’s episode of Fostering Change, we welcome our good friend Jamie Truman. She and her husband Jerry co-founded Truman Charities, an organization that truly exemplifies what our host, Rob Scheer, has expressed over the years: it focuses on helping other local and national charities, hosts events multiple times a year, and c...