Open Homes Initiative Podcast

Justin and Chelsea Smith have opened their home to 16 foster children over eight years in San Angelo, Texas, and 94% of those kids have gone back to their biological families. That number runs nearly double the national average, and it reflects something very deliberate about how they approach the work. In this episode, they share the stories behind that statistic, including a two-year-old who arr...

Foster care isn’t an abstract idea for Jaime and Rebekah. It’s lived experience, hard decisions, kids leaving and coming back, gaps in the system, and people who chose to show up anyway. In this episode, they walk through what it’s actually like to grow up in foster care, become foster/adoptive parents, and keep saying “yes” to kids who aren’t “yours” by blood but are yours in every way that matte...

We’ve had 20 foster kids and we haven’t regretted a single one. Not even the 18‑month‑old who showed up two weeks before our newborn. It’s been the hardest thing we’ve ever done, and we’re still choosing to break our hearts on purpose over and over again for the sake of the gospel. In this episode, Logan and JC share what that’s actually looked like in real life: six kids in the house, constant go...

Shannon lost her husband and took in a nonverbal autistic relative within a month. No training, no long runway, just a phone call, a lot of prayer, and a simple conviction: “I could not let him go into foster care. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”In this conversation, we walk through what kinship care actually is, how it’s different from “traditional” foster care, and what it looks like to...

Most people talk about foster care in theory. Tim and Esther have lived it for over a decade: teens, newborns, reunifications, adoptions, heartbreak, and now tiny homes for kids aging out of the system. This conversation is raw, specific, and very real about what it actually costs and why they still say it’s worth it. We walk through their first placements, the shock of how deep the need really is...

What happens when you say yes “just to foster” and God quietly has something much bigger in mind? In this episode, Fred and Kim share how two little girls showed up for an “emergency placement” and ended up changing their family, their faith, and even Fred’s entire career. They talk through the long road from first conviction in a tiny Atlanta church, to years of praying and waiting, to finally op...

In this episode of the Open Homes Initiative podcast, hosts Justin and Chelsea sit down with their teenage daughter, Jolly, for an honest conversation about the realities of foster care from a family’s perspective. Together, they explore what it means to open your home—and your heart—to children in need, sharing both the joys and the challenges that come with fostering. Key highlights from this ep...

When Sunny was just three days old, she was placed with Landon and Sarah, a foster family with open hearts and a deep sense of calling. Despite already having four biological children, they welcomed Sunny as their own, instantly feeling a profound connection and love. As the months passed, the family navigated the emotional highs and lows of foster care, including the uncertainty of reunification...

Welcome to the Open Homes Initiative Podcast, Episode 0! In this episode, we share our journey as foster parents, the mission behind Open Homes Initiative, and how you can get involved in supporting foster, kinship, and adoptive families. What You’ll Learn:The heart and mission of the Open Homes InitiativeReal stories and experiences from foster and adoptive familiesThe challenges and rewards of f...