The Anna Jinja Show

Send us Fan Mail The Anna Jinja Show brings together adoptees across generations for a powerful discussion on surviving—and thriving through—life's most difficult transitions There's a moment in every young person's life when the world feels like it's consuming them whole. The pressure to fit in. The confusion about who you are. The rage at being different. For adoptees, these...

Send us Fan Mail When an 11-Year-Old's Courage Inspires a Country Song   This episode will restore your faith in the next generation!  Her story begins with heartbreak. When Saily was just 11, she experienced two consecutive days of racist bullying at her Des Moines school. A group of boys said things so hurtful that she broke down. Her mother, Rohey, received a call from the principal. Both...

Send us Fan Mail You know those conversations that start in one place and end up somewhere completely unexpected—somewhere even more profound than you imagined? That's exactly what happened when the host, Anna Jinja, brought together Dan Smith (Cleveland Adoption Network's 2019 Volunteer of the Year) and Nashville singer-songwriter Milly Raccoon.   Here's what you need to know: This...

Send us Fan Mail Picture this : You're driving to Cleveland to meet your girlfriend's new foster baby. You walk up the stairs, knock on the door, and when it opens, the two-month-old LEAPS from her arms into yours.  That's exactly what happened to Yvan Demosthenes 25 years ago. And it changed everything.   This episode is special for three reasons:   1. It shows how connections happ...

Send us Fan Mail What does Wi-Fi have to do with hope?  Everything, as it turns out.  Host Anna Jinja sits down with three incredible changemakers who are quite literally connecting foster youth to their futures. Laurie McKnight, Jeremy Jenkins, and Tim Henderson are bridging the gap between young people aging out of the foster system and life-changing careers in the broadband industry.  Here&apos...

Send us Fan Mail Sometimes the most powerful episodes come from the most unexpected sources.  This week, we're thrilled to share a special episode guest-curated by 11-year-old musician Jack Healey. After his mother, Tara Huffman (Executive Director of Athens County CASA/GAL), appeared on our show, Jack volunteered to write a song and select guests for his own episode.   Meet Jack's Guest...

Send us Fan Mail Rebecca Del Pozo's Journey from Adopted Child to Millionaire Real Estate Mom Sometimes the most beautiful stories begin with what looks like an accident. At 18, Rebecca Del Pozo applied for non-identifying information about her biological family - standard procedure for adoptees in Canada. What came back was supposed to be scrubbed of any identifying details. But someone forg...

Send us Fan Mail From Foster Care to Father of 10 Some songs are written to be heard. Others are written hoping they'll somehow travel through the airwaves to reach someone who may never know they exist. Joe Toles wrote "Dreamin'" as the second kind - a lullaby from a boy in foster care to a mother he'd never met, hoping his voice might somehow find her across the distance...

Send us Fan Mail When Stories Become Data: How Two Researchers Are Uncovering the Transformative Power of Adoption Narratives That's exactly what Dr. Melissa Rizzo and Dr. Joe Bianco are exploring in their new research project—a qualitative analysis of The Anna Jinja Show’s episodes focusing on adoption and foster care experiences. In this episode, they discuss: How they're analyzing gue...

Send us Fan Mail "Light and Shadow: Cooking Up Bright Futures for Foster Youth" It started with a simple question Tom Stevenson asked the host: "Do you remember a time when you made a dish for somebody, something really special that you were connected to? And then you shared that with someone else?" Anna Jinja told him about her love for baking: she brings chocolate chip cookie...

Send us Fan Mail Sometimes the most profound stories are told in the simplest words. In this episode, Dr. Sharon Boyle shares not just her adoption journey, but the raw, beautiful poem she wrote one week after meeting her birth mother for the first time.  "Reunion Day" begins: "I watched her like a silent movie and picture photograph, trying to memorize the way she spoke and the thr...

Send us Fan Mail From Sleepless Nights to Healing: When Adoption Parenting Feels Impossible   "It's a very isolating life. You almost feel like you're not worthy, that you're the one doing everything wrong." - Liz Garcia   If you've ever found yourself lying awake at 3 AM wondering if you're failing as an adoptive parent, you're not alone. In our latest epis...

Send us Fan Mail Full Circle, Full Moon: An Adoption Story   How three remarkable women turned a foster-to-adopt journey into a song that celebrates the unexpected beauty of non-linear love   In a world that often expects stories to follow straight lines, the latest episode of The Anna Jinja Show reminds us that the most beautiful narratives often move in circles – complete, perfect, and exactly a...

Send us Fan Mail We are bouncing with excitement to share our latest episode featuring Lou Mei Gutsch - a master's student whose story is so uplifting, it should come with a happiness warning label!  Why This Episode Will Make Your Week:   🥀 The "Winter Rose" Origin Story : Adopted from China as "Mei Fan" (beautiful winter-blooming rose), Lou Mei's name perfectly cap...

Send us Fan Mail In this deeply moving episode, host Anna Jinja sits down with Anna Sheffield , a young adoptee from Iowa City, and her mother, Kristin Cotterell Sheffield , to explore the layers of identity, belonging, and love that define adoption.   The conversation flows between mother and daughter perspectives—offering both honesty and tenderness—as they recount their family’s adoption journe...

Send us Fan Mail Finding Home in Two Worlds: Max's Journey from China to Minneapolis and Beyond:  A Story of Courage, Identity, and Belonging   What does it mean to belong when you're caught between two worlds? In this deeply moving episode of The Anna Jinja Show, host Anna Jinja sits down with Max, a Chinese-American adoptee whose story challenges everything we think we know about famil...

Send us Fan Mail From Heartache to Hope In our latest episode of The Anna Jinja Show, host Anna Jinja brings together three extraordinary voices for a conversation that will change how you think about adoption, family, and resilience. Meet Lane Igoudin , the author whose memoir "A Family Maybe" chronicles his and partner Jonathan's journey through the Los Angeles County foster care...

Send us Fan Mail Simon Benn's Vision: How Your 250 Words Can Transform Adoptee Lives |  The moment that changes everything often looks ordinary. For Simon Benn, it was learning at age 40 that his childhood teddy bear came from his birth mother. "A volcano of anger erupted," he shared on The Anna Jinja Show. That moment launched him into a journey that would eventually help thousands...

Send us Fan Mail Step by Step, Bit by Bit: How Two Women Created a Community of Love for 30+ Children What started as children visiting friends turned into something extraordinary. Linda Sistrunk and Lish Greiner never intended to become unofficial foster parents. But when children in their community needed safety, love, and stability, their home became a haven. Over the years, more than 30 childr...

Send us Fan Mail An Adoptee’s Story of Courage, Connection, and Coming Full Circle   Kristina's journey isn't just about going back to Kazakhstan – it's about the universal human need to understand where we come from and how that shapes who we become.  Her story begins in a baby house in Taldikorgan, moves through multiple placements, and eventually lands in Ohio, where she was adop...

Send us Fan Mail Like Dandelions: How Two Women Redefine Belonging and Family The Anna Jinja Show welcomes Meredith Jensen and Sydney Roberts for a conversation that blooms with unexpected wisdom There's something magical about discovering that your family story isn't what you expected—it's better. In our latest episode of The Anna Jinja Show, we sit down with communication professi...

Send us Fan Mail Finding Home in the Journey: When Life Takes Unexpected Turns   The latest episode of The Anna Jinja Show proves that some of the most profound conversations happen when strangers discover their stories are beautifully intertwined.   An Unlikely Connection   Host Anna Jinja brought together two guests who had never met but shared remarkably similar experiences of early family disr...

Send us Fan Mail The Five-Minute Bond: Part 2 – Unraveling the Threads of Fate   The story of Shannon and Jan captivated listeners in Part 1, leaving us with the warmth of a bond formed in just five powerful minutes. But what happens when the hidden threads of fate begin to unravel, revealing even deeper connections?   In Part 2 of "The Five-Minute Bond," we delve further into the incred...

Send us Fan Mail The Five-Minute Bond: A Story of Serendipity and Family   What would you do with five minutes that could define a lifetime?   In our latest episode, we share the remarkable story of Shannon, who discovered that her 16-year-old birth mother made one powerful demand before signing adoption papers: five minutes alone with her newborn daughter. Just five minutes - but in those moments...

Send us Fan Mail Crown Up: A Journey of Self-Love and Identity with Levia Hartman   Join host Anna Jinja for an inspiring conversation with motivational author and poet Levia Hartman, whose extraordinary journey from foster care survivor to published author embodies the true meaning of resilience and self-acceptance. After moving through five different foster homes from age 11 to 18, facing reject...