November is Adoption Awareness Month! This is huge for us and we want to make sure we celebrate how awesome adoption is, while also acknowledging the inevitable hardships of adoption. There is loss involved even if we know this is exactly what needs to happen.

We have Shonda back to talk all things CHRISTMAS!!! Christmas needs have been great each year, and with our wonderful sponsors, volunteers, and families it has always been a success. Shonda loves 12 Hours of Christmas so much, she is now working to make Christmas calls to other foster parents.

Sponsor a child's Christmas list here: https://lotcarolinas.com/programs-services/12-hours-of-christmas/

Make sure you are following along with us on social media for ways to get involved:

Facebook: Least of These Carolinas

Instagram: @lotcarolinas

AND visit our website at:

www.lotcarolinas.com

November is Adoption Awareness Month! This is huge for us and we want to make sure we celebrate how awesome adoption is, while also acknowledging the inevitable hardships of adoption. There is loss involved even if we know this exactly what needs to happen.

Listen in today to one of our very favorite foster/adoptive mamas, Ms. Shonda! Shonda is a rockstar and talks about shared parenting and she gives us such practical advice. Learn from her experience and wisdom on the subject. She is real in this conversation with our host, Susanna, and tells her ways she has had to become flexible in her approach to some parenting things. She wants current and potential foster parents to be set up for success, and there have to be some things that you loosen a grip on when endurance is the goal.

These two ladies are doing so much to serve families who are welcoming children into their home, and they have so much insight to share.

Make sure you are following along with us on social media for ways to get involved:

Facebook: Least of These Carolinas

Instagram: @lotcarolinas

AND visit our website at:

www.lotcarolinas.com 

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

We wrap up our time with Kristen this week. Hasn't she been a PLEASURE to hear from? We love learning from Kristen's wise, kind, and insightful words. Her heart for the Lord is evident and flows out to others and is SO encouraging.

In today's episode, see where Kristen is and what she is doing. This story might be one with some heartbreak and setbacks, but Kristen is showing up and saying "yes" to God and we believe He is leading her to big things while she loves well. It is an honor to host this precious friend on the podcast and we look forward to the next time we can hear from her.

If you would like to follow along with Kristen as she treks through life and network with her, please follow her on social media:

Instagram: @kbuergey

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KristenBuergey

Make sure you are following us on social media for ways to get involved:

Facebook: Least of These Carolinas

Instagram: @lotcarolinas

AND visit our website at:

www.lotcarolinas.com

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

Tune back in to hear Kristen speak more wisdom, encouragement, and insight to the foster care world we are in today. The words she has to say are a MUST HEAR! We are getting a lot of things wrong in the system of foster care, but there is hope and there is encouragement. 

Through Kristen's story, we see that a huge desire of the kids we serve in care's heart is to be "normal." They long to have normal experiences and feel as if they are MORE than their circumstances because they most certainly are. At the very end, I love what Kristen has to say to those who may be on the fence about becoming foster parents, and I think you will too.

Make sure you are following us on social media for ways to get involved:

Facebook: Least of These Carolinas

Instagram: @lotcarolinas

AND visit our website at:

www.lotcarolinas.com

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

Meet Kristen, an acquaintance who quickly turned to a friend here at LOTC! Kristen is a fierce foster care advocate, fun foster mom, and free spirit. We absolutely adore her! 

Listen in to the first installment of her series on the podcast. On today's episode, Kristen shares the beginning of her story in foster care. She sheds SO much light on trauma, how trauma plays out in behaviors for certain individuals, and how others on the outside can make a difference by being a consistent companion.

When stories are shared, healing happens and people see that they are not alone in their struggles. We are so grateful that Kristen is here and willing to tell her story. 

Make sure you are following us on social media for ways to get involved:

Facebook: Least of These Carolinas

Instagram: @lotcarolinas

AND visit our website at:

www.lotcarolinas.com

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

Here is the second installment of Gaile's conversation with Susanna. They talk about becoming a foster parent and how they step in to support new foster parents. It is not for the faint of heart, but there is support out there and that is what these two have dedicated their lives to. Visit Gaile's nonprofit's site at www.ffa-nc.org OR visit their Facebook page: Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina.

In this episode you will find a HUGE announcement that has Gaile giddy! Listening to conversations like this will leave you inspired and encouraged that there are people out there dedicated to doing good to others.

Follow us on social media:

Facebook: Least of These Carolinas

Instagram: @lotcarolinas

AND visit our website at:

www.lotcarolinas.com

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

While recording, I thought the recording studio might implode because two POWERHOUSES in the foster care nonprofit world were talking real world issues that they have personally walked through. They are making a difference in this world by not taking no for an answer and showing up each day to make the world of foster care better. Join Executive Director of Least of These Carolinas, Inc., Susanna Kavanaugh, as she lays it all out there with Executive Director of Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina, Gaile Osborne. 

Advocacy is the heartbeat behind their conversation, and they tackle hard topics with so much grace, love, and grit. These two have to be cut from the same cloth and you will learn SO much about medically fragile children and how they are best cared for as well as what kind of support is out there for foster parents during this conversation.

Follow us on social media:

Facebook: Least of These Carolinas

Instagram: @lotcarolinas

AND visit our website at:

www.lotcarolinas.com

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

You are in for a TREAT today! BRANDON HEATH is on the podcast with, Executive Director, Susanna Kavanaugh! They talk about a variety of things all the way from Brandon meeting Bono to the best places for coffee in and around Nashville. It is such a fun episode.

Brandon is such a genuine guy and we were grateful he chose to be on the podcast today and is going to be a singer at BE THE DIFFERENCE at POPS in Forest City, NC on October, 8! He is stoked to share the stage with his "big brother," Mac Powell. Two powerhouses in Christian music are in this fight with us to raise awareness for the INCREDIBLE kiddos in foster care!

Thank you, Brandon and Mac! See you both in October!

You can snag your ticket to be there too... there is even a code to get a discount by listening to this episode. Keep your ears peeled for the promo code. Tickets for Be the Difference can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/be-the-difference-forest-city-tickets-315425063857

Follow us on social media:

Facebook: Least of These Carolinas

Instagram: @lotcarolinas

AND visit our website at:

www.lotcarolinas.com

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

Thank you for tuning in again to hear Davon finish out his story. Hear how he has found a family who he is close with and how they met. Before he got to them, his life, as he puts it, "was like a movie." There is more behind the scenes talk of him and his twin brother Tavon walking each state's capital. They will make history upon the completion of that, and the heart behind it is to RAISE AWARENESS FOR CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE!!!

They have a clothing line that you can go support: https://www.fosterkidsmatter.life/landing-page1655861395038

I love what he said about we need to be wearing clothes that bring awareness, putting stickers on our cars to raise awareness because we do believe that #fosterkidsmatter.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

Follow us on social media:

Facebook: Least of These Carolinas

Instagram: @lotcarolinas

AND 

Visit our website: www.lotcarolinas.com

This week, Susanna sits down with Davon Woods. Davon and his twin brother Tavon have been walking around America to raise awareness for children in foster care using the hashtag #fosterkidsmatter. This week he will tell you where they started and the journey they have been on to get them to where they are now.

They had their conversation in a makeshift studio at Bridge Camp because Davon came and spoke to our campers and interacted with them. He was a huge hit and has immediate credibility with the kids and they can all talk from a basis of understanding. Being understood is huge any time, and this was no exception.

You can follow along on the twins journey by following them on Facebook at Davon Woods and Tavon Woods (their individual accounts) and on Instagram at @davonwoodsfc

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

Follow us on social media:

Facebook: Least of These Carolinas

Instagram: @lotcarolinas

AND 

visit our website www.lotcarolinas.com