Alaina Abbott is a graduating senior at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. Alaina is an Interior Architecture Design major with a part-time job in Harding’s media center while she finishes her degree. Alaina’s family started fostering in 2020 during the pandemic. She talks of her experience as a biological daughter in a fostering family and shares what it’s been like gaining a sibling while she’s been away at college. 

Alaina's Socials:

Instagram - @alaina_abbott

My Socials:

Instagram & Twitter - @jordaanhuffman

Annmarie Jordan is a stay-at-home mother to three with experience on both sides of the foster care system. Annmarie worked for Child Protective Services for several years and has since become a foster parent and has adopted two children of her own. Over the course of this episode, Annmarie tells us all about her time working with CPS and her experience as a foster parent during the pandemic and now adopted mother, adding two little ones to her home. 

Resources:

Michigan's Adoption Resource Exchange - https://www.mare.org/

DIRECTORY OF RECOMMENDED ADOPTION AGENCIES - https://www.bravelove.org/adoption_agencies?gclid=Cj0KCQiA7bucBhCeARIsAIOwr-_TqktV6laBxi7CLAMM7CjBPr4s8g46A5gK6KBbEABnItTFs5xkbrYaAh0JEALw_wcB

Kim Conrad is a social worker for the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia. I met Kim through a friend, Ryan Henry, who recently adopted children and worked directly with Mrs. Conrad. Kim works with numerous children’s cases in West Virginia daily. She oversees their foster home placements, legalities, court dates, visitation, reunification, and adoption. In this episode, Kim breaks down the difficulties and blessings of her job to give us a deeper understanding of foster care from a social worker's perspective.

Kim Conrad's Contacts:

Children's Home Association of West Virginia - 304-346-0795

[email protected]

https://www.childhswv.org/contact/

Ryan Henry is a jack of all trades in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Ryan works for the Department of Treasury, is a licensed real estate agent, and is sworn into the National Guard. I met Ryan years ago when my mother started working with him at the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. They quickly became friends, and ever since, he has been in our lives. 

Ryan and his partner Jessie decided to start fostering in 2020. Ryan always knew foster care was something he wanted to do. With his busy life, jumping into being a foster parent was no easy task, but Ryan handled it with grace and determination. On July 11, 2022, Ryan Henry became the legal guardian of four sweet little boys. In this episode, we talk about his journey over the past couple of years. 

Kristin Vigneron is a twenty-one-year-old from Boaz, West Virginia, who works at a Vet Clinic in Belpre, Ohio. Kristin and her younger sister Katie were placed into foster care at a young age and have since been adopted by a family they love. Kristin graciously shares her story with Fostered Hope and gives us an all-inclusive look into what foster children go through. From her placement to living in different homes to being adopted, Kristin exemplifies just how important it is that foster families exist.

Gina Huffman is the Assistant Chief Information Officer at the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. She has one biological daughter and two adopted children. Jordan Huffman is that daughter. Our family started fostering in 2012 and three and a half years later adopted two children, Kimberly and Nathan Huffman.

It’s been a wild ride that started over ten years ago, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. In this episode, we talk about our family’s journey navigating foster care and the joys and challenges that come with it, how we started thinking about the option of foster care, how my siblings came into our lives, and where we’re at now.