Just As Special

Decolonize Everything invited us to talk about decolonizing family — especially as it relates to foster care.

In this episode, we push the boundaries of family; reframe foster care; and confront the power dynamics and savior complex in foster families.

Learn more at www.JustAsSpecial.com.

We talk foster care parenting and volunteering, radical honesty and transparency, pets we’ve had to return, mind reading, and tons more with the Discussion Combustion podcast.

Big thanks to Kevin and Arthur for inviting us on their podcast to help spread foster care awareness and to let our listeners get the chance to know a different side of Just As Special podcast hosts, Natasha and Rachel.

View the video version of this podcast at https://www.justasspecial.com/discussion-combustion. 

Kenisha E. Anthony kept falling through the cracks of the foster care system to the point that she felt like a burden to everyone and wanted to die.

She later returned as a caseworker to the same system that failed her, which opened her eyes up even more to all that needs to change.

Learn more at JustAsSpecial.com.

This episode is brought to you by Fabulous Homes Colorado.

Natasha went from having no kids to being a foster mom of a teenage girl in 2020.

Natasha talks with her sister and foster care volunteer, Rachel, about what she wish she knew before becoming a foster parent and what she has learned along the way. 

Natasha and Rachel also talk about what's to come for the Just As Special podcast in 2021.

Learn more at JustAsSpecial.com.

Ali and Brittany are a multi-racial Muslim couple raising three foster kids.

They've faced many challenges when it comes to foster care including culture clashes; parenting a drug-addicted newborn; and getting their families to accept their foster kids.

Bonus: Aubree and her wife Laura are white women raising black foster kids in the New York City area. Aubree shares really poetically about what that's like.

See photos and more at JustAsSpecial.com.

Former foster kid and current social worker, Mattie Baker, gets raw with us about her time growing up in the system. 

We learn how to truly welcome a foster kid into our lives by hearing from Mattie's story of what went wrong and what went right — coupled with her professional experience in mental health work and counseling. 

Bonus: Former foster kid turned adoptive and foster mom, Brittaney Kate, tells her story about finding family.

See more at JustAsSpecial.com.

Correction: Mattie Baker spent time in 16-28 foster and group homes as she was growing up.

There are so many stories around foster care that are begging to be told.

Join Natasha (a foster mom) and Rachel (a foster care and women's prison volunteer) as they talk with foster youth; former foster kids; non-traditional foster families; youth psychologists; and much more.

Foster care is a journey and Just As Special is here to help you find your way. Join us to learn how we can all play a role (large or small!) in giving foster kids a better tomorrow.

Learn more at JustAsSpecial.com.

Correction: Mattie Baker spent time in 16-28 foster and group homes as she was growing up.