“When it comes to kids and families in our community, we don’t have to settle for not enough.”

National estimates show that, in recent years, roughly 300,000–400,000 children have been involved in the child welfare system at any given time. Statistics like this, while helpful, can sometimes cause us to slip into a scarcity mentality. We may worry that we don’t have enough resources to address such a large need. Or, we might assume that if we’re not able to take up the role of a foster parent, we don’t have a meaningful role to play.

Our guest is on a mission to help us understand the truth: that there is more than enough support we can offer to children and families before, during, and after foster care.

Jason Weber serves as the national director of More Than Enough for CAFO. He is also a podcast host and author. Jason and his wife, Trisha, have been helping vulnerable families and children for over 29 years, with 10 years spent as foster parents.

In this episode, you’ll hear why it’s important to focus on the statistics in your own backyard, the importance of operating as the unified body of Christ to offer support from every angle, key elements for impactful collaboration, and much more.

Find the show notes and links to anything we discussed here: https://riversideproject.org/podcast/jason-weber-43

300,000. That is the estimated number of children in our city who sleep on the floor. That’s nearly 13% of Houston’s overall population.

Having a soft place to lay your head at night is something many of us take for granted. But for the vulnerable children and families in our city, the gift of a bed can mean so much—providing dignity, worth, and security. Our guest for this conversation is passionate about imparting this dignity to the children of Houston by providing mattresses and other furniture to families in need.

Oli Mohammad is the Executive Director and founding force behind the Houston Furniture Bank, a nonprofit working to ensure that no child sleeps on the floor in our city. Originally from Bangladesh, Oli moved to the USA in 1987. He is a passionate community builder with decades of leadership experience, a heart for service, and an enduring belief that dignity begins at home. 

The Houston Furniture Bank is a valuable partner of The Riverside Project through our Response Network. We’re proud and grateful to be one of the 92 organizations they are connected with throughout the Houston area.

In this episode, you’ll hear the innovation behind The Furniture Bank’s many initiatives, how poverty can go beyond material items, the power of treating our neighbors with dignity and respect, and much more.

Find the show notes and links to anything we discussed here: https://riversideproject.org/podcast/oli-mohammad-42

Neither foster care nor homelessness are isolated issues. They both intersect with numerous social issues—including each other.

For example, homelessness is a contributing factor to why many children end up in the child welfare system, and it’s also a risk factor that can impact youth who are already involved in or aging out of foster care.

Of the 173 youth and young adults currently on the Coalition for the Homeless’s list for Houston, approximately 25% of them have been involved in foster care in some capacity.

Today, we are grateful to have two guests joining us for a conversation on this crucial topic. We sat down for a discussion with Quana Smith, the Manager of Youth Programs at the Coalition for the Homeless (CFTH) in Houston and Harris County, and Danielle Stephen, a passionate young adult who is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of young people experiencing homelessness.

In this episode, you’ll hear some of the reasons why youth and young adults are facing homelessness, key ways to offer circumstance-changing support, the importance of a caring adult who will go the extra mile, and much more.

Find the show notes and links to anything we discussed here: https://riversideproject.org/podcast/smith-stephen-41/

It’s estimated that around 70% of all instances of kinship care are informal. This is significant because family members in these cases are caring for a child without official documentation. Caregivers providing informal kinship care do not receive assistance from the state, nor do they have official custody of the child. And in many cases, they cannot receive assistance from other organizations or local programs, as these resources often require official documentation of the placement.

This leaves many families uncertain of where to turn for help or how to access critical resources. Our guest for this conversation understands the importance of filling this critical gap in care.

Lisa Johnson is the Founder and Executive Director of Entrusted Houston, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families and children impacted by the child welfare system. She began her fostering journey in 2009 and is a proud mom to seven children, four adopted through foster care.

While Entrusted Houston initially set out to support foster families, today they stand in the gap for families, children, and individuals who could otherwise not access critical resources. Among the many they serve in Houston are caseworkers, biological families, families navigating kinship care, single-parent families, refugees, trafficking victims, and veterans. They are truly embodying what it means to entrust God with their resources and offer them to anyone who seeks help.

In this episode, you’ll hear how this ministry evolved to include more than just foster and kinship care families, why these resources are critical to prevent a potential removal and help children return home, how to stay grounded in your mission, and much more.

Find the show notes and links to anything we discussed here: riversideproject.org/lisa-johnson-40

“Their healing begins with your hope.”

Our guest ended our time together on this phrase, but we wanted to start with it. This is at the heart of what individuals, churches, nonprofits, and agency workers do all across Houston, and hopefully, it’s why you are here, now, listening to this conversation.

Foster care is not an isolated issue. There are many factors at play, both upstream (before a family is impacted by the foster care system) and downstream (after a child or young adult has been impacted by the foster care system).

DeJuana Jernigan serves as the President and CEO of Arms Wide Adoption Services, an organization devoted to supporting families through the life-long process of permanency. With a 30-year professional journey rooted in advocacy, leadership, and service, she’s deeply committed to helping children in foster care find safe, nurturing families. DeJuana has been a long-time friend of The Riverside Project, and we are thrilled to have her here for this conversation.

In this episode, you’ll hear how foster care has shifted over the last 30 years, some of the underlying circumstances that cause children to enter foster care, the importance of post-permanency support, what you can do now to help improve outcomes for children and families involved in the child welfare system, and much more.

Find the show notes and links to anything we discussed here: riversideproject.org/dejuana-jernigan-39

Biological children who grow up in a family that fosters or adopts can experience some intense and complicated emotions. While many children are supportive—and even protective—of their non-biological siblings, it’s important to recognize that some may struggle with feeling overlooked or invisible in the process.

While their needs are just as important as their foster or adoptive siblings, biological children can sometimes feel as though they need to take up less of their parents’ attention, minimize the stress on the family, or behave perfectly to avoid rocking the boat.

Here to help us understand the kinds of thoughts and feelings that biological children are navigating and how we can best support them as we welcome foster and adoptive children into our homes is Daniela Coats. She is the founder of With Siblings, an organization that exists to support birth children in foster and adoptive families by equipping parents and professionals with training and resources. Daniela is also a therapist, adoptive parent, and biological child to parents who fostered and adopted.

In this episode, Daniela shares some tools and resources to help us support bio children, key commonalities found in many biological children’s experiences, the most important thing you can do today to support your biological children, and much more.

Find the show notes and links to anything we discussed here: riversideproject.org/daniela-coats-38

We often use the analogy of the River to describe how each and every one of us has a unique role to play in supporting the vulnerable children and families of Houston. One of the reasons why we need hands both upstream and downstream, helping from all sides, is because the foster care system does not exist in isolation. It’s shaped by—and deeply connected to—a range of other social challenges.

One such challenge is homelessness and the circumstances that lead to it. The Greater Houston area holds over 3,000 people experiencing homelessness, including those in shelters and those unsheltered. This issue of homelessness has a direct impact on the foster care community—10% of children across Texas enter foster care due to housing issues.

One thing is clear—any effort to support the foster care community is incomplete without also addressing the realities of homelessness. Joining us to discuss this key topic is Doug Meikle.

Doug is a first-generation immigrant from Scotland who loves the city of Houston. A few years ago, he changed the course of his life by leaving behind the world of engineering and management to found a nonprofit along with two of his friends. TrueWorks focuses on integrating Christian faith with the world of work. Doug is now the CEO of Star of Hope, Houston’s largest mission to the homeless, and remains the board chair of TrueWorks.

In this episode, Doug shares the connection our faith should have with the work we choose to do, the circumstances that contribute to homelessness, the importance of collaboration with other organizations and individuals across our city, and much more.

Find the show notes and links to anything we discussed here: riversideproject.org/doug-meikle-37

The term “pro-life” can be a politically charged topic. While the most common understanding of being pro-life is in regard to protecting life before birth, we had the opportunity to talk with someone who has a broader understanding of what it means to take up the charge of the vulnerable and protect life at all ages.

Our guest for this conversation is Julie Dumalet. She has led the Archdiocese Office of Pro-Life Activities here in Houston, Texas since 2016 in the position of Director. The Pro-Life Office continually seeks new ways to promote the dignity of human persons through initiatives such as St. Joseph Ministry Foster Care and Families. 

In this episode, Julie explains how partnering with others who share your mission leads to greater long-term success, what it looks like to be pro-life beyond pregnancy and birth, some of the key ways we can begin to identify the vulnerable in our existing communities, and much more.

Find the show notes and links to anything we discussed here: riversideproject.org/julie-dumalet-36

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The Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) may be most commonly associated with the act of “taking children away” from unsafe home environments. Unfortunately, this small snapshot of what DFPS does is often portrayed in a negative light in media and movies.

But while the removal of children—whether it be temporary or permanent—is one of the responsibilities of DFPS, there is so much more to what they do. Our latest guest is here to highlight a DFPS division that partners with service-driven organizations to uplift those in need.

Alysa Elliott-Wilson is the regional administrator for Faith-Based and Community Engagement at the Texas DFPS. She specifically oversees Region Six, which includes Houston and the surrounding counties. She plays a critical role in developing partnerships between faith-based organizations and DFPS to provide support services for vulnerable children, families, and adults in Texas.

In this episode, Alysa shares how the Faith-Based and Community Engagement Division mobilizes resources, the importance of coming together to wrap a network of support around vulnerable families, how we can help close the gaps of care in our area, and much more.

Find the show notes and links to anything we discussed here: riversideproject.org/alysa-elliott-wilson-35

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When you first become a foster parent, you are likely to get a lot of advice. Some of it is extremely helpful, while some may not apply to your specific situation. When you combine the uncertainty of stepping into a new role with the fact that every child brings a completely different story to the table, it can be difficult to know exactly what to expect as a first-time foster parent. That's why I'm so thrilled that my guests today are here to offer valuable insight into what this experience can look like.

Christian & Morgan Nichols are an incredible couple who have been on their foster care journey for over three years. Morgan is an elementary school nurse and Christian serves as the Director of Nursing over two intensive care units.

In this episode, they share how they navigated the transition to becoming foster parents, some of the most helpful advice they have received along the way, the highs and lows of foster care, and much more.

Find the show notes and links to anything we discussed here: riversideproject.org/christian-morgan-nichols-34

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Website: https://riversideproject.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.riverside.project
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riversideproject.htx