Welcome to The Foster Friendly Podcast

The Foster Friendly Podcast

Hosts Brian Mavis, Travis Vangsnes, and Courtney Williams present the Foster Friendly podcast in its debut episode. The show seeks to widen the Foster Friendly effort, which includes The Foster Friendly App, designed to support foster families. The goal of the podcast is to give foster and adoptive parents information and assistance. This show also seeks to amplify support for foster families, bridging gaps between businesses, faith groups, and public services to create communities where children and families thrive.

Each host introduces themselves and shares their individual stories of adoption and foster care. Courtney Williams begins by summarizing her 17-year journey, which started with problems related to infertility. She and her spouse have fostered about 60 kids over the years and eventually adopted six children. A touching story describes how their kids wrote a letter indicating their want to open their home and life to new foster children, encouraging them to keep fostering.

Travis Vangsnes tells his story, which began while he was employed as a mental health caseworker in St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to adopting two boys, they worked as house parents in a large group home in SC for kids in foster care of all ages. They were then briefly licensed foster parents. Travis also tells a funny anecdote of how, in the middle of a midlife crisis, he made the rash decision to purchase a Greyhound bus for an RV conversion, which he eventually sold.

Brian Mavis (co-founder of America's Kids Belong) talks about how his wife Julie motivated them to become involved in foster care. Julie felt called to serve children without families, and they started their adventure by looking into foster care after realizing how much the US needed foster homes. A caseworker's challenge to Brian to find more families than there were children in need of homes was a turning point in the story; it resulted in the establishment of America's Kids Belong.

The hosts highlight their commitment as an organization to helping foster and adoptive families throughout the episode, discussing both the difficulties and the blessings of their experiences. They lay out the objectives of the podcast, which include uplifting narratives, educating listeners on the needs of kids in the foster care system, and offering resources and support to foster/ adoptive parents and businesses and faith communities supporting them.

Learn more about America's Kids Belong.