You can be a role model when you don’t even realize it. You can change the cycle.
Sandra and Jerry Dollen became foster parents 28 years ago, because they knew it was the right thing to do. A child they knew needed help and a temporary place to call home, so the Dollens decided to become licensed foster parents to take her in. But the Dollens never anticipated the impact foster care...
We realized there are some big needs out there. We knew our family could make a difference.
Renato and Nellie Jimenez hadn’t planned to fall in love with foster parenting. The couple knew they wanted to adopt, but when they learned about the desperate need for foster families, they decided to also open their heart and home to children in need of safe, temporary care. “We realized there are some big needs...
You have to be a strong person to foster. But once you see one of the kids succeed, it’ll bring tears to your eyes, and it’s all worth it.
A simple act of kindness decades ago has gone on to change lives for Iowa youth in foster care. David Steele remembers the police officer he met after he ran away from home at age 13. The officer treated him kindly and made David feel like there was someone in his corner. That’s the same...
LSI has made a great impact for my family.
As everyone was preparing for the Christmas season, Ali was eager to finally give his family a gift he’d been dreaming of for almost a year: a second car. In 2014, Ali came to the U.S. as a refugee from Somalia. He dedicated his time to finding a job and building a better life for...
This time two years ago, Sage felt stressed and hopeless. She and her boyfriend had welcomed their first child, Grayson, and Sage was determined to create a happy, healthy life for her son. But they struggled to afford housing and when Grayson was three months old, Sage and her family were forced to move into...
Eight-year-old Kendale wears a small beaded bracelet on her right wrist. The beads include mud from the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth, and water from Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world. It’s a reminder that even on your lowest days, there is nowhere to go but up. And on your highest...
LSI has been a backbone for me when I want to give up.
No parent should feel alone, stressed, or hopeless when it comes to caring for their children’s health. But those emotions were common for Judy four years ago. It started when her son began struggling with severe behaviors. He began seeing a litany of different doctors and specialists. Judy needed to coordinate the appointments and medications...
On an early October morning in Burundi in 1993, Vince’s life changed forever. He and his parents were getting ready to leave for church. Then, the gunshots began. Their village was under attack, and Vince’s family was forced to flee first to the Democratic Republic of Congo, then across the border to neighboring Tanzania. When...
