Every Child Oregon co-founder Jillana Goble was invited onto the Foster Points Podcast, by the Oregon Department of Human Services, Child Welfare program. Jillana Goble received a grant for welcome boxes to give to children who were first entering the foster care system, which was a beginning of what is now Every Child, a program that recruits and supports foster families in multiple states.

On the podcast, Jillana talked about her journey getting involved in foster care after volunteering at an orphanage with her husband and wondering: “Where are the vulnerable children here in the United States?” After researching, her and her husband signed up to become respite foster parents, and then eventually took on more placements for longer periods of time.

Her first placement were two boys, and Jillana tells a story about reconnecting with him later on in life: “We reconnected with our very first kiddo in foster care who we cared for in first grade, transitioned to a pre-adoptive placement… that fell through, we were separated for thirteen years, and reconnected when he was a nineteen year old young man. And that was seven years ago. It’s been a wild journey of reclaiming one another as family and realizing… parenting a child for first grade, that doesn’t seem like a whole lot to hang your hat on in terms of reconnecting all these years later. And yet, it’s been such a powerful example to me of ‘never say never.’

“You talk about seeds planted, we talk about how we don’t know what you’re pouring in, and yet here is this real-world story unfolding before me of this now 26 year old man who calls me mom, who we parented for one year in first grade.”

To learn more about her experience of foster care and her work with Every Child’s partnership with ODHS, listen to the podcast here (also available on Spotify!):