Episode 263: Learning How to Serve the Foster Care Community (w/ April Hobbs)
Release Date: 02/17/2025
Episode 282: How to Serve When Your Home is Full (w/ Hanna Thrower)
The Forgotten Podcast
What should I do if I have a heart for the foster care community, but I can’t open my home to foster right now? We hear this question often. Sometimes it comes from individuals who have fostered before and are simply in a season where they need to pause. Other times we hear it from people who don’t feel called to foster, but still have a deep passion to support vulnerable children and families. No matter which group you fall into, there are so many meaningful roles you can step into to make a difference. Today, we want to highlight one such role—and a foster parent who stepped...
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Episode 281: Behind the Scenes with an Agency Worker (w/ Abraham Choate)
The Forgotten Podcast
It’s no secret that the child welfare system can be frustrating for children, their biological families, and foster families alike. More often than not, agency workers are the people who have to carry the brunt of this frustration. Yet, if we were to take a look behind the scenes, we would see individuals who care deeply about children and families and are doing their best to secure positive outcomes for the people they serve—but they are overworked, overwhelmed, and often trying to keep up with ever-changing policies. My guest for this conversation is deeply familiar with nearly every...
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Episode 280: Working Together to Support and Redeem Families (w/ Norm Suire)
The Forgotten Podcast
The child welfare system is far from perfect. However, numerous individuals, agency workers, and organizations like us are working faithfully to help support and uplift the children and families within that system. Our guest today knows this system intimately, as he has worked within it for over 40 years. Norm Suire worked first at Elgin Mental Health Center before transitioning to the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). With a lifetime of experience in child welfare, Norm brings such wisdom and honesty about both the joys and challenges of this work. He is also a husband and...
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Episode 279: Space in Our Hearts and in Our Homes (w/ Crystal Paine)
The Forgotten Podcast
Foster care has a way of changing how we see the world. It asks us to step into hard places, stay present, and let God reshape our perspective. For our latest guest, that’s meant gaining a richer perspective on biological parents, a deeper appreciation for the beauty and challenges of caring for children with disabilities, and so much more. Crystal Paine and her husband have been foster parents to two precious children—one who was medically fragile and reunified with his biological mom, and one who was born premature with significant disabilities, whom they later adopted. Crystal is...
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Episode 278: Looking Back at Our Trauma to Move Forward (w/ Byron Kehler)
The Forgotten Podcast
“When trauma is our teacher, we are ill-equipped to live healthy lives in healthy environments. What we learn, we live.” We know that trauma often accompanies children when they enter the child welfare system. Usually, we talk about the effects of trauma and how caregivers can respond with support. Today, we’re looking at trauma through the lens of personal history to understand how individuals can discover, address, and heal the trauma in their own stories. Joining us to offer insights on “Story-Informed Trauma Therapy” (SITT), the method he created, is Byron Kehler. Byron is a...
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Episode 277: Pursuing Reckless Faith (w/ Beth Guckenberger)
The Forgotten Podcast
Whether it’s across the world or in all four corners of her home, my guest today has over two decades of experience in the foster care and adoptive community. Beth Guckenberger lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, Todd. Together, they serve as the Co-Executive Directors of Back2Back Ministries, a nonprofit dedicated to providing comprehensive care to vulnerable children and families worldwide. After graduating from Indiana University, the Guckenbergers moved to Monterrey, Mexico, where they lived for 15 years. Between biological, foster, and adopted children, they have raised eleven...
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Episode 276: More Than How Your Story Began (w/ Hope Watts)
The Forgotten Podcast
Adoption and foster care are often depicted in dramatic ways in the media. Whether it’s an adult suddenly discovering the truth that they were adopted or a depiction of constant conflict between a child involved in the foster care system and their caregivers, media can easily give us a skewed perspective of what life is actually like for the real people navigating these situations. That’s why it’s so important to listen to the real voices of children, families, and workers in the foster care community—not to chase sensational details, but to approach their stories with...
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Episode 275: Finding Your Role in the Foster Care Community (w/ Thomas Dent)
The Forgotten Podcast
If you’re listening to this, chances are it was passion that first pulled you into your role in the foster care community—whether you’re a professional, a caregiver, an advocate, or a faithful supporter. But here’s something you might not have realized yet: just because you started in one role doesn’t mean that’s where you’ll stay. As we grow and gain experience, our passions often deepen and shift—and one of the beautiful things about this work is discovering new ways to use your gifts to serve children and families in need. My guest for this conversation knows this well! He...
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Episode 274: Everything’s in His Hands (w/ David and Julie Zimmer)
The Forgotten Podcast
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” – James 1:27 (ESV) You’ve probably heard this verse if you’ve ever been to an adoption or foster care training, attended a conference that discussed child welfare, or even just sat through your fair share of sermons. The message of this verse couldn’t be clearer: God cares deeply about the most vulnerable, and we should too! My guests for this conversation know all about this calling and are here to talk about what it...
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Episode 273: Finding Hope While Healing from a Painful Past (w/ Destini McAlister)
The Forgotten Podcast
Content / Trigger Warning: This episode does contain mentions and descriptions of abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse. If any of this may be triggering for you, we recommend you either listen carefully, listen with someone else, or you may even consider skipping this episode. Unfortunately, so many children who enter foster care have experienced some terrible things in their lives. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that in 2022, children entered foster care for the following reasons: 62% due to neglect 33% due to drug abuse 13% due to physical abuse 6% due to alcohol...
info_outlineHow much do you know about the foster care community where you live? Many people—both individuals and organizations like churches—want to support their vulnerable neighbors. But few are aware of the many practical ways they can help the children, biological families, foster families, and agency workers who make up their local foster care communities.
When our latest guest discovered the overwhelming needs of her local foster care community, she was passionate about getting her local church involved. But when she first set out to make this a reality, her mission turned out to be harder than expected. Her experience is a common one that’s happening all over America. The truth is, many people care, but they don’t always know how to help.
April Hobbs is a passionate champion for foster care as well as a devoted wife and mother. She and husband, Derrick, became foster parents seven years ago and they find tremendous purpose and joy in serving vulnerable families.
When April wanted to see her local foster care agency supported by the church, she joined our team of TFI Advocates and started her own ministry in Murray County, GA. It’s through this partnership that she was able to break through the barriers and get the church involved in meeting the needs of her local agency workers and the families they serve.
In this episode, April shares powerful words about how God calls us to act, what factors often prevent Christians from doing more to serve vulnerable families, the importance of sharing the difficult parts of the fostering journey, and much more.
Find resources mentioned and more in the show notes for this episode: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/april-hobbs-263/