Episode 269: Opening Your Heart and Home to Those in Need (w/ Sarah Hott)
Release Date: 05/12/2025
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...
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Episode 272: Striving for Racial Equity in the Child Welfare System (w/ Shanelle Dupree)
The Forgotten Podcast
The child welfare system can be confusing and complex. Families are often expected to navigate administrative systems, the criminal justice system, the legal system, and the social system—all at the same time and with no prior instruction. Our guest today knows the child welfare system inside and out—and she’s passionate about helping families navigate it with hope and clarity. She also understands that its challenges don’t impact everyone equally. Her work focuses on uncovering why families of color often face worse outcomes and unpacking the systemic issues...
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Episode 271: Foster Fathers (w/ Chris Easley & Kyle Seick)
The Forgotten Podcast
Note: In this episode, Jami talks about her pregnancy—but don’t worry, you didn’t miss another baby announcement! If you’re part of our TFI family, you know her sweet little one has already arrived. This episode was recorded back in January! Sometimes, it can feel like the conversation within the foster care community is predominantly shaped by female voices. While it’s wonderful to have such a strong female perspective in this space, it can be a challenge for men to find resources that speak to their unique experiences. This is the heartbeat behind the Foster Fathers...
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Episode 270: Recovering from Addiction to Achieve Reunification (w/ Jacob Jackson)
The Forgotten Podcast
There are many requirements that a biological parent must meet in order to reunify with their children. While these requirements are necessary to ensure that children are being reunited with parents who can provide a safe and stable environment, many parents struggle to overcome the circumstances that led to their children being placed in foster care in the first place. In the state of Illinois, Just as children and foster parents need a supportive community, biological parents working toward reunification need a strong, steady network around them too. One such parent is Jacob...
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Episode 269: Opening Your Heart and Home to Those in Need (w/ Sarah Hott)
The Forgotten Podcast
Foster care is both rewarding and challenging. It’s happy at times and sad at others; it brings hard days as well as beautiful moments. If you are in the foster care community, you’ve likely seen (or experienced) this firsthand. But what do we do when we come to the end of ourselves? How do we respond when we feel called to open our homes again to those in need—yet find ourselves unsure if our hearts are ready to face the joys and the pain that foster care can bring? Our guest for this episode knows this tension well. Sarah Hott’s journey through fostering, adopting, and parenting has...
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Episode 268: Building Compassion for Those Struggling with Addiction (w/ Christina Dent)
The Forgotten Podcast
Substance use is a major factor in foster care cases; , more than half of the children who entered care under age 5 did so because of parental drug use. Addiction is an issue that runs parallel to the foster care community, and it’s a struggle that agency workers and foster parents often witness firsthand in the lives of the families they serve. For those of us who have never battled with addiction, it can be easy to think we have nothing in common with parents whose substance use results in their children being removed from their care. However, my guest today is here to help us see...
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Episode 267: Beauty Woven in the Brokenness (w/ Austin Ludwig)
The Forgotten Podcast
Trigger Warning: We want to let our listeners know that this episode includes mentions of physical abuse. If you are sensitive to this topic, we recommend you listen with caution. Trauma is one of the hardest challenges to navigate in life. Whether it’s impacting you or someone you love, it can be easy to wish that trauma could be erased in an instant. But our latest guest’s powerful story reminds us that healing doesn’t happen with the snap of a finger. It takes the steady presence of others, the patience to water seeds we can’t yet see growing, and the courage to keep seeking...
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Episode 266: Advocating for Whole Family Care (w/ Esther Sherrard)
The Forgotten Podcast
The child welfare system is not perfect. Not only is it subject to the types of challenges all government programs can face—such as a lack of funding, policy gaps, and inefficiencies—it’s also very overloaded. As a result, many biological parents don’t receive the best resources to help them navigate their circumstances, and often, they are confused about how to access the resources that are available. Here at The Forgotten Initiative, we’re committed to advocating for the best interests of children and families while ensuring that the laws and procedures designed to...
info_outlineFoster care is both rewarding and challenging. It’s happy at times and sad at others; it brings hard days as well as beautiful moments. If you are in the foster care community, you’ve likely seen (or experienced) this firsthand.
But what do we do when we come to the end of ourselves? How do we respond when we feel called to open our homes again to those in need—yet find ourselves unsure if our hearts are ready to face the joys and the pain that foster care can bring?
Our guest for this episode knows this tension well. Sarah Hott’s journey through fostering, adopting, and parenting has taught her profound lessons about faith, community, and the power of love.
Sarah and her husband, Chris, have been foster parents for over six years. They currently have five children in their home—three by adoption from foster care, one biological, and one foster child. Sarah believes that few things draw you to the heart of Jesus like opening your home and heart to children in need and their families.
In this episode, you’ll hear more of Sarah’s personal journey as she shifted from foster parent to adoptive mom, her thoughts on the power and necessity of a supportive community, the ways God showed up when she was at her maximum capacity, and much more.
Find resources mentioned and more in the show notes for this episode: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/sarah-hott-269/