How do we enable ourselves and others to thrive? Big question! Listen in as Damon shares what helps him thrive and empower his colleagues, foster youth clients and others to do the same.

One Hope United (OHU) is a nonprofit organization that has been serving children, youth, and families for 130 years. We provide early childhood education, child and family services, behavioral and mental health resources, and residential programs, reaching more than 10,000 children and families each year across Illinois and Florida. Through our evidence-based and trauma-informed practices, we empower children and families to see and create a future where, regardless of their past, they can reach their full potential.

www.onehopeunited.org
www.facebook.com/1hopeunited
www.instagram.com/onehopeunited
www.linkedin.com/company/one-hope-united
www.linkedin.com/in/damon-cates-53945a2b
www.x.com/1hopeunited
www.youtube.com/@1hopeunited

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Raising adopted kids isn't about fixing them, it's about growing us. Doing Our Own Work is one of those themes that comes up again and again on Thriving Adoptees. Listen in as mom of 4 girls - 2 through adoption - Laura shares her learnings on empathy, shaming, relational loss and more.

Laura Adams is a visionary educator, speaker, and systems-change advocate focused on strengthening how schools and communities support children in adoptive, foster, and kinship families.

As the Founder and President of iCARE4 Adoptive And Foster Families, Laura leads statewide and national efforts to bring practical, healing-centered tools and training to educators, mental health professionals, and child welfare leaders. Her work helps teams build emotionally safe, regulation-ready environments where all children can grow and thrive..

Laura created the iCARE4 Schools Connection Kits™, bilingual, tiered tools now used in more than 1,200 Illinois schools to support identity development, emotional regulation, and school success for students with complex life stories..

Her signature training series, Connected, We Thrive™, delivers engaging, evidence-informed professional development aligned with Illinois Professional Learning Standards, MTSS, and SEL frameworks. These sessions equip school teams, social workers, and caregivers with practical, healing-centered strategies and a shared language to support student well-being..

Laura actively collaborates with leaders across education, mental health, and child welfare to advance responsive, family-centered practices. Her partners include: DCFS, ISBE, IAAC, IPA, IASB, IASSW, SWFCAC, West40, Let It Be Us, School of Hope, Second Nurture, NTI/C.A.S.E., ICOY, FREDLA, NCFA, ROEs, the Beacon Family Communications Workgroup, and the National Center for Post-Adoption Support.

A former educator and adoptive parent, Laura brings lived experience, policy insight, and powerful storytelling to every stage and session. She is a sought-after keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, and thought partner—known for inspiring connection, sparking collaboration, and offering tools that professionals can use right away.

Because When We CONNECT, Children THRIVE.

https://icare4aaff.org/

https://www.instagram.com/iCARE4AAFF

https://www.facebook.com/iCARE4AAFF

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

How open are you to learning? When we know more we do better. So lifelong learning isn't something to be shunned by our impatience, but welcomed in. Listen in as Rashunda who adopted three teens from the welfare system shares her learnings on learning.

Rashunda Williams joined the CHRIS 180 team in 2023 as the Director of Foster Care and Adoptions, before being promoted to the role of VP, Community Residential Services.

Williams is responsible for the leadership and strategic direction of our community and residential programs that serve children, young adults and families, including CHRIS 180’s adoption homes, foster homes, and Summit Trail Apartments.

For more than two decades, Williams has worked in the social service sector and holds a Bachelor of Science in Social Work and a Master of Business Administration. She has extensive knowledge of psychiatric hospitals, community-based services, adolescent group homes, foster care, the juvenile justice system and the mental health spectrum. Additionally, she has experience in client-centered therapeutic services to children, adolescents and couples.

Prior to joining the CHRIS 180 team, Williams served in several leadership roles within the social service sector in Nevada, California, and Georgia.

Her professional interests are resiliency across the life span, challenges of families with limited access to mental health and healthcare services, people centric leadership, diversity and equity in the workplace, prevention services, and continued training and development of mental health professionals.

Williams enjoys traveling, interior designing, reading and is an avid community volunteer.

Find out more about Rashunda and her organisation here:

https://chris180.org/

https://www.facebook.com/CHRIS180Advocate/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/chris180/

https://www.instagram.com/CHRIS180_Advocate/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rashunda-williams-b18437202/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Are you suffering right now? It probably - or definitely - doesn't feel like it, but finding the purpose in that pain somehow makes it more bearable. The earlier we can see that purpose the sooner the pain can ease. Join Donna and I as we dive in life changing insights and shifts in perspective. Donna is an adoptive mother, executive director of an adoption agency and podcaster.

Here's a bit about Donna from her agency's website:

Donna is an irreplaceable member of our adoption agency, dedicated to aiding women who are contemplating placing their child for adoption. Helping women through an unexpected pregnancy has become her life’s journey. She is seldom “off duty.” On weekends she communicates with birth mothers to aid them with their financial concerns or traveling to a hospital to ensure they are receiving the best medical possible.

Her resolute dedication and heartfelt compassion make her an essential figure in supporting these women throughout their entire journey.

Donna ensures that every person who works at Heart to Heart Adoptions treats birth mothers and adoptive families with respect and compassion. She insists on a non-judgmental approach to every situation. She creates a safe and nurturing space for them to share their concerns, dreams, and worries. By approaching each individual with empathy and without judgment, Donna ensures that these exceptional women have the necessary guidance and resources to make well-informed decisions.

Donna’s expertise within the Utah Adoption Agency lies in her ability to find the perfect match between birth mothers and adoptive families, making her an invaluable asset to our agency.

Connect with her here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-pope-41652ba/

Explore her podcast here:

https://www.instagram.com/voicesof_adoption/reel/DLH-sYjJPf4/?__d=1

https://voicesofadoption.podup.com/

https://www.instagram.com/voicesof_adoption/

Find out more about her podcast here:

https://hearttoheartadopt.com/

https://www.facebook.com/HeartToHeartAdoption

https://www.instagram.com/hearttoheartadoptions/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Tough stuff feels, well, tough. But with hindsight it becomes clear that the tough stuff prompts our biggest learnings. What if we could see the gift of the tough stuff earlier? Be more grateful for it when we are in it? Listen in as adoptive mom Jacee shares her insights on grace, grief and learnings. Powerful.

Here's the interview with Jacee's mother.

https://thriving-adoptees.simplecast.com/episodes/our-spirit-isnt-traumatised-with-dana-hargus

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

If you're going through tough stuff, this one's for you. Truly inspirational. Adopted at 9 months Sharon grew up in an alternative universe. One that felt completely alien to her. Her adoptive mother kicked her out of the house when she got pregnant at 18. Life got tougher until she found herself at rock bottom and attempting suicide. How did she turn it around? Listen into profound learnings from a remarkably resilient lady.

Find out more about Sharon here:

https://giftfamilyservices.com/about-gift-family-services/our-coaches/sharon-butler-obazee/

https://www.instagram.com/adoptionclarity/?hl=en-gb

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gift-family-services/

https://www.facebook.com/sobazee03/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

If you're in hell keep going. But how? Listen in as Adoption Permanency Director Alaina dives into digging deep, what empowers us to persist through the toughest of tough stuff and more...

Find out more about the company Alaina works for here:

www.enniscenter.org

https://www.facebook.com/EnnisCenter/#

Find out more about adoption support in Massachusetts here:

www.mare.org

Listen to the podcast with Jaycie on secondary trauma herehttps://thriving-adoptees.simplecast.com/episodes/healing-for-them-jaycie-bias

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Vince's mission is to add value to everyone he meets. Listen in and let him add value to you with his insights, learnings and wisdom. Vince and his wife have six kids, three of whom are adopted. He's also Executive Director at Keystone Family Alliance.

Keystone Family Alliance is comprised of representatives from different churches around the state of Pennsylvania. We aim to educate, motivate, and equip every Christian in the state of Pennsylvania on the needs of orphans and vulnerable children, both locally and globally. Everybody can do something to positively impact these children, and the Alliance wants to help you find YOUR something. We bridge the gap between the desperate need of the child welfare system and PA churches. Agencies and caseworkers struggle to find new foster and adoptive families to meet the current, overwhelming need. Keystone Family Alliance mobilizes Christians from around Pennsylvania. For some, it is registering to meet tangible needs of foster, adoptive, and biological families through our online portal, Gateway. For others, it is serving on an engineered Care Community to support a local family for a year. For churches, Keystone Family Alliance provides the framework and support to help churches successfully recruit families to care for children in their communities to become these much-needed placement homes. There are so many ways to do something.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/vince-smith-0214808a/

https://www.keyfam.org/

https://www.instagram.com/keystonefamilyalliance/

https://www.facebook.com/keystonefamilyalliance

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.