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Topic: Adoption & Foster Care

HIGHLIGHTS: This State Is Solving The Foster Care Crisis (Here’s How)

This is the shorter “highlights” version of the episode. 

Coach Bill Courtney sits down with Chris Campbell, Executive Director of Oklahoma’s 111 Project, to unpack how Oklahoma has cut the number of children in foster care nearly in half—from 11,500 to 6,000—and what communities across America can learn from their success.

Rather than pointing fingers at government, Chris shares how churches, nonprofits, everyday citizens, and public agencies began working together to build practical pathways for people to help. From recruiting foster families to preventing children from entering foster care in the first place, this conversation is full of ideas that any community can adopt.

Chris also shares the deeply personal moment that changed the course of his life: holding a two-day-old baby with nowhere to go.

In this episode:

  • Why America has a foster parent shortage—and the consequences for children.
  • How Oklahoma dramatically reduced the number of kids in foster care.
  • Why prevention is just as important as recruiting foster families.
  • The story behind CarePortal and how a simple app is helping keep families together.
  • Why supporting struggling families often matters more than removing children.
  • The surprising role churches can play in solving one of America’s biggest challenges.

If An Army of Normal Folks each did what we can, this is one problem we really can solve.

Check out the resources below!

RESOURCES

Learn more about 111 Project at 111Project.org | One Church, One Family, One Purpose

Follow 111 Project on socials @111projectok

Interested in fostering? Search for foster parent classes in your community and join them. No commitment required. Exploration is the first step. 

Want to help prevent kids from unnecessarily entering foster care? Sign up for CarePortal at https://www.careportal.org/

ARMY ACTIONS

Subscribe to the podcast and rate & review us!

Signup to join the Army, visit NormalFolks.org

Follow us on social media @ArmyofNormalFolks

Join or start an ANF local service club at https://normalfolks.org/service-clubs/

Take The 10 Level Challenge, “the hero’s journey for service” at 10LevelChallenge.org

This State Is Solving The Foster Care Crisis (Here’s How)

Coach Bill Courtney sits down with Chris Campbell, Executive Director of Oklahoma’s 111 Project, to unpack how Oklahoma has cut the number of children in foster care nearly in half—from 11,500 to 6,000—and what communities across America can learn from their success.

Rather than pointing fingers at government, Chris shares how churches, nonprofits, everyday citizens, and public agencies began working together to build practical pathways for people to help. From recruiting foster families to preventing children from entering foster care in the first place, this conversation is full of ideas that any community can adopt.

Chris also shares the deeply personal moment that changed the course of his life: holding a two-day-old baby with nowhere to go.

In this episode:

  • Why America has a foster parent shortage—and the consequences for children.
  • How Oklahoma dramatically reduced the number of kids in foster care.
  • Why prevention is just as important as recruiting foster families.
  • The story behind CarePortal and how a simple app is helping keep families together.
  • Why supporting struggling families often matters more than removing children.
  • The surprising role churches can play in solving one of America’s biggest challenges.

If An Army of Normal Folks each did what we can, this is one problem we really can solve.

Check out the resources below!

RESOURCES

Learn more about 111 Project at 111Project.org | One Church, One Family, One Purpose

Follow 111 Project on socials @111projectok

Interested in fostering? Search for foster parent classes in your community and join them. No commitment required. Exploration is the first step. 

Want to help prevent kids from unnecessarily entering foster care? Sign up for CarePortal at https://www.careportal.org/

ARMY ACTIONS

Subscribe to the podcast and rate & review us!

Signup to join the Army, visit NormalFolks.org

Follow us on social media @ArmyofNormalFolks

Join or start an ANF local service club at https://normalfolks.org/service-clubs/

Take The 10 Level Challenge, “the hero’s journey for service” at 10LevelChallenge.org

The 36 Year-Old Single Woman Who’s Fostered 67 Kids—And Will Change Your Life (Pt 1)

At 25 years old, while many young people are still trying to way their way in life, MK Hill made one of the most mature decisions you can make—to foster a child.

Today, at just 36 years old, the single woman has fostered 67 children, adopted six, and has built a home where kids who have experienced unimaginable trauma can find safety, love, and belonging.

Even if we never reach MK’s level of righteous craziness, her story will show you how we’re far more capable than we allow ourselves to believe. And support foster and adoptive families like hers. 

Support MK’s nonprofit Many Arrows: https://arrowsnest.givingfuel.com/arrows-nest

Follow MK on socials @manyarrowsmama

Subscribe to the podcast, join the Army at NormalFolks.org, and follow us on social media @ArmyofNormalFolks

The 36 Year-Old Single Woman Who’s Fostered 67 Kids—And Will Change Your Life (Pt 2)

At 25 years old, while many young people are still trying to way their way in life, MK Hill made one of the most mature decisions you can make—to foster a child.

Today, at just 36 years old, the single woman has fostered 67 children, adopted six, and has built a home where kids who have experienced unimaginable trauma can find safety, love, and belonging.

Even if we never reach MK’s level of righteous craziness, her story will show you how we’re far more capable than we allow ourselves to believe. And support foster and adoptive families like hers. 

Support MK’s nonprofit Many Arrows: https://arrowsnest.givingfuel.com/arrows-nest

Follow MK on socials @manyarrowsmama

Subscribe to the podcast, join the Army at NormalFolks.org, and follow us on social media @ArmyofNormalFolks

The 7 Things Every Person Needs to Flourish (Pt 1)

What does it actually take for a person—and a whole community—to flourish? That’s the nut that Joe Woodward from Stand Together is trying to crack in Wichita, as part of their goal to make it a model city for the country. In this episode, Joe shares the 7 conditions every person needs to thrive, why healthy families and communities matter more than we realize, and how ordinary people can solve problems that institutions can’t. From a $500 e-bike that transformed a single dad’s life to innovative efforts tackling foster care, housing, and poverty, this conversation will challenge the way you think about service, empowerment, and your role in helping your community flourish.

The 7 Things Every Person Needs to Flourish (Pt 2)

What does it actually take for a person—and a whole community—to flourish? That’s the nut that Joe Woodward from Stand Together is trying to crack in Wichita, as part of their goal to make it a model city for the country. In this episode, Joe shares the 7 conditions every person needs to thrive, why healthy families and communities matter more than we realize, and how ordinary people can solve problems that institutions can’t. From a $500 e-bike that transformed a single dad’s life to innovative efforts tackling foster care, housing, and poverty, this conversation will challenge the way you think about service, empowerment, and your role in helping your community flourish.

What Happens When You Finally Listen to Foster Kids (Pt 1)

When Brian Mavis and his wife learned there were hundreds of foster kids in Colorado that nobody was stepping up to adopt, they realized the problem wasn’t that people didn’t care — it’s that they’d never truly heard the kids’ stories. In this powerful conversation, the founder of America’s Kids Belong shares how recording video testimonies of foster children transformed his life, helped more than 2,400 kids find families, and revealed an upstream solution to some of America’s largest problems. You’ll walk away with practical ways to help foster kids in your own community — whether that means adopting, fostering, supporting foster families, mentoring a child, or simply becoming the kind of adult who refuses to look away.

What Happens When You Finally Listen to Foster Kids (Pt 2)

When Brian Mavis and his wife learned there were hundreds of foster kids in Colorado that nobody was stepping up to adopt, they realized the problem wasn’t that people didn’t care — it’s that they’d never truly heard the kids’ stories. In this powerful conversation, the founder of America’s Kids Belong shares how recording video testimonies of foster children transformed his life, helped more than 2,400 kids find families, and revealed an upstream solution to some of America’s largest problems. You’ll walk away with practical ways to help foster kids in your own community — whether that means adopting, fostering, supporting foster families, mentoring a child, or simply becoming the kind of adult who refuses to look away.