Fostering Change

Happy New Year! On our first episode of the New Year, we are so happy to bring you an amazing human, Hunter Beaton. Hunter is the founder of Day1bags.org. Day1’s mission is right in line with Comfort Cases’ mission: to provide hope and dignity to youth in foster care by giving them new luggage or backpacks in place of the disgusting black trash bags that are still given out in so many states.Hunter started this initiative in 2016 at the age of 15 as part of his Eagle Scout project (yes, he’s a Real Eagle Scout!). He initially provided 100 duffel bags filled with essential supplies to a local nonprofit serving foster youth in San Antonio, Texas. The project quickly became a sustainable mission to support foster children across the United States.Hunter's work has led to significant milestones, including distributing over 220,000 bags to foster youth across 47 states, legislative advocacy for proper luggage bills, and initiatives that celebrate foster youth's achievements. Through Day 1 Bags, Hunter has inspired meaningful change and continues to empower children in foster care by promoting dignity, belonging, and recognition.To learn more about Hunter and Day1Bags - and how you can support them, please visit the following links:Website:https://day1bags.org/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/day1bagsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/day1bags/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/day-1-bags/

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! This is our final episode of Fostering Change before we launch into 2025. And what a year it’s been. We’ve celebrated amazing guests on our show, learning so much about each other and our society.Thank you to all of you who have written in with comments and guests suggestions about what you’ve listened to this year. We truly appreciate YOU ALL!Our charity, Comfort Cases has touched so many people around the country this year, with Rob Scheer once again sharing our message of providing hope and dignity for youth in foster care. It’s not too late to make one last donation if this is possible for you. If this is something you would like to do, to help out our most important people, youth entering foster care, please click on this link or here: https://comfortcases.org/ to become a #Bagbuster to help us stop the evil practice of giving trash bags to our youth. Thank you!As for today’s Christmas Eve episode, we end the year with a Very Special Guest: Chef Art Smith. You may initially recognize him as Oprah’s personal Chef, a role he held for 10 years. He is also the founder of Common Threads, a non-profit organization teaching low-income children to cook wholesome and affordable meals since 2003. He believes that through hands-on cooking and introducing children to fresh foods we can help prevent childhood obesity, reverse the trend of poor eating habits, and learn about diversity and tolerance through the celebration of our cultural differences and our commonalities.Chef Art has appeared on numerous national television appearances including ABC’s Lady Gaga Thanksgiving Special, Top Chef, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Iron Chef America, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Nightline, Fox News, Extra, Entertainment Tonight, BBQ Pitmasters, The Talk, The Dr. Oz Show and of course, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Chef Art has appeared on the cover of Parade Magazine, and has been featured in Cooking Light magazine. He is a regular contributor to Standup magazine, whose proceeds benefit The Ben Foundation, which raises awareness of the long-term, damaging effects of bullying.To learn more about Chef Art Smith, please visit:Website: https://www.chefartsmith.com/Instagram: @thechefartsmith Facebook: ChefArtSmithX/Twitter: @chefartsmith To learn more about Common Threads, please visit:Website: https://www.commonthreads.org/Instagram: @commonthreadsorg Facebook: CommonThreadsOrgX/Twitter: @commonthreadsUSThank you again for listening and watching Fostering Change. We hope you have a happy and safe holiday and look forward to bringing you more great discussions in 2025. Again, if you have any comments or guest suggestions, please feel free to reach out by emailing our producers at info@comfortcases.org.

Welcome back to another thought-provoking episode of Fostering Change. Today, we speak with Jason Green, a friend and amazing filmmaker. Jason’s documentary, Finding Fellowship, is a story of hope about the unlikely merger of three segregated churches in the 1960s. Jason and Rob belong to this same church, which is how they first met, and both have the same passion for community coming together.We thought today would be a perfect time to share this interview in the spirit of the holiday season.Following the episode, we encourage you to watch Finding Fellowship. You can find it on PBS, or click the following link to stream it on PBS.org: https://www.pbs.org/show/finding-fellowship/ If you have any comments or questions, please get in touch with us at info@comfortcases.org. There is just one more episode before the New Year, which posts on Christmas Eve—with someone we know you will love to meet!To learn more about Jason and Finding Fellowship:Instagram: @jg1732Twitter/X: @jg1732LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasongerardgreen/

A reminder that through the end of November  (National Adoption Awareness Month), when you visit www.BarelyCanadian.com our friend Kelly and her team will donate a Comfort XL Duffle bag for every one of their amazingly plush items purchased. Today, we go back almost exactly 3 years to revisit a special episode about a remarkable woman, Pam Willis and family.  We know you’ll enjoy!Pam and her husband have been married 36 years, raised 5 biological children (the youngest is 20). 11 years ago they became foster parents and began caring for children in their home. Pam led down a road of foster care and as a surprise to their life plan, 5 years ago they adopted a set of seven siblings from the foster care system.  These kids now have a second chance at parenting, and they have a second chance at a family after their first parents passed away in a car accident.It’s an amazing story we wanted to reshare with you. Story Key Notes:🖐️Adopting 7 Sets of Children Siblings 🖐️History of the 7 Children🖐️Adjusting into a New Home🖐️5 Biological Children's Reaction to Adopt New Siblings🖐️Process to Adopt 7 Set of Children SiblingsLearn more at https://www.comfortcases.org/If you have any questions, comments or guest suggestions, please reach out to us at info@comfortcases.org.HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!

It is National Adoption Awareness Month, and Comfort Cases is honoring the occasion with special promotions. Our “Coats for Comfort” Coat Drive, co-sponsored by CNN’s Laura Coates, is in full swing. There are donation boxes throughout the DC Metro area (including Maryland & Virginia), and for those of you outside the district, you can purchase coats and have them delivered directly to Comfort Cases by visiting https://comfortcases.org/lauracoates/We are thrilled to announce our renewed partnership with Barely Canadian, running through November 30th! Known for their insanely soft sweaters and premium apparel, they have redefined cozy. With every purchase from their beautiful garment collection, Barely Canadian will generously donate a Comfort XL (valued at $148) to a child entering foster care. Explore their collection here: https://barelycanadian.com/In today’s powerful episode of Fostering Change, we welcome Gretchen Sisson, author of RELINQUISHED: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood. As a researcher at UC San Francisco’s Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, Gretchen has conducted hundreds of interviews with women who have relinquished infants for adoption, especially since Roe v. Wade. Her eye-opening research has been featured on NPR, New York Magazine, VOX, and more.In this riveting conversation with host Rob Scheer, they dive into the complex and often heartbreaking reasons behind adoption decisions, shedding light on the financial and societal pressures that force mothers to make impossible choices. This timely discussion touches on the profound challenges families face and why it should matter to us all. This is an important discussion for our community, and we were honored to have Gretchen on Fostering Change to continue it.For more information about RELINQUISHED or to follow Gretchen on social media, please visit:Website: https://www.gretchensisson.com/Twitter/X: @gesisson Threads: gretchen.sissonInstagram: @gretchen.sisson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchensisson/Substack: https://gretchen.substack.com/#nationaladoptionawarenessmonth #adoptionawareness #fostercare

“When good people get together, great things happen.” - Jamie TrumanOn today’s episode of Fostering Change, we welcome our good friend Jamie Truman. She and her husband Jerry co-founded Truman Charities, an organization that truly exemplifies what our host, Rob Scheer, has expressed over the years: it focuses on helping other local and national charities, hosts events multiple times a year, and covers all costs so that 100% of raised funds go directly to the charity.Over the past fifteen years, Truman Charities has raised a little over $2 million for several different charities (INCLUDING COMFORT CASES). Yes, Jamie and Jerry epitomize being “Good Humans.”Jamie is also the author of “Vanishing Fathers: The Ripple Effect on Tomorrow's Generation," which hit #1 on Amazon's Best New Releases. Of course, 100% of the proceeds from Vanishing Fathers go towards charities that help at-risk youth.These two themes, giving back to society and the important roles fathers play in that same society, are discussed in a lively interview. We know you will not only enjoy them but also be inspired.Jamie Truman hosts The Truman Charities Podcast, which you can find wherever you listen to podcasts.Find out more about Jamie and Truman Charities below:Order her book, “Vanishing Fathers”: https://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-Fathers-Ripple-Tomorrows-Generation/dp/B0CW3Q1QY8.Visit the Website: trumancharities.comFacebook: trumancharitesInstagram: jamie_trumancharitiesLinkedIn: jamietrumanEmail: info@trumancharities.comThank you for listening! Of course, if you have any questions or comments about today’s episode or a suggestion for a guest for Fostering Change, please reach out to us at info@comfortcases.org.

"If you have nobody, you have yourself." Lillian ColonWhen Lillian Colon shared that phrase above with Rob Scheer when he interviewed her recently, there was a pause in the conversation as those words hit home. Reflect on them for a moment.On today’s episode of Fostering Change, Rob interviews Lillian Colon, who spent more than a decade in a strict New York City orphanage because her father “thought it would be best” to separate from the mother she adored. With restrictions all around her, she strove to be someone better than anyone ever believed she could. Lilly never knew the care and loving attention of a stable family, but she didn’t let obstacles and family tragedies stand in the way of her dreams.As a child, after the nuns who ran the orphanage took her to Radio City Music Hall to see the famed “Rockettes, “Lilly was driven to become a dancer. A graduate of New York’s prestigious High School of Performing Arts (if you’ve ever seen the movie Fame,” you’ll understand), Lillian became the first Latina Rockette. Lillian achieved so much more in her career, having performed with some of the great names in Hollywood and on Broadway, including the legendary Chita Rivera. Most recently, she was the oldest dancer in the Hollywood adaptation of Lin Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights!” We celebrate this achievement on the last day of Hispanic Heritage Month.Lillian shares all this in her memoir Lilly: The First Latina Rockette. This is a truly lovely conversation with a wonderful, good human. We know you will enjoy her growing-up stories and her performance success.To find out more about what Lillian is up to, please visit her website: https://www.lilliancolon.com/ You can purchase her book here: https://www.lilliancolon.com/product/lilly-book/Thank you for listening! Of course, if you have any questions or comments about today’s episode or a suggestion for a guest for Fostering Change, please reach out to us at info@comfortcases.org.

It’s October! Comfort Cases held our annual fundraiser event this past weekend, a “Farm-to-Table Feast.” It was a memorable event, with inspirational speakers, including our keynote speaker, Cowboy Jax, our emcee, the fabulous Jen Lilley, and our founder and host of Fostering Change, Rob Scheer. There’s still time to donate or contribute your most valuable asset - your TIME - to Comfort Cases. Please visit www.comfortcases.org to find out more!We recorded our show today several weeks ago but intentionally posted it today, as we are featuring not one, not two, but THREE Good Humans: Rob’s special co-host Jill Ross, who is also the President of Comfort Cases’ Board of Directors, and Parker Lopez and Ashley Baker, who were both recent recipients of academic scholarships presented by Comfort Cases at previous fundraiser events.Parker and Ashley share how these scholarships have profoundly impacted them and how they could advance their academic pursuits.Beyond academics, they also are giving back to the community:Parker is involved with “First Star” Academies (https://eoss.asu.edu/access/first-star-academy) a long-term college-prep program for high school students in foster care, while Ashley works with “It’s On Us” (www.itsonus.org) a non-profit campaign in the United States aimed at raising awareness about sexual assault and promoting a culture of consent.Jill also shares more about Comfort Cases’ Pathway Program, which is designed to provide additional resources to our scholarship recipients. You can learn more about Pathways by visiting https://scheerfocus.com/pathways-program/We hope you feel inspired and hopeful after listening to these fantastic young people. It is people like them who will make all of our futures brighter.If you have any questions or comments about our interview with Jill, Parker, and Ashley or have a guest suggestion, please feel free to email us at info@comfortcases.org.

Welcome back to Season 6 of Fostering Change! We hope you enjoyed our first episode of the season with Andrew Bridge. This is a reminder that if you order his book before its publication date, a portion of the sale will go to CASA chapters nationwide. Please visit AndrewBridgeAuthor.com and select the CASA chapter of your choice.In today’s episode, we have two exceptional guests - one is making her second appearance on our show. Donna Biase co-founded BEST FOOT FORWARD Foundation, a Florida-based organization whose mission is to empower foster care and at-risk youth to become self-sufficient adults and positive contributing members of society through academic achievement. Having survived the deadly and horrific earthquake that ravaged his home country of Haiti, Elie Merisier was in the foster care system in High School when Best Foot Forward reached out to him to provide assistance with his academic studies. We’ll let you listen to the show for more details, but you should know that despite attending five different high schools, Elie graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a degree in accounting. Today, he is a licensed real estate agent.We hope you enjoy today’s episode of Fostering Change as much as we think you will. Of course, if you have any questions or comments about our interview with Elie and Donna or have a guest suggestion, please email us at info@comfortcases.org.More about Donna and Elie:To learn more about Elie, please follow him on social media:Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092082848694Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/elie_merisier/LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/feed/eliemerisier/To learn more about Best Foot Forward:Facebookfacebook.com/bestfootkidsInstagraminstagram.com/bestfootkidsTwitter/Xtwitter.com/bestfootkids