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.sisson

Instagram: @gretchen.sisson

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchensisson/

Substack: https://gretchen.substack.com/

#nationaladoptionawarenessmonth #adoptionawareness #fostercare

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“When good people get together, great things happen.” - Jamie Truman

On 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.com

Facebook: trumancharites

Instagram: jamie_trumancharities

LinkedIn: jamietruman

Email: info@trumancharities.com

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.

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"If you have nobody, you have yourself." Lillian Colon

When 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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.