2025: Gearing Up

In 2025, my hope is that each of us continue to move forward to make a positive difference, regardless of obstacles:

^ I've posted the beginning of this quote before - but I like the end part as well.

2025: Thinking Ahead

As we move forward as foster care youth and alumni advocates into this uncertain New Year, there are both challenges and opportunities ahead.

There will be times when it’s incredibly important to take a deep breath, focus on what we want to accomplish, and then keep moving forward, regardless of the wind on our faces or obstacles in our path.

I hope we take time to remember that we are not alone, nor powerless. We are strong. We are resilient (as children and teens, we didn’t have the choice NOT to be). We are visionary and determined. We see how things could be made better so clearly that the outcome is almost physically tangible in our minds and hearts.

There is warmth in our hearts in the midst of winter. We have weathered storms and stayed rooted to our goals. 2025 is a year that will require hope and determination. And we have both.

FosterHub Groundbreaking of Future Transitional Housing and Training Center

Link to more photos.

Wednesday, January 15, 2025 marked the groundbreaking of FosterHub's future Transitional Housing and Training Center. Next will come the building demolition. Then the architect will get to work. The estimated date for residents to be able to move in is May 1, 2026.

Foster care alumna Michelle Mays has poured so much of her heart and time into this project. I was inspired by how much work happened behind the scenes in order to make yesterday's groundbreaking a reality. Governor DeWine had wanted to do something big for Appalachia. He dedicated funding for transformational projects, that needed to be locally driven, with the goal of having an immediate and lasting community impact.

The process of choosing which projects to fund was competitive:

• As a staff member from Nationwide Children's Hospital shared: "Making history is not easy."
• But, as a representative from the Appalachian Children Coaltion shared, choosing to support FosterHub was an easy decision: "Because this is more than a building; it's a promise - a beacon of hope and a model of what's possible." 
• Representatives from the Jewish and Christian faiths were there, and one of them quoted Jeremiah 29:11 regarding: "Plans to give you a future and a hope."

Second Lady Tina Husted is a champion of this initiative. During the event, she gave Michelle Mays a lovely painting that she had created of a bridge that Michelle had run to as a child. She shared that her husband was adopted, and that his biological father had recommended an abortion. She talked about how, while growing up, she was inspired by a foster parent named Mrs. Cory, and how her 12 foster youth had a good life because someone loved them.