I knew throughout Mila's adoption process when she arrived home that I would be at max capacity as a solo parent to two children with special needs. By saying yes to my Albanian Princess, I would effectively be closing the doors to more children entering my family (at least for a very long while). I let myself grieve but also rested secure in knowing that moving outside of God's leading, even in saying yes to adoption, would not be safe for me or my kids. I did ask the Lord, though, was there something else we could do? James 1:27 is a cornerstone scripture in our home; one of the first I ever memorized--I couldn't NOT use whatever skills I had to come along side the widow & orphan and point them toward God's unending love for them. The answer seemed pretty straight forward...a clinic, not just for the kids in foster & adoption care but the entire family. If I couldn't foster & adopt all the kids, I could support the ones who are and hopefully, increase the numbers of families who are willing. Opening a clinic like that would be no small undertaking, but it could be done, maybe? The problem though was three fold: 1) There was no such model in the whole of the PNW that I could borrow from; 2) In 2017, I didn't work for a system that would support an innovative model like this; and 3) Wherever I did work that would say yes an undertaking of this magnitude, would have to say yes to a heck of a lot of unknowns on the verge of a potential healthcare overturn in Washington DC at the time.
May of 2018, just weeks before I popped on a plane across the world (the first time) for my daughter, I ran into an old friend and Medical Director of a local healthcare system. He was excited about the adoption, asked how I was doing and when I paused to say "Hey, I think I have an idea...", he didn't even let me finish the pitch; "Let's do it. I'll crunch some numbers and talk to the CEO. Call me when you get back from Albania." All three hurdles GONE.
It took a little over a year to work through the details, but in July 2019 I changed jobs & hit the ground running attempting to build something that had never been built, with no budget, physical space or staff; just a passionate vision to share with anyone who would listen. And I talked to EVERYBODY.
(I love this little detail...). In October 2019 I was walking through the foyer of our flagship clinic and overheard a patient ask where the radiology office was. As I made my way toward the elevator, I answered in my head "it's around the corner to the left, you'll see the door next to the main entrance", except the security officer said instead "I'm sorry the radiology office closed. The space is empty.". Wait. What?! I literally stopped mid-step and did that weird sit-com thing of leaning backwards around a corner "What did you just say? Radiology isn't in that office anymore?! Who is?! Do you have keys?! Can you let me in?! Yes, I work here. Who has the keys??" God had just provided our space!
Now...the money. I needed a seed fund to get us going and to justify a budget. Fast forward to Feb 2020, I had just stopped by our administrative building to drop something off when I passed our CEO in the hallway and quickly remembered he had been in a local Rotary. I backed up again, probably looking like a total weirdo. "Hey there, are you still in the Rotary?" Um. Yes. Whyyyyy? "Do they still offer community grants? Would you be ok if I asked them for a few thousand dollars to furnish the new clinic (thinking $2000 might be a stretch)?" *uncomfortable pause* I'll have to recuse myself, but go ahead. They only give out $5,000 so you'll have to make do with that. FIVE THOUSAND?! That's more than twice what I thought I would need. There is our startup fund!
The next 6 months would be a crazy season of designing a trauma-minimizing space that had never been made before in a lead-lined former radiology room that could not be physically altered. I would literally run down between patients and during my lunch hour to stare at a space to see how it could be used or unpack potential furniture or wall decor. "What about this space, Lord? How can this be used? What is Your vision here?" Here is the part I really love...my kids helping to "help the kids at mommy's work". Children once orphaned, now living out James 1:27 with the skills and abilities gifted in their own hearts & bodies. <3
It was slow going for about six weeks. So slow I was rehearsing what I was going to have to say to the Board when I would surely get called out for my shenanigan's in the middle of a global pandemic. But then the local paper heard about us...
https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article247151886.html
Then, the flood gates opened! Between January and April 2021 there was a 300% increase in visits. Each child, each family, each social worker overwhelming grateful for a clinic 'that get us'. YES. We did it. God did it!
https://www.commhealth.org/services/foster-adoption-clinic/
By May 2021...exactly three years after the initial 'hey, I've got an idea", my little team of loaves & fishes received an award as a Foster Care Center of Excellence. And by June, we are now acting as consultants to multiple organizations in several states looking to do what we have done.
Today, October 19 2021, is our first birthday!
More than 325 families have walked through our doors--adults looking to become foster or adoptive licensed, scared new foster parents not sure what to do with the scared little soul that was dropped on their doorstep, adoptive parents facing the reality of deep seeded trauma and pain in the heart of their forever child, homeless teens fighting battles alone they should never have to fight, newborns struggling to recover from drugs and alcohol embedded into every brand new fiber of their being, biofamilies reunified with their children and scared to loose them again, unaccompanied minors who have struggled to find a place to be safe & free, pregnant teenagers who may or may not be carrying a child of their own choice, school age children who have seen and felt more pain & fear than most of us will every know in a lifetime and grandparents long into retirement who are dusting off their parenting skills to help raise the next generation of their family.
It can sound overwhelming and some days the weight of the brokenness in our world is HEAVY. But, there is joy. We work to find the joy. When a previously overwhelmed foster parent reports successes in the home or sends a first day of school photo with a smiling, safe, happy child, there is JOY. When housing is found for a homeless teen the day before their 18th birthday, there is JOY. When a newly separated child gets to pick out extra stuffed animals to take to their siblings during a family visit, there is JOY. When a biofamily is able to provide the safe and loving environment their child needs and gets to parent again, there is JOY. When a traumatized toddler who screamed bloody murder for the first 4 visits but on the 5th they didn't and the 6th they said bye-bye and the 7th they asked to stay in the clinic...there is JOY. When a state social worker calls just to say THANK YOU...there is JOY.
It's been an incredible year and I know the next three and five and ten will be full of God's goodness and provision both for the clinic and the families we serve. Each interaction is a moment of speaking Life into broken spaces in family lives. I am in awe daily that our Good Good Father is allowing me to serve this way.
If you would like to help celebrate our birthday, you can give HERE. This little fund allows us to keep our stuffed animal closet full of hug-ready comfort friends.
