Following a Calling - The Wiglesworth Family - Ambassadors of Hope

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello and thank you for tuning in to Ambassadors of
Hope.
I'm your host, charles Bender.
We're so excited that you'vetuned in to hear from local
South Florida leaders who aremaking a difference in our
community and region through ourcharity Place of Hope.
Who are we?
We're the largest, most diversechildren and families
organization spanning Palm BeachCounty and the entire Treasure
Coast.
Our goal is to help those weserve find healing and

(00:25):
restoration, leading to abrighter future.
Since 2001, place of Hope hasserved over 25,000 children and
youth in South Florida.
Place of Hope is a faith-based,state-licensed organization
providing programs and servicesto children, youth and families
to end cycles of abuse, neglect,homelessness and human

(00:47):
trafficking in our localcommunities.
None of this would be possiblewithout our Ambassadors of Hope,
the people in this communityand throughout South Florida who
use their leadership, influence, time, talent and resources to
help others.
Many have inspiring stories oftheir own that tie them
intrinsically to our mission,and we hope that their stories

(01:07):
will challenge you to get outand make a difference where you
live, work and play.
So much can grow from even justone small seed of hope.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Welcome to this episode of Ambassadors of Hope.
I am your producer for thispodcast by Place of Hope and my
name is Maya Lias.
In this episode, charles Benderand I are welcoming guests Lee
and Megan Wigglesworth, whoshare their journey as foster
parents.
It is beautiful to see theirenthusiasm for promoting their
story and emphasizes theimportance of fostering children
in need.

(01:43):
Lee and Megan's initial dreamof helping children became a
reality as they navigated thepractical aspects of becoming
foster parents.
They discussed the challengesand rewards they experienced
along the way, highlightingMegan's pragmatic approach and
their shared commitment tomaking a difference.
The Wigglesworths emphasize thesignificance of organizations
like Place of Hope in supportingfoster parents and children in

(02:06):
the foster care system.
Lee and Megan encouragelisteners to consider various
ways they can contribute, suchas fostering, volunteering or
supporting foster families.
Overall, this conversationunderscores the transformative
impact of fostering onindividuals, families and
communities, while calling formore individuals to step up and

(02:26):
support children in need.
Welcome to Seed of Hope, asegment filled with warmth,
gratitude and hope.
Today, we bring you theheartwarming story of the Sawyer
family in Cottage 9.
Let's talk about a moment thatwill be forever etched in our
memories.
Our boys had the incredibleopportunity to attend a Florida

(02:49):
Panthers playoff game.
In a luxurious sleep and withjust four seconds left in the
game, the Panthers secured theirplace in the Stanley Cup, and
the excitement our boys felt wasunparalleled, and we were
immensely grateful to thegenerous donors who made this
possible, because these memorieswill last a lifetime.

(03:10):
But the surprises didn't endthere.
One of our boys received apackage Brimming with excitement
.
As he opened it, to his delight, it contained a personal letter
from Mrs Trump herself, alongwith a World Cup soccer ball.
It was an extraordinary gesturethat touched our hearts deeply.
In the face of theseheartwarming experiences, we are

(03:34):
filled with so many positiveemotions and happiness.
We've witnessed the power ofdedication, support and
unexpected acts of kindness, andit is through these small seeds
of hope that has enriched thelives of the children in our
care, and we can't wait to seewhat the future holds.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
All right, welcome, Lee and Megan.
We want to see if you'd sharewith our listeners this morning
how you first became involvedwith Place of Hope and a little
bit about your personal callingto foster care.

Speaker 3 (04:08):
Yeah.
So, first off, thanks forhaving us.
Our process with Place of Hopestarted in 2012.
It dates back further to thatwith you know, we felt our call
to ministry in this way, but wehad a ton of excuses for why now
is not the time.
And God and His infinite wisdomand humor took all those

(04:30):
excuses away from us until wewere just left with the
obedience question if we weregoing to do what we were called
to do, and we kind of went to anorientation at Place of Hope
just thinking, hey, we'll findout what it is.
We have a lot of questions.
We don't know different aspects, probably like a lot of other
people out there, peoplelistening to this.
Just what does it even mean?

(04:51):
What does it look like?
How many people are going to becoming through our house?
And we knew the gentleman whowas there for orientation.
So we pictured like we'll hidein the back, we'll get our
questions answered, find noreason, we'll find some other
excuses not to do it.
And we walked in and our friendwas doing the orientation and

(05:11):
he like stopped, had everyoneturn around and he was like the
wiggles were us here.
They're going to be thegreatest foster family in the
world.
We're like this is the exactopposite of what we want.
That's awesome, but we did.
We got our questions answeredand then Megan is very what's
the next step?
What's the next step?
Mine was always for years beforeof this dream, right of like we

(05:35):
can help these kids, these arethe kids in need.
We can do this, we should dothis.
And she had the realisticquestions of what does this look
like and how does this getapplied and how do we change
this and how do we work throughthis.
And I was more of the.
You know, we'll figure that outwhen we get there.
And once we went a couple ofweeks of back, then it was the
map class for the licensing andshe was like, okay, we can do

(06:00):
this and we need to do this,this and this.
And then that was scary for mebecause then it got real.
It changed from like dream modeand fantasy mode to like, oh,
we're really going to do this.
And that's where she's so great, because she did.
I think all of our paperworkwas done by the time we were
done with map class, like assoon as we started getting our
homework assignments and like,hey, if you want to do this, you
need to do this, this and this.

(06:20):
And she had like got it alldone and when we were done with
maps, like it was pretty muchleft to fingerprinting to do it.
So, yeah, we ended up fosteringfor three years.
One of our it kind of soundsfunny, but one of our deals that
we made with God on it was weknew there's always a need so we

(06:41):
were like, hey, we'll do thisfor a year and then we'll
reevaluate.
But then going through theclass, like one of the things
that really got to us was theresults of attachment disorder
and like that just really movedus of, you know, for those who
don't know like the attachmentdisorder of a youth while

(07:01):
developing.
If they don't get thatattachment to a primary
caregiver, they don't build thatrelationship that's most
commonly built between mom andchild, father and child,
relatives and child.
Then it's just so many lifelongcomplications they have in
building relationships, buildingtrust, viewing community the
same way as people thateverybody starts becoming

(07:24):
individualistic to them morelike manipulating, and it just
broke our hearts.
I remember one of the things wewere taught is like, hey, you
could get foster babies thatdon't cry.
And a lot of foster parentsthink like what a perfect, what
a perfect baby.
They're so quiet and, sadlyenough, babies cry because they
have needs that need to be met,and what they've already learned

(07:45):
in that young stage.
They've already been neglectedor abused to the point that
they've learned crying getsnothing.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
It's one of I think one of the most- sad parts of
kids that are traveling throughall this trauma.
And then great people likeyourselves although not enough,
you know step up to do whatyou've done, and that's like the
secondary part.
People don't even realize thatand they don't even know what it
means.
I tend to think over all theseyears that probably everybody on

(08:12):
the planet has some degree ofattachment issues, right, Just
because of broken relationshipsand unmet expectations, but how
much more so for these youngpeople who lose all that early
on, end up sort of in a foreignenvironment and sometimes, as
you know, it repeats itself inthe system as well, where
there's just a lot of disruptionand so forth in their lives.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
So when we learned that, we were like we're never
going to be, we're never goingto give up on a child in our
care.
So our deal was one year, butno matter where we are in a
placement at the end of that oneyear, we'll see that placement
all the way through.
And then we felt like we gotconfirmation from God, like he's
a blackjack dealer, like deal,you got it and we shook on it.

(08:55):
And then, funny enough, ourfirst placement ended up being
our son, our first son.
So he stayed in our caraport996 days and his placement ended
up in adoption.
So, yep, we just kept our oneplacement.

Speaker 1 (09:08):
Creative forever family there.
Forever, family there.
Yep, just, I mean, even justshort of that, just taking kids
in and fostering is just such aheroic thing in our community
today, because you really justnever know, and I'm sure you
could say, no matter how greatthe training is or how much of
it there is, it all starts overand it's all brand new and

(09:29):
different the day somebody movesin, right.

Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah, absolutely, and just like having your own kids,
like every kid is so different,so it's definitely an
adjustment.

Speaker 1 (09:39):
So well.
Thank you, guys for everythingthat you continue to do in that
realm of helping helping youngpeople.
What are some of the activitiesand initiatives that you guys
have been involved in assupporters of Place of Vote, and
how do you think they've madean impact on the community as a
whole?

Speaker 4 (09:55):
Our company.
We actually started a we giveback referral program.
So every month we select acustomer who's referred someone
to us and donate money, or is it500?

Speaker 3 (10:08):
Yeah, $500 to a charity of their choice.

Speaker 4 (10:11):
Yeah, and if they don't have a charity which a lot
of times they don't have acharity of their choice, we have
one Influence it as much as youcan.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yeah, no, that's awesome.
I always think about thatparticular model that you guys
do and have for a long time, andI always said, like, can you
imagine if every organizationdid something like that Not just
for Placeope, although we'dlove that, but for any charity
for that matter if everybusiness was to say hey, as a
part of what we're going?
To do if this goes through, orif we create this contract

(10:40):
together or whatever.
It's just.
That's heroic as well.
It's super cool.

Speaker 3 (10:44):
I love it.
It's really fun to like seeingthe because Place of Hope
obviously means the world to us,but then seeing, like our
customers or referral partners,what they're passionate about,
and then we get to do a littlepiece on them and find out about
their charity and it is.
It's just, it's a very funaspect of it that we get to be a
part of and I think ourcustomers and our referral
partners appreciate it too.

Speaker 1 (11:04):
Well, you guys are really good at it.
I mean, right now you're doingthe summer fun, the summer
splash, with us.
And you know I obviously, in myrole, I see everything that
comes into Place of Hope andthis is constant ones that are
coming through with your lastname tag to it for summer fun.
So it's, it's super cool and,as you know, just like this show
it's.
It also helps get the word outabout Place of Hope because, as
I've said for years, this isthis is not truly supposed to be

(11:27):
a state function.
The state's involved andthey're a great partner with us
and so forth, but it's reallythe community that's supposed to
be taking care of thecommunity's kids.
And so, whether you're doinglike you do in fostering and
creating forever families andadoption, or what you just
described and there's so manyversions of that that people can
do you know a lot of peoplethat'll do birthday fundraisers
and send or Facebook funders orwhatever.

(11:48):
But it also the secondary thingI'm getting at is that it just
really helps spread the wordabout Place of Hope, which is so
invaluable and our staff thatwe've had come in and out of
there.

Speaker 3 (11:57):
We've done, I think, three times the party with a
purpose for a Christmas.
So we'll have our holiday partyand everyone knows they're
getting list off you know toysor lists or items from them and
then we're able to tell ourstaff through the two or three
Christmases we went through yeah, while we were fostering we
didn't have to buy a Christmaspresent Like this is what's
going on because of the you know, the people in the community

(12:19):
gathering that it is.
It's all huge.

Speaker 4 (12:21):
We actually had a.
He was a wonderful employee ofours and they, him and his wife,
became house parents and heresigned with two, two, four,
three.

Speaker 3 (12:36):
It was great.
I mean it was great.
It was hard for it, it was hardto get upset, but yeah, we took
him to like a seat for Hopeluncheon, just as like a thank
you for him and get toexperience this.
And then both of him and hiswife got the call of like we
want to be cottage parents.
It's like how do I say no tothat?

Speaker 1 (12:51):
Well, that's a super great example of what I'm trying
to talk about here and you know, again, that's what we hope
when listeners hear your storythat they think you know, wow,
okay, maybe maybe fostering isnot for me, maybe adoption is
not for me, maybe it is right,but but also just to be
encouraged by the other thingsthat you all are doing as well.
I'll jump back a little bit,just share a little bit of your
experience in fostering andrespite care and how it's

(13:12):
influenced your perspective on,specifically, the importance of
groups like place of hope,because it's one thing to just
be in the work, but it's anotherto make sure that you're doing
the work in excellence, becauseyou see, you guys are part of
team place of hope, you're notlike out here doing place of
work.
It's all one thing together.
So how do you you know what'ssome of your experience and why?
Why do you think it's importantto do with excellence?

Speaker 3 (13:33):
Well, first of all, the community and population.
It's serving to me, children,to not give a child the best
possibility to just like, evenknow, love, you know, of just
feeling a loving environment, ofknowing that they're supported
not just by whoever's takingcare of them financially or in

(13:56):
that house, but the wholecommunity.
And that's where I think placeof hope really steps in, because
it is so many other aspects tothe support that they're doing
of traditional foster families,the housing you guys have for
age out, like for us, we can'tunsee what we've seen.
So when we stepped into fostercare, one of the most I want to

(14:17):
say brutal but it was, it wasbrutal is the is the emails of
placements needed every singleday, sometimes multiple days.
You know sibling groups that youknow they want to stay together
and that's in that email forplacement of a sibling group of
three that's looking to staytogether.
And I just remember that Istill have a file on my Google

(14:38):
email of all of those, becausethere was something about
getting them and deleting theemail that felt not right.
So we would get them, we wouldpray over the email and then I
still have them in a little fileon my Gmail of you know
placements on there because itwas just, it's just tough.
So we know, even though ourcapacity and what we were doing

(15:00):
in foster care couldn't continue, we knew we were somehow going
to have to stay involved withPlace of Hope and foster care.
Community will be involved withit for the rest of our lives.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
That really speaks to the need to.
I mean because obviously youknow we see those same things.
There's just so manyorganizations in an area that
actually do you know foster care, licensing and so forth,
placement, and so we all see allof them right and just to see
so many come through, especiallythe large sibling groups, the
hard to place kids, ones thathave been multiple placement
disruptions, how it's so hard tofind the right placement for

(15:31):
them.
That's why, to this day, westill run which we don't really
call it this anymore, but anemergency shelter on one of our
main campuses, our packs andcampus, because it's typically
when they can't find anotherplace for these young that
happens to be boys in thatfacility, but it's, it's super
tough, yeah, and that was areally tough one.

Speaker 3 (15:49):
Teenage boys, yeah, and you knew that that was.
Those were hard placements,especially sibling groups of
teenage boys, and you know ourfamily wasn't in a position
where we could take them in butlike our hearts just went out to
that.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
Well, it's so sad because oftentimes you know,
things get codified a certainway.
It's like you see a file on ayoung boy and it's like, okay,
well, he's been involved in thisset and the other.
Well, you know, it's sort oflike the attachment scenario
we're talking about.
You know it's so much of it'snot fault of their own.
It's just acting out on thingsthat haven't been healed or
don't even have any chance ofstarting to heal, and then all
of a sudden they get themselvesin a, in a pickle, in a tight

(16:23):
place, and then it just looksreally bad.
And oftentimes you know we'vestepped out in faith for a lot,
and I'm sure you all have to,where you know just you just go
above and beyond and all of asudden you see that this kid,
johnny or whatever, is just justa great kid, just needed a shot
.

Speaker 4 (16:37):
Absolutely.
I mean, I think that's reallywhere our call came from.
We were teen parents with a tonof help and resources and
support and, I think, justlearning that these kids aren't
bad kids, bad seeds or even justtheir circumstances where they
come from.
They just don't have what wewere blessed or privileged with.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
I think about that all the time you started old,
you knew the housing that wehave for over 18.
I remember when that firstbecame an issue for us and that
was a long time ago.
But we learned about it andthankfully, we're able to do
something about it.
But now it's it's our largestarea of expansion, because we
like to call it a hand upprogram at that age.
Right, so it's not just you getto move in and do whatever you

(17:18):
want, but the need for it istremendous because of what you
just said, that you know, evenwhen they're younger, there's
just no one that they don't havethat same support network that
most of us have at some level,and some of them have none of it
.
We had actually today we had agreat article that ran in the
Palm Beach Post for Place ofHope, but it was specifically
about a young man that was inour care as under 18.

(17:39):
And then, of course, stayedwith us.
And now it's just doing aphenomenal thing.
He's just making it and it'sagain it's not a, it's not a
give me program.
It's just it's what's necessarywhen you miss those critical
formative years and and so manyother things in life.

Speaker 3 (17:51):
But that's like you got.
That's what I mean we loveabout Place of Hope.
You, you see, imagine, startedas foster care, right, and then
you see all the different gapsof what leads to that.
And then you guys coming in andfilling that away.
Because I remember when we wentthrough maps like the
statistics of incarceration rateafter 18, homelessness after 18

(18:12):
is terrible, and you thinkabout when you were 18, or if we
have two adult children.
If you have adult children,just no resources after 18,
right, like, hey, you're anadult now, good luck.
Oh, you know, I have yourdriver's license because you
were in the foster care for thelast 10 years.
No one taught you how to drive.
Yeah, good luck.

Speaker 1 (18:28):
I mean honestly, even though we're expanding and we
have a great program for over 18, we still wish that, you know,
finality could be found,permanency could be found for
every young person if they hadto come into the posture care
system through a beautifulscenario like a forever family,
like you guys have done andaccomplished, or, you know, be
able to go home to a, to ahealthy family, you know.
So I always say the village isa hope and post 18 foster care

(18:50):
really should be last resort.
And then that in between is hey, if we get a kid on the on the
tracks correctly and young manor woman wants to go Straight
off to school of pay, that'seven better too.
So, or, or that's great.
You know options.
So what advice or insightswould you guys give or offer to
other families who areconsidering being foster parents
, and there's any?
Are there any resources andsupport system that have been

(19:14):
Particularly valuable to youguys?

Speaker 3 (19:16):
So when while we were fostering, even up to a couple
years after, we would go intothe map classes where they could
ask questions to a, to acurrent foster family, and we
found from that we were alwaysasked to come back and bring our
biological daughters.
Because we really did, weinvolved our kids in it so much

(19:38):
that our daughters knew thatthis was like a family ministry
that we were gonna do you know,some people are called to go to
another country that we feltcalled to do this, that it was
gonna be our family ministry andthat they had to be on board.
We gave them a, a book the onefactor Okay, by Doug Sotter, who
used to oversee four kids downsouth and that had just has a

(20:00):
couple short, like individualstories of like who the kids are
, because I think it takes awaya lot of the Misconceptions of a
foster child and what that isand really paints a situation of
who is entering the system dueto abuse, neglect and
abandonment.
Right, and that was powerful forthem.
So I think involving your kids,I think gating as much
information as you can,listening to podcasts like this,

(20:22):
searching podcasts about fostercare, reading as much material
and, I think, finding a good,like-minded organization.
I think we kind of got luckyand being, you know, put in with
place of hope because Sharingthe worldview is very powerful
to talking to other people whohave gone through fostering and
not necessarily having that samerelationship with someone

(20:45):
helping them because it cansometimes, I think, feel like
it's Foster parents and versethe state right courts or
anything like one of the one ofthe like words I thought of when
you were talking aboutworldview, because obviously
that's a that's a largeconversation, but one of them is
you said earlier is likecommitment, being committed, we
were gonna get into this and andnot fail in some particular

(21:06):
young person's life.

Speaker 1 (21:07):
We were gonna see it through.
I mean that, that you couldlook at the worldview on the
word commitment, and you guysCertainly have accomplished that
, but there's I mean there's,you know there's probably five
words like that that areabsolutely critical in these
kids lives commitment, you know,so that they're not bouncing
around from place to place which, as we all know, makes things a
lot worse.

Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah, and I think when you, when you do, you look
at those statistics and you findout, like how far behind a kid
gets in Education for everyplacement and what the average
foster child who goes all theway to 18 in the system, how
many times they've been moved,and you start adding that up of
if they've been moved five timesand we've discovered that each
time they're moved is ninemonths back on their education,

(21:49):
exactly you've got somebodygraduating With maybe a seventh,
eighth grade education.
Right, we shouldn't besurprised at all.
And it's.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
It's almost like you can't pinpoint blame anywhere in
there, but the the system as awhole nationally is just, it's
not built to really regulate andmonitor those kinds of things.
And then, if you've got it, youknow everybody has a varying
Definition in their own world ofwhat commitment really looks
like.
You know, then it doesn'tshouldn't find it strange that
there's these place placementdisruptions and so forth, and

(22:18):
it's linked directly to their,their formative years in every
way relationships, education,etc.
Yeah, that's tough.
Share with us a memorablemoment or experience from your
journey as foster parents thatreally stands out for you
probably have a, probably have amillion of them, but oh.

Speaker 3 (22:33):
For me, I'm gonna sound.
I'm gonna sound like a, was I?
When I think back of the threeyears of us fostering, I don't
think I've ever cried or prayedas much as I did in those three
years.
I mean, you know, being aChristian and a Christ follower,
always looking for ways toSubmit to yourself, died
yourself a little bit more everyday and live for Christ.

(22:54):
And then there's also the maleside of me that is a Doer, you
know, and a provider, and Iwanted to do things.
So I think I was always able totalk about, you know, my family
being gods and I'm there toserve them.
Or you know, the businesses andultimately, god's control, but
I put forth a lot of effort tomake sure that it goes well as

(23:15):
well.
And then, fostering all of thoseLee Wigglesworth's, it's
completely removed becausethere's no control, there's no
control of anything.
When we get a text that sayshey, had a meeting with the
magistrate and we found arelative, you know, stay tuned,
might be three to four days andyou have, you know, your

(23:35):
nine-month-old that you've caredfor since birth, and you're
like wrapping your head around.
Okay, this just drasticallychanged.
Now there's a relative we haveto be prepared to reunify them
with their family.
It's just the ups and downs andthe amount of dependency that
we had to have on each other andContinue to communicate, and
then also just full, absolutefull reliance on God and just

(23:58):
knowing he was in control.
I remember pleading with him,sometimes in prayers of like
please don't let this scenarioplay out, because His life won't
be as good you know, their lifewon't, it's just my mortal
understanding of like I'm thebest you know, I'm the best for
this situation and I remember inmy prayer, thinking him,
thinking you.
You pray every night.
The most thing you care aboutis that they'll know me.

(24:20):
Like absolutely means like whatif the best way for them to
know me is in some prisonministry?
And that hit me in the gutbecause I was like I do not want
this nine-month-old in anyprison ministry you know, on
that, side of it.
Bring one ultimate reliance, butultimate reliance is like if
that is the best way for him toknow you, that is what I have to
submit to you.

(24:41):
Know, like that, I'm not incontrol, I don't know.
So it's, it was just all ofthose.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
That's kind of similar to when I, you know, if
you, we meet somebody new, thatsupporting place over whatever
and they'll inherently ask us sogive you know.
Similar question I asked you,like what you know, they'll say
what's a six step into tell meyour favorite success story at
place over whatever.
Or how do you define success?
And I've always said the samething.
There's so many ways for us todefine success because every

(25:06):
kid's so different.
They've all been through suchdifferent journeys, trauma
levels for some, or even wayhigher than others.
And you know We've had kidsthat have come in here with
close to a hundred placementdisruptions before they got to
us.
He's gonna imagine right.
So I've always said for some ofour kids, if we can just get
them to be able to look up andto rely on God and to Sort of

(25:28):
check Themselves in terms of howthey used to respond to things
so they don't get themselvesinto, you know, physical harm or
danger, and and then just totry to focus day by day on the
future, that kid's gonna besuccessful.
Yeah so, and then, you know,fast forward all the way through
to the kids that go off and gettheir Bachelors and master's
degrees or own their own littlecompany or whatever it is.
But it really starts rightthere too.

Speaker 4 (25:48):
Yeah, I mean for, for me, my, I think, the memorable
thing, for me, the takeaways,not necessarily an experience,
but I think it made, or not likeone moment.
It made um Us change how weparented, and not that we took
our kids for granted, ourbiological children, but we

(26:10):
definitely learned to to liveday by day and and that for For
at least my personality, thatwas a feat and I, like that was,
you know, when the day was hard, it was okay, I'll get to the
next hour, but we learned to.
If the boys are, boys werewonderful, but they were.

(26:32):
They were difficult, it washard, it was a hard situation to
have no control.
We'd be in a Carve, screamingchildren and looking at each
other and learning to just bethankful for that horrible
moment.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
Here they're with us that's gonna encourage some
people.

Speaker 4 (26:51):
It.
I mean like, whereas before Iwould have thought it was a
horrible.
Moment right it, it wasn't itwas to be thankful and and to
learn to.
You know they're there with usand what.

Speaker 1 (27:05):
I gotta hang out with you guys.

Speaker 3 (27:09):
Like, if they're crying and screaming, it's
because they learned that oncewe stop this car, their needs
can be met like this is okay,this is right.
Still progress, I thinkinteresting.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
If you go back to that training part we talked
about, you know the foster caretraining and all that stuff.
I know one of the things we'vealways tried to do at place Hope
over the years is to tellpeople, whatever program they're
in with us they're thinkingabout fostering or thinking
about working in villages, isunderstanding to that.
You know you're seeing thingsthat are coming out of places
that you really don't understandwhere they're coming from,
behaviorally, etc.

(27:37):
But one of the things we'vealways done is tried to like for
lack of a bit of him warnpeople about the realities up
front, not Sugarcoat it with oh,this is just gonna be nothing
but pure ministry.
Here it is, but at the sametime that doesn't mean anything.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
It'd be difficult, super difficult and and I felt
like you guys did a great job ofthat for us, because there were
definitely people we took theclass with you could tell we're
there to kind of this same oflike foster to adopt, and that
in our class they pretty muchtook that out.
They're like don't think likethat, right, because it's so you
know, they knew the percentagesof how many come through to

(28:09):
adoption and it's like yourheart will be broken over and
over again If that's the goal.
Here's the cold reality.

Speaker 4 (28:15):
Yeah, I think the Honesty and like it was brutally
honest of the the reality, yeah, gave me the courage to Do it
might have scared somebody elsethat came out the room.
But sure and I think that if itdid, it served its purpose.
Yeah, they weren't, you know,it wasn't their time, or you?

Speaker 1 (28:36):
Yeah, because I think without doing that.
I mean you look at the onething you will hear kind of
commonly from people when theythink about fostering or they
think about adoption in ageneral sense, they think, oh,
but I've heard these terriblestories about you know, the kids
being ripped away and so forth.
So and yeah, and it can happen,as you know and it and things
and reunifications happen and soforth.
So I think, like you said, youknow, knowing that up front, the

(28:58):
reality of that is best Withthe possibility of that
happening.
So absolutely, can you speak alittle bit about the resources
available to foster parents?
You know, through the state oryou know, there's our health
insurance free college forfoster children.
People hear about any othersupport systems that have been a
fitted children you've served.

Speaker 4 (29:16):
Yeah, there's a ton.
I mean even as From the verybeginning, their formula.
You know they're the.
I believe it's WIC, the WICprogram right.
So we had help with that, eventhe clothing when we started
over.
So we had nothing right and Ithink place of hope even helped
us with the crib and I think,given people the opportunity To

(29:43):
serve outside of foster care.

Speaker 3 (29:45):
Like we let our church know what we were doing
and our church ultimately spokefrom the pulpit of what we were
doing and Put our need list forbaby items on an Amazon list and
we got Everything.
I mean stuff we wouldn't spendour own money on.
Like people were going aboveand beyond and getting the Eddie
Bauer edition stroller.
We're like we never had thisfor our own kids.

(30:07):
But then, yeah, the I know oneof our initial questions in that
orientation class was okay, ifthis goes through to adoption, I
know how much health insurancecosts because I pay for that.
I know how much college costsbecause I've paid for that twice
, and then finding out that,yeah, they, their cut healthcare
is covered.
Our, our youngest, went throughthree surgeries While he was in

(30:28):
foster care.

Speaker 4 (30:29):
So paid for the surgeries and the therapy
afterwards, the physical therapy.
I Mean yeah, I think they havebetter health insurance than I
do.

Speaker 1 (30:38):
I mean think about it , though I would bet a lot of
listeners have no idea thatthat's all correct.
You know part of things therethat they really are in the
custody of the state of Florida.
Yeah not that that's a goodthing in any way, but they are,
and so really that's that's theleast that they should be
providing, but they do, and Ithink a lot of people don't
realize.

Speaker 4 (30:56):
Yeah, yeah they both have glasses and that's paid for
and effort for the most partand, yeah, their college will be
.
They choose to go to college.

Speaker 3 (31:06):
Yeah, even though we've adopted because they were.
I think it's six months.
You might know better than I ifhow long they're in care
qualifies them.
So as long as they go to aFlorida public University, their
tuition and fees are covered inthe state of Florida.
So that is kind of taken careof.
Even you know the the stipendsnot much, but you know there are
other resources there.

(31:27):
And two, I think again justletting people know what you're
doing.
Place of hope is there.
We met other foster parents.
They ended up starting mytreasure coast foster closet.

Speaker 1 (31:35):
Yeah, and down in Stewart.

Speaker 3 (31:36):
It's just a you know, kind of a carousel of the the
Items that you need fordifferent ages.

Speaker 4 (31:42):
It's so crazy when you're not in it, you don't know
, and then as soon as you're,it's like you're in this club,
yeah, and all of a sudden youknow Everybody that's fostering
and they, they really it's ahuge family and they pull
together and I Mean that wasreally humbling well, you know,
for for the Material supportside, that you guys are talking

(32:04):
about that, just that side ofwhat that meant for you all to
have.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
You know you get into it.
You don't have really anythingbecause you're kind of starting
over and of course, right preplacement, you don't know if
you're getting a 12 year old boyor a six year old boy or
whatever it is right.
So One of the things welaunched many years ago as a
support program just to anybodythat's kind of in any way
touching the outskirts are rightin the middle of the child
welfare system.
We we provided that kind ofsport, especially if you were

(32:29):
licensed by us and so forth.
But now that we've seen over thelast couple years so many
children going into relative andnon-relative placements, which
is basically, as you know, it'sthe same as foster care.
It's just not not licensed andit's usually with a grandmother
or an aunt or somebody friend ofthe family.
But now we're talking, thenumbers are outrageous.
How many have been divertedthat direction?

(32:49):
It just in South Florida, andso, as a result of you know,
thankfully I have a great boardof directors.
I went to them and so we needto divert here and go in this
direction in a big way and fast,and the communities gathered
around us to where we're servingabout a hundred and twenty,
hundred to a hundred and twentyfamilies Regionally each month
with material support.
So it's just like you describedas a move in and all of a sudden

(33:10):
you don't.
You don't have any of theclothing, you don't have the
crib, you don't have the carseat.
You know, maybe some food wouldbe helpful all the, especially
when we're dealing with all theinflation we're dealing with.
That's a whole another issueright now.
I've.
You know, if I, if I were toSort of bet, I guess I would
think that there's, we're gonna,we're probably gonna, if this
continues Economically the wayit is with, with inflation, be a
way it is, I think we're gonnapotentially see less people

(33:31):
Stepping up and stepping intofoster care, simply because of
the cost, you know, even thoughthere are those supports out
there.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
But for us, it's, it's probably.
Becoming one of the fastestmoving things that we're doing
and help us and I love that, cuzyou guys are even doing that,
like you said, to keep them inrelative care or something like
that.
And to me that's so incrediblecuz I don't know if you've ever
run into it we ever run intolike a cynic, that doesn't.
That looks at place of hope orany charity through Squinted

(33:57):
eyes.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
Have you ever seen my truck?
Never, never.

Speaker 3 (34:00):
Yes, of course but you know, just talking to to
people who truly believe thatcharities are self-serving and
that because that it's abusiness and not a charity, and
for for me to see place of hopethat's that is Reaching out to
serve Children but alsorealizing what's in the best
interest of the child sometimesis to be with a relative and to

(34:24):
support that relative just likeyou would a foster family.
Just that big picture mindsetto me is something that just
makes place of hope so much morereal.

Speaker 1 (34:33):
Well, you know, it's interesting to the other thing
I've always loved about Place ofhope and our, you know, our
board and our team is that we'revery entrepreneurial.
We're always going to be thatway and that is that we can
pivot and go in a directionwhere there's a need, and
especially In the realm ofowning our homes and our real
estate and our apartmentbuildings, is that you know, if
there's a, if there's just anovernight change in the

(34:54):
population that's needing thosehomes or that apartment.
So, for instance, we serve alot more moms with dependent
children right now, single momswho are found living in cars and
homeless and living in parksand so forth, and some were in
foster care, some weren't, but,as you know, they're a prime.
I don't say target, but they'rethey're they're being
potentially looked at forremoval of their children

(35:15):
because of poverty or because ofa short term Running from
something, and so to be able totake them in.
Not only is it is it meetingthe needs of those in need of a
Healthy transition to success,but we're potentially keeping
kids out of foster care.

Speaker 3 (35:29):
Yeah at the same time which is amazing, teaching them
how to parents and with andwith their mothers and, like you
said, like for giving them thathand up, because Sometimes
that's all it needs.
But on the outside it can lookso much like neglect and really
neglect is a single mom who hasno resources, who has no clue
how to do it, who's loves herkid and needs help, and that's

(35:50):
where place of hope can come insure and give that love and and
being able to turn and Meetthose needs fast you know, why
we're now on our new Stuartcampus.

Speaker 1 (35:59):
That's gonna be a pretty much the number one thing
we're doing up there isexpanding affordable
transitional housing, becauseConcurrently we talked about the
economy, but look at thehousing prices right?

Speaker 4 (36:08):
So it's really hard for people to make it right now
and we don't want everybody justmoving out of town, you know so
yeah, I know what you said wassomething that we learned, I
think initially, before we gotinto it, we thought all these
are just parents who abuse orneglect their children and we
were just so wrong ormisinformed and learned that

(36:31):
it's exactly what you're talkingabout and and the reason we
wanted to do it is it's.
It's.
Sometimes it's just they'rejust felt a brawl teal and they
don't have the help or the legup or the resources, and place
of hope has totally stepped inin that gap and really walked
the walk but partnering withgreat people like you, because

(36:51):
we can't do it without you.

Speaker 1 (36:53):
And so, you know, I've always said to never to
forget that a lot of you know,we, we you talked about kind of
the tumultuous side ofPotentially having, you know,
someone in your care when youmeet with a match, straight
having to go home, so and that'sthat's a tough thing to do and
you know, even even when it'sthe right thing to do, it's it's
still a tough thing to walkthrough, especially for you.
I've never experienced thatdirectly except for the kids

(37:14):
that are, you know, on ourcampuses.
Before then there's been somereally Tough times.
We've, you know, grappled withand wanted to wrestle and and so
forth.
But you know, there's just,there's that side of just
knowing that we're here to plantseeds, you know, and so you
know we have had a lot of youngpeople that have gone home into
bio families and so forth andmade it and reported back and
they're and they're doing great.
But so you guys are seedplanners, we're trying to seed

(37:36):
plant, and that's, that's daily.
Now you mentioned at one pointto us the support you received
from our former employee, whoeverybody on the planet knows,
and that's Jenny O'Neill, youknow, during your fostering
journey.
Yeah, she's awesome.
Tell us, tell our listeners,about the help she provided you
and and Jenny specifically, butalso Jenny in kind of in her

(37:57):
role Like, why was thatimportant?

Speaker 3 (38:00):
When you were fostering the family support
specialist.
You guys still call it thefamily support specialist.

Speaker 1 (38:04):
I think we do, yeah, okay.

Speaker 3 (38:06):
So we I feel bad and I don't know any of your current
family support specialists, soif they're listening, I don't
mean to insult them, but we gotthe best family support
specialist that was available.
Jenny was perfect for us andour family.
She, her whole life mission,has been for the orphan.
I think her and her husbandTravis, became cottage parents

(38:27):
like 22 oh yeah, like.
So their entry to newlyweds wasraising that critical group of
five teenage boys, yeah, in ahouse.
So while most 22 year olds Iknew were not taking care of
five teenage boys that barelytaking care of themselves, I was
gonna, that's what, that's whatshe was doing and what the call
was on her life.

(38:47):
So she ran our, our licensingclass.
She was extremely direct.

Speaker 4 (38:52):
She's just a no-nonsense kind of person and I
think God knew that that'sexactly what we needed, and she
was a huge support didn't needthem dancing around the issues,
no.
Give it to me straight.
Yeah, and so she was.
She's very obviously she'sstill empathetic and she has a
huge heart.
But she was just very real andI think when you're in it you

(39:12):
know she's who I would go to.
But for my mom, my mom's neverbeen in this situation.
She didn't foster and it is, Isaid, like a club before but it
is.
It's just you don't know.
Right and so you know, when Ineeded to like vent or kind of
just cry, she would hear me andlisten.
Of course, this is what it is.

Speaker 3 (39:35):
So here's what we're gonna do.

Speaker 4 (39:36):
Yeah and here's who you're gonna call, or I'll call
this person and, and you know,chip, chop, chip and well
because you're also naturallynot just caregivers, your
advocates, and so that's a wholeanother side of your
personality.

Speaker 1 (39:47):
I'm certain that comes out when you're wanting to
go to battle for this child.
That's in your care, right, andso you want somebody who's
gonna support that as well.
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3 (39:56):
I think Megan and junior, similar kind of in that
make.
Megan would have this hugefolder of all their visits.
You know when they happened,what they had, what happened
with them if they were canceled,why they were canceled
Different, you know.
Just, her record keeping wasmeticulous and I'll spot on and
we would go to these hearings,these placement hearings, and
these case workers areoverloaded with cases, so you

(40:18):
see them being asked a questionby the judge or the magistrate
and they're fumbling through andthey're usually saying
incorrect information, like oh,I think the last one was
yesterday, right, and then Meganwould be like you know, we're
in the back, just supposed tonot have a part which is like I
have the records of thevisitations.
Here they are.

Speaker 1 (40:33):
They haven't happened in four months, but that's
exactly what should be takingplace to create a quality care
environment for a young personwho's at the neediest point in
their life Possible to have tobe removed from family, placed
in a system whatever you callthat system foster care.
And I can tell you right now Imean I've been doing this a long

(40:54):
time not everybody hasadvocated at the level or been
as organized at the level, orbeen just 100% for that child in
every way, to take that kind ofenergy and apply it because
that that's the way it should beand it's not.
And as a result, you know, alot of kids do really fall
through the cracks or they don'tget out as fast as they could,
or they don't have the best.

Speaker 3 (41:16):
Outcomes.
It would be very, very easy andI think that's what Jenny and
that position was for us likethey knew with their experience
that she's no one.
Don't trust the case manager,case worker, to keep those notes
.
You keep those notes.
You take them if you don't haveto go to these hearings, but if
you can be there, because theseare the things in conversations
that are gonna come up, and ifyou can have that stuff readily

(41:37):
available, so her have gonegoing through that could tell us
.
Another big thing.
For that, I feel like for hers,are our placements didn't have
at the beginning, a guardian oflitem, mm-hmm, and we were told
that we weren't going to so forpeople don't know, that's a
courted court appointed advocate.

Speaker 1 (41:52):
Some states call them Casas, right?

Speaker 3 (41:54):
So we have in this town GAL for the child right
because technically they look atus in those hearings and we're
the foster parents.
So our vantage point isobviously skewed towards the
what's best beneficial for us.
But a guardian of litem, thatthird party, can truly speak,
supposedly to the best interestof the child, and we were told
you're not eligible.

Speaker 4 (42:14):
That was a unique case, mm-hmm Because the?

Speaker 3 (42:17):
yeah, their biological mother was.
It's talk about it beinggenerational and cyclical.
She was in the foster caresystem herself, Okay right
underage.

Speaker 4 (42:25):
Yeah, and she had a part of that.

Speaker 1 (42:27):
Yeah, exactly yeah so it was like you know that.

Speaker 3 (42:29):
But Jenny got on that and, whereas us normally not
knowing foster care is goingthrough it, we probably would
have taken that first responsiveno, they're not eligible.
Right, just stuck with it.
And Jenny really went out thereand Talked to people and
explained the case and explainedwhy she thinks they should have
one and, lo and behold,no-transcript.
One of their hearings.

(42:50):
The guardian of the line ofmaternity was there and just had
everything on there and voicedpretty clearly to the judge what
they felt was in the bestinterest of the child, after
they've been in our care forthree years, was to stay unified
with the only family they knewand I think that was extremely
important.
And I don't know that we wouldhave fought those extra battles
to make sure that they got that.

(43:10):
I don't know about that.
I think you would have triedfor sure.

Speaker 1 (43:13):
We would have figured something out.
But I mean, I like to alwaysthink about how we would train
our entire program staff to bethat advocate.
Obviously, some are better thanothers, but that's the whole
idea, is it truly is about bestinterest of the child, because
none of us would really want tobe doing this otherwise as a
mission calling, or we've beencalled by God to do this work,

(43:33):
and so why would we not want togo all out for it?
But I'll tell you it'sinteresting over the years.
A lot of people don't realizeplace of hope is not quote party
to the case legally in thesecases.
So we're often in the sameposition as you guys might be,
where we don't know something,we're not really allowed to ask
about it, and not only that, butif we think something's wrong,
we really think in some waysthey don't care what we think,

(43:58):
and so we've always managed tokind of push back there as well
as much as we possibly can,maybe just a lot of times, using
the leverage of being a wellrespected organization with,
again, people like you is in thewings of that, and so we've had
to use that leverage in thepast and thankfully found the
right voices most of those times.
But without it it would bereally really tough to do any

(44:21):
kind of fostering, I think.
So how has your experience as afoster family affected you
personally?
How has it changed yourperspective and influenced your
own life in?

Speaker 3 (44:34):
every way?
Oh man, yeah, in every way.
We started as a family of fourand now we're a family of six.
We have two sons that Godgrafted into our family that
wouldn't have been ours.
I think about the generationalimpact it'll have, which is
something I don't think, I stilldon't truly fathom.

(44:57):
I remember one time reading acommentary on Genesis, the King
and Abel story, and King killsAbel and God says his blood is
crying out to me.
In this commentary I wrote thatimagine from a God standpoint
what that was.
He just saw half of thepotential of humanity at that
moment wiped out.
And that's kind of how I look atthe children that place of hope

(45:21):
is serving in the foster care.
It's not just that child, it'sgeneration upon generation of
children and children andchildren that are coming after
that.
So the last name Wigglesworthwhat does that going to look
like in two years?
But for those who can't see uson the podcast or whatever,
we're Caucasian and our adoptivesons are not, so they do not

(45:43):
look like us.
There's no question that theydidn't come from either of us,
and that's what I'm alluding tojust how we've been impacted for
that.
Our daughters Mikaela, ouryoungest daughter, is going to
school to get her master's insocial work.
She wants to be a genio, niel,when she was 10 years old.
She's like I want to be a placeof hope family support

(46:05):
specialist, and she hasn'twavered from that since she was
10.
And that's what she's going toschool for now.

Speaker 1 (46:11):
Well, tell her to hurry up, because we're looking
for people right now.

Speaker 4 (46:14):
Yeah, I think it being generational for sure.
I remember feeling guilty,actually, when we let our
license, or thinking aboutletting our license expire.
Once.
We adopted two children andfelt just guilty Because, again,

(46:35):
we were still receiving thoseemails and what was once
supposed to be one year, right,we made our deal with God.
It went on for three and thennow we're going to, oh yeah.
And I remember having to callJenny because I was really
struggling with it and I don'tknow why, but I just needed her

(46:58):
approval.
It's okay, her approval, orjust her giving me again the
courage that it's okay.
By the way, you're doing thisfor a lifetime now, or two
children, and I knew it.
But it was just like it's stillyour ministry, it's just going
to look different and you don'tneed the license.

(47:20):
And I think she even gave melike logistical reasons why it's
better for place of hope,because then we can license more
.

Speaker 1 (47:28):
Yes, there's something like that.
It's like, oh right, right,right.
Well, think about it.
And, although different, I mean, yes, you are doing for
lifetime with your boys, butalso the things that you're
doing, that we're talking abouttoday, like doing this show
where people can hear what it'sreally like.
It's a whole lot different forme to just sit here and speak
about statistics and what it'slike and so forth.

(47:49):
I've never fostered in my ownhome my wife and I haven't done
that, so you can speak to that,not where I can and people are
going to hear that when theyhave questions or who knows, it
might just be used as the thingthat God uses to call them and
draw them in to hear more.
Right, but also the things thatyou do as a family and as a
company, and the summer splashthat you're doing.
All those things are allowingus to have that umbrella out

(48:12):
there to hopefully find morepeople that will come in and do
the hands on as well.

Speaker 3 (48:18):
Yeah, I think the other thing, too Megan hit on.
It was when we got into this.
It was like I can serve kidsand babies and I always thought
of whoever's going to abuse,neglect or abandon a child.
There's not much worse rightLike scum of the earth, and that
was my black and whiteviewpoint of it.
And then we get in here and wefind out about their biological
mom and it becomes a lot moregray, a lot more convoluted and

(48:42):
it's not as simple as good andbad, and I think so.
That has changed ourperspective of everything, with
the boys being different racesthan us, even just the way we
view racial relationships andstuff like that.
We adopted our oldest changedhis middle name is Ananias after

(49:04):
Ananias and Damascus, because Itruly feel, like him being our
entry into foster care, that Godused him to really pull back
the scales on our eyes for justeverything that it was going on
there.
So, yeah, it's impacted us andour children and their children
and it's all right.

Speaker 1 (49:27):
One of the favorite things we do every year is our
end of the year graduation forthe kids that are in our care
that are either finished in highschool Well, actually, we try
to celebrate kindergarten rightaround May, right, Kindergarten,
middle school, we look atobviously high school and then
we had college.
So we had between we had 12 justthis past week that we did our
own ceremony with, and so forth.

(49:48):
But just hearing them, seeingthem want to be there they had
their own at their own schoolsand so forth but now having this
one at play and then justhearing some of their stories
and some of them will go as faras giving you details about what
things were like prior, youknow pre-removal and so forth
and just knowing that us as acommunity, community place of

(50:09):
being able to do what we do, andjust seeing the trajectories
change, man, it is the best andI love it.
So that's awesome and thathappens to be one of my favorite
things we do.
I think you've I'm going toskip down then just a little bit
of advice or suggestions you'doffer listeners who might be
interesting, interested infostering and maybe you know and

(50:31):
want to make a meaningfulimpact how could they get
started and navigate the process.
Or you might say, hey, no,don't do it at all, Do this.
I don't know what your answermight be, but I think there's a
lot of ways.

Speaker 4 (50:42):
It doesn't necessarily just have to be
taking in babies or children ofany age into your home.
You know you could get yourfoot wet by just I mean even
just donating.
You know, I think there was aThanksgiving drive that we did
one year, which was huge.
I know our former employee thatbecame a house parent.

(51:05):
We did like a wigs.

Speaker 3 (51:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (51:09):
Don't.
There's just, you could startsmall.
I think I would say start small, but for me personally it was
going to an orientation.

Speaker 3 (51:15):
Yeah, yeah.
I think if somebody islistening to this and thinking
about it, that that's somethingthey should be listening to,
right, because I think there'sso many people who you can go
through and not realize.
These are kids that are sittingin classrooms with your kids.

Speaker 1 (51:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (51:33):
Like they're not it's .
These are kids in our communityand if you're thinking about it
, you're probably the person todo it.
You probably are getting thatcalling.
At least go learn more, right?
Yeah, absolutely.
So go find out.
Have your questions answeredlike we do.
We had a lot of reasons why notto do it and, to be honest with

(51:54):
you, there was two reasons thatnever got eliminated, and those
were that it would damage ourbiological kids in some way and
that.
The other one was we didn't knowif we would ever be able to
love a child and have themreunified, which was their case,
plan goal for almost the wholeentire time, and those fears

(52:16):
never got taken away.
They were just something thatwe had to address with it.
I remember praying over thatbefore we started and I felt
like God again gave me a gutpunch and said Lee, you're
looking at this like you'rebiological kids.
I can't take them home wheneverI want and it just floodgates

(52:37):
of he's right.
I'm not guaranteed tomorrowwith them.
And he said I'm not asking youto care for them for their
entire lifetimes.
I'm asking you to care for themas long as I trust you as the
custodian, to give them care,regardless of biological or
foster, and that way it was verypowerful and I in it changed

(52:57):
our perspective even of raisingour own kids.
There are ours, but they're his.

Speaker 1 (53:04):
And there are so many ways, as you were describing.
To people, I mean, I always say,hey, you could do a diaper
drive, right, because we have alot of babies that are in and
out of care.
We have babies in our maternityhome and diapers are expensive,
especially as we're helpingthese single moms in transition.
Again, it's not a free for allprogram.
It's a hand up to try to offsetsome of the things that make it
impossible for that mom, forinstance, to actually go back to

(53:28):
school.
Try to juggle three jobs, tryto pay the rents that are fair
market around this area and makeall that work.
And that's why typically, theywon't right, and that's why the
child welfare system's hoveringright here a lot of the times
and that's why people do missone bill payment and they're
living in their car and behind abank.
So if we can stop that and someof the ways are seem small,

(53:50):
right, but they all cometogether to make a powerful
impact.
And that's why it just might beas simple as a food drive or a
diaper drive or all the way downthe line showing up and go into
an orientation and justlearning more.

Speaker 4 (54:03):
Yeah, I think, and even we had people who were
genuinely concerned for us andour family's well-being and had
concerns about us doing it.
I think sometimes the responseis like, well, you can't help
them all, and that's true, butif you can just do your one part
, and even if it's not even justone child for one placement, it

(54:27):
makes a big difference.

Speaker 1 (54:29):
It's like the Christmas wishlist thing.
When you think about it, likeyou were talking about earlier,
people say, well, how do I getinvolved in that?
Well, you can look at awishlist from one child.
You could look at an entirecottage or foster family, or you
can look at a whole campus ifyou want to.
But if you just want to helpone, that's fine with us as well
.

Speaker 3 (54:47):
And thinking too of the churches.
I know when we were goingthrough it and I think even
still now, our current churchwill do like give foster parents
a date night.
Yeah, and you can bring yourkids to our Sunday school for
this night on Wednesday once amonth.
And just that volunteer who'sgiving up their three hours to

(55:07):
wrap with a child.
Give so much relief to a fosterparent.
Absolutely so, just littlethings like nothing is too small
.

Speaker 4 (55:15):
Yeah, yeah, like you said, it can just be your time.

Speaker 1 (55:18):
Well, I appreciate all these ideas too, because I
love putting it out there forpeople that might not even know
the right questions to ask orwhat the pitfalls might be as
barriers and so forth.
But finally, summarize thesignificance of place hopes work
in just a few words.
I'll slow down my question howfast I ask it so you can think a

(55:39):
little bit.
What would you say to inspireothers and supporting the
mission overall?
Because, after all, you'reambassadors.

Speaker 3 (55:47):
I believe we're called to be kingdom builders,
that we are called to as Christfollowers and Christians, to
make his kingdom here on earth,to make earth look as much as it
possibly can like heaven andplace of hope, is doing kingdom
work in their own, in our ownbackyard and people here in
Florida.
We don't have to fly everywhere, we don't have to trust that

(56:11):
some organization here.
This is an organization righthere that I'm sure Charles would
talk to them and answer anyquestions or get the right
people that can't answer theirquestions in there, like you
guys.

Speaker 2 (56:21):
Like us that are doing it.

Speaker 3 (56:24):
So I mean, that's to me.
I don't know how to get moresignificant than that, than what
place of hope is doing that.
They're building the kingdom ofheaven on earth for these kids.
That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (56:36):
Well, listen, you guys are true ambassadors.
I love your story.
I love, as I've watched it overthe years, unfolded, continues
to.
You walked in here today tostart the show with us, this
episode, and you know I just sawthe smiles on the boys faces
and that just it says so much,as you know.
I mean it's just seeing theirsmiles and knowing how they feel

(56:57):
safe and loved and secure.
And you know, you know I willlikely leave here, go back to
one of our campuses today and Imade just very well see somebody
that just moved in last nightand they may not have that same,
well, I know they won't havethat same look on their face,
but you know, to see, to knowthat it can transform and in the
right circumstances, with God'spower, will is, is a real

(57:17):
blessing.
So thank you guys for beingambassadors of hope at place of
hope.

Speaker 3 (57:21):
Absolutely.
Thanks for still giving us theplatform to tell our story, oh
you'll be back.

Speaker 1 (57:27):
Thank you, guys, thanks.

Speaker 2 (57:33):
Welcome to hope and action.
Today we have an inspiringstory of ambassadors of hope
shining a light on theincredible power of adoption.
We are thrilled to announce theofficial adoption of two
remarkable six year old twinswho have captivated our hearts
since day one.
With great love and compassion,the dedicated house parents
have welcomed them into theirforever family, a haven where

(57:55):
they are cherished and embracedunconditionally.
This heartwarming developmentfills our lives with
immeasurable joy and ignites arenewed sense of hope.

Speaker 1 (58:07):
So much can grow from even just one small seed of
hope.
Thank you for becoming a partof our community, helping us
grow and become an ambassador ofhope yourself.
Please be sure to subscribe soyou don't miss a single
uplifting moment.
For further details andinformation on how you can
connect with us, please go toplaceofhopecom slash podcast.

(58:29):
That's placeofhopecom forwardslash podcast and we'd love to
hear from you anytime.
Please email us atpohpodcastatplaceofhopecom or
find us on social media.
Ambassadors of Hope, we'll seehope in a child's future.

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Following a Calling - The Wiglesworth Family

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Following a Calling - The Wiglesworth Family