Calli Crowder entered foster care at the age of thirteen along with her three sisters. Calli shares why she was placed in care, her relationship with her mother and with her foster parents, and the events that shaped her time in the system. Having experienced injustice, Calli now uses her voice and her story to advocate for justice for kids in foster care. We hear what Calli does now and how she has experienced God throughout her life.
Then, to kick-off our Foster Journey series, Jason Johnson, foster and adoptive dad and the Director of the National Church Ministry Initiative for CAFO and More Than Enough, joins us to discuss where the Foster Journey begins. He addresses our hearts, our relationships, and the first steps in the foster care journey. Jason provides both great theology and practical advice for anyone just beginning to consider foster care for the first time.
Download the free companion PDF to this series—“Seven Insights about Foster Care from Those Who’ve Been There”–and share these types of insights with others in your community!
Key Quote
“It would start with listening. Not assuming it’s one of those things where if we would have had people at the beginning who listened and realized, Hey, there’s a difficult situation here that we could actually make a difference to where, hey, possibly we could still have kept in unified these, this family.”
Resources and Guests
Calli grew up in Ohio and graduated from Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA. She studied International Studies and Psychology. After graduating, she worked in a Foreclosure Defense Law Firm for two years until she was accepted into the Congressional Coalition for Adoptions Institute’s (CCAI) Foster Youth Intern Program.
As a result of her time in care, she desires to give back to foster parents, encourage children both in and out of the system and give a voice to those who do not have one here in America and around the world. Calli now also works for CAFO as the African American Leadership Council Coordinator.
Calli enjoys researching and analyzing Russian and will soon be married this March!
In 2008, alongside a core team of people in the North Houston area, Jason had the privilege of planting and leading a church with the Acts29 Network through which we founded a non-profit committed to serving, supporting and equipping foster and adoptive families in the city of Houston. In 2013, combined with 14 years of church-based ministry and leadership experience and his family’s foster and adoptive journey, Jason began working for an organization helping church leaders implement structures and strategies of ministry within their churches and developing resources to encourage and support foster and adoptive parents along their journeys. This ultimately led him to his current role as the Director of Church Ministry Initiatives with Christian Alliance for Orphans.
