Lona, Eastin, Onika & Draegon

An update from the children's mom:
The adoption was finalized in January of 2013, and it really has been a blessing! It has certainly been a year of adjustments, but each child has done so well it is hard to believe it has only been one year. It is like we have always been a family. It was certainly a year of firsts - first visit to the beach, first meetings of family, making friends, first sleepovers, first experience having their own rooms and space and first time at camp. We were concerned, since it was such a big change the kids were making; flying nearly across the country to the great unknown. Consistent reassurance and the promise that we were never going to leave them - that we were going to be a family forever - really let them finally relax and be kids. (Click here for more...)

Rachel - Home for the Holidays

In 2011, when we interviewed 13 year-old Desiree about her desire for an adoptive family, her dreams were simple; "People who are fun...a really happy family." Nathan and Tammie Cox and their two young daughters fill that order in a big way. They love playing board games with the kids, laughing and spending time together. When we met them at Pinz, the bowling lanes at WHAHOOZ! Entertainment Center just a few weeks before Christmas, there was an overall sense of peace and mutual respect within this five-member family. They are gentle unassuming people who seem to have a knack for encouraging each child and creating a safe environment. (Read more...)

KTVB Success Story Part 1 | KTVB Success Story Part 2

Kevin (formerly Bradly)

Kevin was legally adopted three days before Christmas in 2008. That occurred more than a year after becoming involved with the Wendy's Wonderful Kids Program, a child-focused intense recruitment program for youths who wait in foster care for permanent families. With the help of two WWK Recruiters within that timeframe, Kevin participated in Wednesday's Child public promotions, even though most of that time he believed he would, in his words, "turn 18 without ever having the family I wanted." (read more...)

Watch Kevin's KTVB Success Story video

Cassey

Cassandra, or Cassey as she likes to be called by her friends, wanted to share her journey with all the families who might be thinking of adopting older children. She and her family shared the excitement of Cassey's adoption finalization. (Read more...)

View Cassey's KTVB Success story

Grace

We recently spent some time with a past Wednesday's Child participant, Grace, and her adoptive family. In the first installment of a two-part series, meet Grace's birth sister as well as her adoptive siblings. They are all members of a remarkable family "team." In part two of KTVB's series, they give helpful advice to families who are considering adoption.

View Grace's success story Part 1 | View Grace's success story Part 2

Ryan

"I can't believe I will be 18 in a few months, and I finally...just barely...have an adoptive family! I didn't know if it was going to happen, but I'm so glad it is done and over, and I don't have to have a hundred caseworkers in and out of my life!" Ryan's excitement, relief, and independence came through clearly as he spoke with his Wendy's Wonderful Kid's Adoption Recruiter, Sherie Borgquist, while she visited him and his dad, Neil, just a week after his adoption finalized.

Just a year ago, Ryan was living in a group home, struggling in school, and unsure how he was going to realize his dreams of getting a driver's license, a part time, job, graduating from high school, and going on to college to become a Registered Nurse. (Read Ryan's complete story...)

Watch Ryan's success story

Lona, Eastin, Onika & Draegon

Lona, Eastin, Onika and Draegon are four active children who were waiting for their family during the Christmas holiday. A generous Wednesday's Child donor showered them with Christmas gifts that included sturdy roll-along overnight suitcases in which three of the children could trolley prized possessions through a couple of airport terminals to join an adoptive family.

(Read more...)

Sibling Adoption Success

Jason, Shelly and their three older children celebrated two adoption milestones during "Idaho Celebrates Adoption" on November 18, 2011 at the Idaho Supreme Court. It was very close to the two-year mark when their son, Kooper, joined their family. They also recently finalized the adoption of three young sisters who danced their way into their hearts one year ago. Their attraction to these children began through the Idaho Wednesday's Child program. According to Shelly, the bond grows stronger each day with their commitment to taking challenges and triumphs one day at a time." (Read more...)

Kade

Life is hard enough when you're a boy who has come from the hard place of abuse or neglect and then lived several years in foster care. When you've moved many times within well-intentioned families, but none of them has really worked out, life can seem so unfair. Waiting for a permanent family, knowing other kids who have been adopted, and dealing with feelings of frustration and sadness are realities for many youth, especially pre-teen and teen-aged boys. (Read more...)

View the KIFI segment.

Lisa

When Lisa came to the Wednesday's Child program on November 4, 1998, she looked like an adorable 5 year-old child on the outside. The reality was that abusive brain trauma, commonly known as "shaken baby syndrome," had changed the course of her life.

Dressed in a white lace dress and hat, Lisa looked the perfect cherub as she walked into a photography studio to meet Dee Sarton and the KTVB camerman for her Wednesday's Child interview. In reality, Lisa operated cognitively and behaviorally on the level of a toddler. Challenges related to her brain trauma overwhelmed four foster care providers. An active child with high impulsivity and limited attention span, Lisa tested the stamina of photographer Terrell Moffett as she flitted from one place to another in his photography studio. Lisa's portrait truly captured the essence of her happy, irrepressible spirit. (Read the rest of the story...)

View Lisa's KTVB success story

Estaban

On June 16, 2010, Esteban joined a then recently-widowed single mother and her son, Hayden, who was adopted in his infancy. Laura knew that she liked kids. "I'd raised teenagers and my birth children were off on their own, scattered all across the country. I knew it would have its challenges but could also be rewarding," said Laura. "Hayden saw the Wednesday's Child program on KTVB and said, 'Mom, I want a little brother.' Later, when I saw Esteban's Wednesday's Child interview on Channel 7, I knew there was something very special about him. He loved football, and my father had played football for Notre Dame. I had football in my blood. Living where we do, we could certainly make sure that Esteban got to go to lots of BSU games." (read his story...)

View Estaban's KTVB success story

Kelly and Joe

Sometimes the best adoption placement decision for siblings is within two separate families that can give them the individual attention and support they need, while at the same time preserving and nurturing their sibling bond. Kelly and Joseph (who now goes by Joe) are two such youth. (Read their story.)

Watch the KTVB Success Story

Adoption Success Times Seven!

When Nolan and Mandy Mather became foster parents nearly three years ago, they did so with the goal of nurturing children younger than their own children. "I was afraid of fostering or adopting teens," said Mandy. "Then we did respite a few times. As we got to know older children on a weekend or while their foster parents were out of town, we found out they are not scary at all. We enjoyed them." (read more...)

View their KTVB adoption story

Cermak Family

After an arduous two-year wait to be matched with a legally free child in foster care, John and Debbie Cermak welcomed six year-old David into their family in 2007. Their love for David--a shy boy who loved Batman, playing with cars and video games, and who struggled with social skills, a speech impediment and developmental delays--has been broad and unconditional. David's love for his adoptive parents shines in his eyes and shows in a distinctive grin in every family photo. (read more...)

View their KTVB success story

Coach Family

The Coach family is a Wednesday's Child success of a different sort. John and Amanda were foster parents to a few members of a sibling group of eight children. Brothers and sisters could not be placed together because there simply wasn't space in one home. When we invited the entire family to a Christmas gift unwrapping and cookie decorating session, they agreed to having their Wednesday's Child segment filmed by two reporters. The idea was to cast the widest possible net for one adoptive family that could bring them together under one roof. It would be a tall order to fill. (read more...)

View their KTVB success story

Vivian

One of the happiest experiences for caseworkers as well as SNAPS' staff is to hear from families who have adopted or the youth whose life is on a success track because of that choice. Vivian contacted Idaho Wednesday's Child on Facebook with the following message:

"I was a Foster Youth, a part of Wednesday's Child. I went to a great home in Washington and am now a Junior at the University of Washington-Seattle... (Read more...)

View the KTVB segment here.

Ravert Family

Every adoption story has a beginning, and the beginning for children in foster care is generally not a happy one. But sometimes the ending makes the beginning seem a little less painful. This is one such story. For the Ravert family, as told by adoptive mom, Kari, their story begins when she and husband Mark lost a baby when she was 40. She was in her 8th month of pregnancy, and they were devastated.  Kari says, "All my life I had dreams and hopes of being a mom. Mark and I had talked about foster-adoption because he was a foster-adopted child. [Mark can also tell a story about foster adoption that had a happy ending for him!] His mom was a stay-at-home mom and fostered several children.  At age 45, I told Mark we better get going on this." (Read the complete story.)

View the KTVB success story segment.

Kolton

Kolton held onto his dream of a family for many years. At age 14, he was adopted by two parents who intend to help him stay connected with friends and family members who are a part of his life now. KTVB's Dee Sarton was happy to reconnect with Kolton when his adoptive family invited her to visit their home. We hope you enjoy watching this Wednesday's Child segment and reminding yourself that every waiting youth deserves this kind of happy ending...and beginning.

View Kolton's KTVB success story.