Hope Grows When Every Piece Finds Its Place

Ashley and Brett like to call themselves the “House of Misfits.” Every animal in their home has been adopted, so when it came time to grow their family, it felt natural to consider adoption, too.

“We’d been talking about it for years,” Ashley said. “At first, we thought about a baby, but the more we learned, the more we realized how many older kids are out there waiting. We decided we wanted to help a child who really needed us.”

The couple also had a personal connection to foster care. Brett’s grandmother had fostered for years, and Ashley’s boss and one of Brett’s coworkers had adopted through Catholic Charities ministry Good Shepherd Children and Family Services. That connection led them to Christina Robb, an adoption specialist, who walked them through the process, helped them get licensed and started the search.

By September, they found Jace — a bright, resilient 11-year-old. “We’d been looking at kids [from] all over,” Ashley said. “Jace was on my list, and when we finally connected, everything started to fall into place.”

Sadly, Jace had experienced severe trauma in his short life and needed a higher level of care. Christina thought the family could benefit from additional support during his transition to a new home and referred the family to the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis service line which has Treatment Foster Care (TFC) at its ministries Good Shepherd and Marygrove.

TFC homes provide children who face emotional or behavioral challenges a caring family setting and specialized support that is conducive to healthy growth and development.

“TFC was a blessing in disguise for our family. We honestly don’t know what we would have done without the support and care shown by our TFC Specialist Lisa Govero,” said Ashley. “Being able to have someone come to us, answer our million questions, and then give support where needed made this experience so much more special for us. An amazing program with truly amazing people!”