Impact

  • “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs and a lot of people walk in and out of my life. What I realized is you really need a village. The people who came into my life from Don’t Go Alone… in that time frame helping me through these issues helped me think about who I want to be and where I want to go. I’m very grateful for it. I know where my life could have been and I’m glad it didn’t go all the way there. The moral of the story is no one can do this alone. Everybody needs somebody and having these mentors allowed me to not stress as much and allowed me to walk into my truth of who I want to be. I’m 22. I’m still young. I’m trying to continue to grow and I’m glad Wild Oak Haven has allowed me to join this community because we can impact these kids in so many ways.”

    - Q, Wild Oak Haven Community Ambassador

  • “I got in contact with Connections Home through a case manager. Once I started that journey I met some amazing people and they really helped set me on the right path to get this far, and get through college.

    Relationships are very important to me… Growing up I didn’t have that support system with my family or the people I was talking to. So once I got … with my mentor family they just took me in like I was literally their daughter. It wasn’t weird, it wasn’t uncomfortable… of course I was kinda skeptical because I’m like, ‘Okay, what do you guys want out of me? You’re a little too nice, you’re a little too friendly.’ And of course with a lot of back trauma you’re going to experience doubt. But they just took me in. I was able talk to them about anything. We just felt like a family.

    Having those relationships helped me get internships, jobs and encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and even helped find the church I currently go to now. It’s just having that support system, honestly. 

    Miyanna, mentee 

  • Last year I was invited by fellow foster moms in The Village group to attend the Filled Conference. The thought of leaving my young children for the first time overnight for several days was honestly terrifying, though I knew they would be well cared for by my husband.

    With the pressure of the looming deadline and limited tickets, the enticement of a fully paid ticket to a conference, and my husband's full support, I sent in my RSVP. For the next 5 months I had put it fully out of mind, as I was unaware of the experience I had just signed on for.

    Come December, my husband had now been unexpectedly out of a full-time job for 2 months now and counting, and we were now surviving on government assistance and a prayer. A myriad of huge life challenges were also looming over our heads, and the weight of life's trials were starting to feel like a slowly sinking ship. The thought of the commitment I made months ago to attend this unknown conference now seemed like another burden added to my plate. How was I to leave behind all of the "fires" I was trying to manage at home, spend money I didn't have on a shared house and food, and stay with several ladies I don't know well, and then pretend for a weekend that all was fine at this conference. In my attempt to back out of the conference, I was met with friendly reassurance and encouragement that I still should attend. I was told that Wild Oak Haven would not only pay for my conference ticket, but would pay for all the additional costs I was not going to be able to afford.

    It was like clear path opened to the opportunity of going and a voice of God reassuring once again that He has everything in control, not to worry. Approaching the weekend, I accepted a newborn foster placement the night before we left for the conference. Needless to say, there was no longer time to stress and worry about my nerves for the conference and it turned into a "throw it all in the bag and run out the door" situation. Again, God protecting me from myself and the stresses of life. When the conference first started, the speaker began speaking about her experience last year, barely making it to the conference and feeling that God had to carry her there-the theme for this year's conference. That is when my own renewal for the weekend began, because that was me! My life was currently falling apart. I had no steam left in my engine and everything kept derailing. So much so that I nearly didn't make it in so many ways to that very conference. The words of all the speakers, the music that was sung and worship that was had, the healing exercises that were done seemed to be perfectly tailored for me, so much so that I started to feel slightly guilty that everyone else had to sit through "my conference"! The whole weekend from start to finish was so healing, validating, and had thoroughly hit its addenda of leaving me "Filled". I didn't realize how incredibly validating it would be to be in a room of 2,000 other mothers who are in the exact same moments of life, also walking the fostering path, also feeling so broken, who all just "get it". Also, how healing it is to worship and praise our Father right along side of all of the other broken mamas, with the promise that God is always carrying us despite life's difficulties, while also acknowledging the brokeness. I was able to have a moment to realize the deep hurt that moments of fostering have caused and the traumas that I now carry, that very few people can truly understand. 

    My fires at home may not have ever gone out, but the weekend at the conference truly filled my tank in order to continue to face the fires. It restored my faith and hope in the Lord that He will see us through one way or another and He always sees us. Though I may not have been able to literally pay for this experience, I have to say it was priceless. And for that priceless gift that you all gave to me, I will be eternally grateful. It may have been just a few dollars out of the budget, but in that way, you all at Wild Oak Haven were used to "Carry" me- to the feet of Jesus, to healing, to encouragement, to new friendships, to renewal, to being Filled. For that and more, I thank you.

    Sincerely, 

    A worn, but fully Filled foster mom

  • By looking at this photo of Naomi Yoder surrounded by nearly twenty grandchildren, it’s clear she has a deep love for children. But Naomi’s heart reaches far beyond her own family—beyond bloodlines and last names.

    Naomi became a foster mom in 1966, just one year after her first son was born. With encouragement from a close friend who had fostered for years, Naomi and her husband completed the training and opened their home. With that decision, a lifelong calling began—one that continues nearly six decades later.

    Now at 82 years old, Naomi is still fostering.

    “I wish I would have kept track of how many children we had,” Naomi says. “But we just went day to day.”

    Her first placements were two siblings, followed later by their third sibling. Those children stayed with her for five and a half years. Over time, Naomi and her husband took a break to raise their own growing family— which totaled seven boys—but they returned to fostering soon after.

    One of those returns brought a sibling group, ages seven and nine, into their home. Naomi raised them to adulthood.

    “Annette wanted to be adopted,” Naomi shares, “so when she was about fourteen, I adopted her.”

    Today, Annette is her daughter in every sense of the word.

    Even now, Naomi continues to welcome emergency placements in the middle of the night, provide respite care, and care for a teen who has lived in her home for nearly four years.

    “I’m so glad the Lord has blessed me with good health so I’m still able to do it,” she says.

    Naomi’s family now spans generations—five great-grandchildren, nearly twenty grandchildren, and many foster children who still stay in touch decades later.

    “I had Kristie forty years ago,” Naomi shares. “She lives in Arizona now and still texts to check on me. She sends Christmas cards and birthday gifts. She has twins and a family of her own. It’s such a joy to know she remembers and appreciates what I did all those years ago.”

    She lights up when she talks about her former foster son, Chris. “He lives in Northern Virginia now. He’s an assistant manager at an upscale restaurant and doing very well for himself. I’m very proud of him,” she says. “They still feel like my sons and daughters.”

    For Naomi, the hardest part of fostering has always been sharing in her children’s pain.

    “When I see them hurting, I hurt,” she explains. “I just try to help them see the positive side of life. No child should ever have to be in foster care, but when it happens, it helps to know that people are doing these things because they care about you.”

    Along the way, Naomi has found strength in community. She has built close friendships with other foster parents and remains deeply grateful for the social workers who support her.

    “We’ve been blessed with good workers,” she says.

    And as long as she’s able, Naomi will keep showing up—answering late-night calls, offering steady love, and reminding every child who enters her home that they are deeply cared for.

  • “My experience so far, has been eye opening. The number one thing my mentee wants is for someone to listen. Every time I went out I made a point to bring him a meal to him and we would go sit at Buckroe Beach and chat as long as he would wanted to chat and last weekend  and we were sitting there eating some wings and he said ‘Hey Will, you know, I love that you always bring food, but what I really want is your time.’

    The Holy Spirit works in us. Completely. Lots of concerted prayer led to my mentee reaching out and saying ‘Hey, can we do a Bible study? I would love to do that with you.’ That was something I was slow rolling. I just wanted him to be comfortable with me and I didn’t open that up, he opened that up. What he told me was, I could die tomorrow, and in the area he lives in and the world we live in today, the truth is he’s afraid of hell. So I said, when I come up next week, this is what we’re talking about.”
    -Will, mentor

  • “Our first foster baby was three days old when we picked her up from the hospital almost two years ago. For nearly a year and a half we watched her grow and meet every milestone. She made eye contact. She sat up. She crawled. She walked. And, oh boy, did she climb. She was a bright light in our home, and lovingly called us Nana and Pop Pop.

    Then, when she was 17 months old, we went to court and heard from the social worker that she was going home to her bio parents. That was the long-term plan, of course, but we had no idea it would happen that day.

    We cried. We said goodbye. We didn’t know if we’d ever see her again. We cried some more. Our house was so empty without her.

    That’s when we reached out to folks at The Village and started attending the monthly gatherings. They were an incredible blessing and help to us as we navigated the transition period when our first placement went home. They gave us advice on how to communicate with the birth parents, and they gave us encouragement and empathy. We’ve been attending regularly ever since, and we’re now at a place where we can uplift others in the same way.

    Foster parenting is rewarding and challenging and incredible and brutal. It’s not something you’d want to do alone. Community is key, and The Village is a core part of our community.”

    -Bryan and Lianne Stevenson, Village family

  • "I don't know what I was expecting going into this program but I never imagined everything that would happen in just under a week. It’s wild how a couple of hours with with new people can make me feel so much less alone than I did just a week ago. It honestly feels like God hand-picked (my mentors) and placed them in my path at the exact right time. There’s just this sense of peace around you - like I don’t have to pretend, overthink or protect myself. It’s such a breath of fresh air and I’m really excited to see what the future looks like with us all growing through this together.

    -Natalie, mentee