Celebrating the Joys of Motherhood: Shannon Flester

“I have become so much more patient than I was before fostering or adopting. When you bring children into your home that you don’t know, the realness of getting to know them and figuring out what is best for them requires a lot of time and patience.”

Celebrating the Joys of Motherhood: Christina Dettman

My husband and I became parents in an unusual way. Over the years, with my boys, my girls, and now our baby – I’ve learned that – well, I have a lot of learning to do. I recently read that so much of parenting is about changing our own behaviors, not our children’s. I agree.

“I gave them permission to adopt me.”

Lakeshia Clark had nowhere to go after the foster care home where she lived closed, but the help of a determined social worker and loving family changed her life forever. 

On Easter weekend in April 2021, Barbara Grose faced a dilemma. The family were hours away from leaving for spring break when she received a phone call from Lisa Barber-Atwell, lead recruitment and certification specialist with St. Joe’s about Lakeshia Clark. The 17-year-old, who was born with cerebral palsy, was wheelchair-bound and staying in a hotel room with a nurse’s aid, because her prior foster home closed suddenly. She had nowhere else to go, and Lisa hoped she could temporarily stay with the Grose family. Barbara wanted to help but figuring out the logistics was tricky.

“I have two miracle babies.”

Kimberly and Marc Risinger had been trying to have children for a year but struggled with fertility issues. After three failed attempts using artificial insemination, their doctor told them they had a better chance at winning the lottery and suggested they consider other options for starting a family.

Marc mentioned adoption as an alternative, but Kimberly had concerns about whether they could build an emotional connection with a child who wasn’t theirs biologically. “I wanted to be able to say: ‘you have your Mom’s nose and your Dad’s eyes. I was very set on this traditional view of the family. And then I talked to some other friends who adopted a son from the Congo, and when I expressed these feelings to the mother, she said ‘I felt the same way but as Regan [their son] got older, I can look at him and say you act just like your Dad.’”

“Adoption changed my life.”

Codey Zipperle found peace – and a family he could count on – when he met Cindy and Joel Zipperle through St. Joseph Children’s Home. Codey and his younger brother Brandon, were in foster care for several years and wanted to have a stable home life with their parents, but attempts for reunification with the family failed. “I knew there was an issue with my biological parents, but I never got a straight answer from them…coming and going from foster care to their house became second nature,” he says.

Fortunately, a chance meeting between him and the Zipperles – a meeting that wasn’t supposed to happen – led Codey to a family who couldn’t wait to give him their last name.

The Gift of Family

Brydie Harris and her partner Xian Brooks saw the gift in waiting for the family they wanted.

For six months, the couple was on the St. Joe’s waiting list for foster care and hadn’t been paired with anyone until they met *John and *Emma in April 2022. They learned about Emma from friends who also adopted children through St. Joe’s, so they inquired about fostering her but didn’t know what to expect.