Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with attorney, child advocate, and bestselling author Andrew Bridge . Andrew spent 11 years in Los Angeles County foster care, before earning a scholarship to Wesleyan University and graduating from Harvard Law School. He is a Fulbright Fellow and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Writing Resident. His work has garnered coverage in The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Showtime, The Observer, The CBS Early Show, NBC Nightly News, Time Magazine...
Jul 04, 2025•52 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with former foster youth Alexis Longmire who is an entrepreneur and fashionista. Lex is a fashion journalist, stylist, traveling wardrobe consultant and a proud Los Angeles native. When she was 10, she discovered her passion for styling and has never looked back! As she gained experience, Lex immersed herself in runway fashion, fashion magazines, cutting edge designers, and Instagram influencers. She graduated from the University of Arizona with degrees in Fash...
Jun 08, 2025•51 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with former foster mom, Shimeka D. Lott . Shimeka is the visionary Founder and CEO of the Ashlynn B. Jackson Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting the lives of young people and underserved communities. With over 25 years of experience volunteering and leading community-driven initiatives, Shimeka’s passion for service runs deep. Whether it’s feeding the unhoused, supporting annual Thanksgiving and Christmas drives, or distributing hygiene ...
May 11, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Send us a text Part II - Jayne Amelia talks with Colonel (Retired) Gregory J. Rosenmerkel who is a CASA in Colorado and was recently assigned a sibling set of three boys. Rosie grew up in Waukesha, WI and earned his commission and degree in Civil Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in 1988. He spent over 25 years as an Air Force officer/engineer with assignments to 11 different locations in the US and overseas. He commanded units at both squadron and group levels and he led team...
Apr 27, 2025•40 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Send us a text Jayne Amelia talks with foster mom, Nicole Goswami, hoping to adopt a baby who she has raised since weeks old. Nicole does many things but most importantly a foster mom. This is her first time fostering and Jasmyn has filled her heart with so much love and joy. Nicole works in many different fields including marketing and advertising and provides executive support as well. Nicole has been the Head Coach for the Bennington Marauders Swim Club since 2005 and is passionate about teac...
Apr 21, 2025•56 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Send us a text Jayne Amelia talks with Colonel (Retired) Gregory J. Rosenmerkel who is a new CASA in Colorado and about to start his CASA training. Rosie grew up in Waukesha, WI and earned his commission and degree in Civil Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in 1988. He spent over 25 years as an Air Force officer/engineer with assignments to 11 different locations in the US and overseas. He commanded units at both squadron and group levels and he led teams on deployments to Som...
Apr 16, 2025•31 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with CASA Christine Goddard shortly after the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles took the foster home of her CASA kiddo as well as her bio family's home. Christine Goddard, has been a Court Appointment Special Advocate (CASA) for ten years, working on vital tasks like appropriate placements, health care and educational rights for foster youth. While advocating on behalf of foster youth in court, along with her bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Juvenile Delinque...
Mar 30, 2025•47 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with former foster youth and now child advocate Dr. Danisha Keating. In this conversation, Danisha shares her challenging journey from being a child in the foster care system to earning her PhD. She discusses the significant obstacles she faced, including experiencing homelessness from ages 18 to 24, moving frequently, and dealing with an unsupportive family. Danisha recounts her educational journey that began with difficulty completing her bachelor's degree, w...
Mar 16, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with Jeanette Yoffe, M.A., M.F.T., who is a therapist specializing in adoption and foster care and the Director and Founder of Celia Center, the non-profit she named after her first mother, Celia . *In this episode we talk about: Treating the Whole Family - Emphasis on the importance of treating the entire family unit, not just the child. - Benefits of a holistic approach by acknowledging all members and including the constellation of all family in addressing t...
Mar 02, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with former foster youth, advocate and attorney Glenda Wright. Glenda recently graduated from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law, where she received her Juris Doctorate in May 2022. Glenda has also earned her Bachelor of Science in Business with a minor in legal studies from Murray State University. While attending law school, Glenda participated in several extracurricular activities, including serving as senior editor of the Northern Kentucky Law Review and pr...
Dec 08, 2023•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 25
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with therapist Dr. Bruce Sogolow. Dr. Bruce has been a psychotherapist for nearly 40 years. He relates that “There was a kind of inevitability that led to my practice of specializing in ‘walking along side’ of families with children who suffered from attachment challenges.” His most valuable teachers along the way were children and parents whose trust in others was deeply wounded in their early lives: through a deep dive into non-violent communication, he disco...
Nov 27, 2023•57 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with her friend and (very loving and proud) adoptive parent, Warren Press. Warren lives in Los Angeles with his wife Elizabeth Mestnik and their 14-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter. Their journey to parenthood was a tad unconventional and each child took longer to reach their home than the typical gestation period. Warren and Elizabeth traveled to China to adopt their daughter while their 14-year-old son was born and adopted a little closer to home in Los ...
Nov 13, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 3Ep. 23
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with guardian ad litem and child advocate/attorney, Rachel Aliza Elovitz. Rachel has worked as a family law attorney for more than 27 years. In that capacity, she has represented fathers seeking to legitimate children (who were born out of wedlock), grandparents seeking visitation rights with grandchildren, third party relatives seeking custody of children who are being abused or neglected by their parents, parents hoping to protect their children from another ...
Oct 27, 2023•55 min•Season 3Ep. 22
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with the powerhouse founder of Kids in The Spotlight, Tige Charity. In Tige's words: As a visionary with a strong faith & a passion for serving others, I have devoted my career to empowering young people in foster care to address and overcome trauma through the power of storytelling. In 2009, I founded Kids in the Spotlight, Inc. (KITS), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides year-round 10-week script-to-screen workshops to train youth in foster ...
Oct 20, 2023•49 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with Romi Lassally and Patrick McCabe, co-founders of Ready To Succeed which has supported college bound students impacted by foster care or “scholars” (as they call them which is fantastic!) by helping them get into school, stay in school, and flourish after school with resources, relationships with passionate professionals, career coaching, and more. From the Ready To Succeed website: “In January 2016, two non-profit veterans, Romi Lassally and Patrick McCabe...
Oct 13, 2023•52 min•Season 3Ep. 20
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with artist and animator, and former foster youth Chrisie Morris . Chrisie is a junior at Cal State University Long Beach pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Art in Illustration for Pre-Production. She’s currently working as a Visual Development Artist at Mr. Clown’s Productions through the prestigious Television Academy Foundation Fall 2023 Internship Program. Additionally, Chrisie has completed two internships at DreamWorks Animation this year working as a Production...
Oct 06, 2023•58 min•Season 3Ep. 19
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with single foster dad and entertainment producer Gavin Glynn. Gavin and his then partner fostered to adopt a young boy, then Gavin went on to foster a foursome sibling set when he was a single dad. In order to keep all the kids in the house, Gavin gave up his lucrative but very demanding career as a producer in the entertainment business and became an educator. He says raising his family, in spite of the many challenges, is the most rewarding thing he has ever...
Sep 29, 2023•57 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with foster alum Elizabeth Garcia Herrera . Liz and her sisters (America's story is Episode 16 of Season 3) were placed in foster care when their mother could no longer look after them. Liz was 17 and spent several confusing years struggling to get on her feet but she put herself through college and now works as a supervisor in child welfare. She's married with two small children and her mom helps to care for them. Elizabeth is a Program Supervisor for the Heal...
Sep 22, 2023•56 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with foster care alum America Gutierrez. America is a passionate advocate for mental health, firmly guided by the belief that our voices are our most potent tools. With unwavering determination, she fearlessly shares her personal journey, notably her harrowing experiences within the foster care system. Through her advocacy efforts, she aims to illuminate critical conversations surrounding the welfare of youth who, like her, have faced profound challenges. Born ...
Sep 20, 2023•46 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with former foster youth and now child advocate Georgette Todd. Georgette is a speaker, author, and a foster care and child abuse prevention advocate. Georgette spent her teenage years bouncing around from home to home in the broken foster care system before she emancipated at age 18, with no safety net or anyone to depend on. Through sheer determination, Georgette went all the way with her education and graduated at the top of her class, serving as the commenc...
Sep 11, 2023•48 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with child advocate and mentor Ron Jenkins. Ron is a former foster youth who along with his siblings was placed in foster care after his mother died of cancer when he was two years old. He bounced around in foster care for several years until he was adopted by a friend of his mom, but that didn't turn out well for any of the kids in that home. His foster mother was a cruel and abusive drug dealer, and Ron was sexually abused but two women before he was in his t...
Aug 11, 2023•53 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with Dr. Lorry Leigh Belhumeur, a renowned leader in the field of mental health and wellness, with over 30 years of experience serving children and their families. Dr. Lorry’s unwavering commitment to empowering young individuals and the adults who care for them, along with her exceptional leadership skills, has positioned her as a highly respected figure in the field. She's a licensed psychologist with a Ph.D. from UCLA, author, speaker, trainer, and long-time...
Aug 04, 2023•50 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with advocate Paul L. Freese, Jr. Paul has worked as a public interest attorney for more than 25 years and provides consulting on holistic innovations and solutions to poverty, with special focus upon traumatized populations. He specializes in strategic project development to achieve upstream early intervention impact. He has devoted his career to humanizing our child welfare, health and corrections systems by applying emerging insights from neuroscience on tra...
Jul 21, 2023•55 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with creative and foster care alumni Jeremy Buchanan. Jeremy was raised in Illinois, Georgia, and California. He moved around a lot as a kid and attended more elementary schools than he can even count. He was first placed in foster care as a young boy and then again as a teenager when he became a "runner" as he says. Not one of his many foster homes were good to him… or for him…but by sheer will and determination, and with good mentors he eventually found for h...
Jul 14, 2023•59 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with Reverand Barbara Lane. Rev. Lane is the author of "Broken Water: An Extraordinary True Story." Barbara is the ninth of eleven sisters, abandoned by their birth parents, who were all placed in St. Dominic’s Orphanage in St. Louis, then eventually separated into different homes and finally reunited 43 years later. Her book tells the powerful true story of her journey through the many years she spent trying to reconnect with her long-lost sisters and solve th...
Jul 07, 2023•56 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with Charity Chandler-Cole . Charity is an author, scholar and activist and "... the CEO of CASA of Los Angeles, Court Appointed Special Advocates for youth impacted by the Foster Care and Juvenile Justice Systems. Born and raised in Los Angeles and having harshly endured its child welfare and juvenile justice systems, she has spent over a decade helping to influence and impact social structures, policies and systems that have negatively and disproportionately ...
Jun 30, 2023•49 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with award-winning musician and adoptee Mike Wiskar. Mike is a Leo-nominated composer, songwriter, independent music producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist. He was also adopted as a baby and raised in a caring home by a family who loved him very much. Even so, he longed to know his birth family and finally met his bio mom and his extended family only recently. A graduate of the Music Program at MacEwan University as well as Langara's Digital Music Produc...
Jun 23, 2023•54 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with adoptive dad to one and foster dad to many Peter Mutabazi. "As a child I ran away from an abusive home and was helped by the kindness of strangers. As an adult I found myself in a position of being able to help foster children, so I began taking children into my home years ago to give back what was so freely given to me. It's my mission to give back as much as I can to the vulnerable among us. That's what drives his foundation Now I Am Known: to bring a me...
Jun 17, 2023•46 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with foster care alumnus Steve Pemberton. Steve is a best selling author, philanthropist, businessman and acclaimed speaker. Steve's "story is about defying seemingly insurmountable odds to become a trail-blazing corporate executive, enlightened diversity leader, visionary youth advocate, and acclaimed speaker. His best-selling memoir, A Chance in the World: An Orphan Boy, A Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home , recounts his triumphant life jo...
Jun 09, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Send us a text Jayne Amelia speaks with Dr. Noah Nash . Noah is a foster care alumnus from very early childhood, as well as an educator and creative web designer-developer who is amplifying stories, products and projects with people, for people — as he says. His portfolio includes work in international children's rights, emerging technologies, social impact and philanthropy. Noah's ethos is empowering more people to mindfully leverage technology en route to materializing the world we all wish to...
Jun 02, 2023•55 min•Season 3Ep. 5
