Each year, Ampersand Families represents the youth and/or the family in about 25 adoptive placements. While every one of those youth and adoptive families are different, one thing they have in common is the excitement, fear and change that comes with move-in day and the first months thereafter. By the time move-in day comes the… Read more
Recently, 5 Eyewitness News shared the story of McKenna Ahrenholz who is 12 years old and fighting to give a voice to the many children in the state’s child protection system. Supporting her fight is the Children’s Law Center (CLC) of Minnesota, an organization that provides legal representation to children. McKenna’s story is all too familiar… Read more
Insights from an Ampersand Parent In honor of National Adoption Month, we at Ampersand reached out to a couple of parents and asked if they would share their stories of choosing to adopt an older youth. Donald was more than willing to provide insight. His son Tyler moved in March 4 and they… Read more
Ampersand Families recently partnered with Reel Hope, a new nonprofit with a mission to mobilize faith communities to bring foster kids into forever families through stories, connections and communities. We were thrilled when founder Kaycee reached out to Ampersand Families as they were forming the organization – looking for insight into the foster care system… Read more
I can hardly wrap my head around the fact that Ampersand Families is 8 years old October 1st. During these eight years we have worked with 350 individual youth and parents. In the next couple months we expect to reach a significant milestone…we will have restored 100 youth to families through adoption or other forms… Read more
(Click image to watch Josie & Chris on KidsConnect) In this work, rejection, disappointment, and plans falling through are almost daily occurrences. There are hundreds of families wanting to adopt in Minnesota, but only one of them is going to be the family for any given child I work with. The most carefully laid plans… Read more
Friendships matter a lot when you are in foster care! Let Julia and Vanessa tell you a bit about it… Read more
Thank you to host Laurie Beth Fitz for doing such a great job exploring the topic of permanency, and thanks to our friend, Ampersand Families website designer, and co-producer Cary Walski, for recommending us as a guest. Hope you enjoy the show… Read more
It’s time to begin a national dialogue on the purpose of a birth certificate. Sounds like a silly question, maybe? But, if you are someone who was adopted or who is an adoptive parent or who is the birth parent of an adopted person, the question probably isn’t silly at all to you. An integral part… Read more
