Foster Care Highlight: Coming Together in Kinship

“More than three years before Zion Christopher was born, I had a recurring dream that someone would entrust us with their baby boy,” Shalonda, an adoptive parent with Firefly said.  Shalonda and James have been married for 25 years and have parented 6 children...

Kris’ Corner – Trauma-Informed Sleep

So I heard a talk recently that I found to be amazing and wanted to share her information with you. This is not anything I came up with; this is her work, so I want to be totally clear about that. While on her fostering journey, she realized, and you may have as well...

Ari: Finding a Voice

CW: Sexual Assault, trauma “I physically lost my ability to speak for a few days after this happened, and it’s been a long theme of trying to find my voice again, and trying to have the right people in my life to help me find my voice again,” Ari, a survivor of...

Kris’ Corner – A book to consider: “Love Me, Feed Me”

So, I have been doing a lot of reading lately. Some of what I’m reading is just for fun, but some of it is educational as I continue to try and improve my skills as an adoptive mom with a Special Needs kiddo. I when I was a foster parent, it was a struggle sometimes...

Firefly Named One of 2025’s Best Places to Work in Indiana

Firefly Children & Family Alliance was recently named one of the 2025 Best Places to Work in Indiana. This marks the 20th edition for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce initiative. The statewide survey and awards program is designed to evaluate participating...

Kris’ Corner – Coping Mechanisms

So foster care (and honestly life in general) is filled with a variety of different coping mechanisms. As a foster parent, you might find that you have some as well (and even if you don’t “find” that you do, chances are you have them…because being a foster parent is...

Kris’ Corner – Grief in Foster Care

So there are lots of reasons that foster parents might grieve (I know this might not be selling it if you are on the fence about being a foster parent). But first and foremost, a foster family might grieve when a child they think is going to stay forever ends up being...

Kris’ Corner – Ways that Schools Can Help Kids in Care

Today’s post piggybacks on the last, as it talks about ways the school can help kids in care (or at least strive to help!). First of all, just being aware of the potential triggers we discussed last time and aiming to avoid them if at all possible would be a huge step...