When Anna Marie San Juan learned about Wayfinder’s work, it struck a chord in her. “My parents were teenagers when I was born,” she says, “so I was raised by multiple family members early on.” She recalls that this difficult upbringing caused her to lack confidence and security as a child and even through early…
A few years ago, Teri Renfrow was looking at the LinkedIn page of a coworker, Jean Minton, whose profile said she was on the board of directors of Adopt a Special Kid. That organization would later combine with Lilliput and then merge with Wayfinder. Teri approached Jean to learn more, telling her, “I’ve adopted a…
Member of the Community Council and former member of the Wayfinder Board of Directors Fifteen years ago, friends asked Dave and Grace Wraa if they knew about the foster-to-adopt program to find permanent homes for children in the child welfare system. Admittedly, Dave and Grace didn’t know much about the program, but that would change…
Secretary, Board of Directors and Wayfinder Community Council member “All children deserve to be in a safe, loving home” says Erica Fernandez. This belief drives her ongoing commitment to Wayfinder. Erica has a demanding job as a senior vice president and region manager for California Bank & Trust in Northern California, plus two sons of…
John Nicolaus came to Wayfinder for the landscaping and stayed for the children. Five years ago, Wayfinder received a grant to upgrade the exterior of its Citrus Heights office to improve access for people with disabilities. “Every ADA upgrade requires a landscape architect to fix it up at the end after the sidewalks have been…
Professionally, Jean Minton is Sutter Health’s neuroscience service line executive. Personally she is passionate about helping children in foster care find their forever families. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Jean witnessed the plight of orphaned children whose parents had died of AIDS. After returning to the…
