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…
Camille is 16 years old. She had a shocking 26 foster family placements over 10 years. A little more than a year ago, Camille’s case came to Wayfinder—changing the trajectory of her life forever. In 2012, Camille and her younger sisters, Maya, age 3, and Dani, age 1, were removed from their home due to…
Alex wanted to be a mom, and Rob wanted to be a dad. With Wayfinder’s help they now have the family they longed for. And their children have the loving home they deserve. The couple approached Wayfinder to adopt through foster care. “I’d seen so many sibling groups be split up between separate homes over…
“As magical as conceiving and childbirth are, adoption has its own amazing pattern of birth,” says Ed Condon, “a birth of the hearts.” About 30 years ago, Ed and his husband, Norman Lorenz, reached out to foster-to-adopt agencies because they wanted a family life with children. But at that time, agencies weren’t welcoming to a…
Elizabeth was in Nebraska for work when she got the call. “We have a baby in the hospital,” said Monica, a Wayfinder social worker. “Can you pick her up tonight?” This was the moment Elizabeth and her husband, Bryan, had longed for. They were going to become parents. After struggling with fertility, they decided to…
August 17 is an important day for Missy and Chris Ewing and their children. They adopted their daughters, Lilly and Cici, on the same August date, five years apart. “It’s a special day of creation for our family,” Missy says. “It’s sister day.” Eight years ago when their biological sons, David and Tim, were ages…
The beautiful thing about families is that they can form without any biological ties—just love. Missy and Chris had two biological sons, David and Tim, and an adopted daughter, Lilly. When they started thinking about a second adoption, Lilly asked for a sister. Missy and Chris went to a Wayfinder family fair for prospective adoptive…
