Running Toward

South TX Alliance for Orphans
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Running Toward tells the stories of ordinary people who couldn’t look away once they saw the hidden crisis in foster care and family. Each episode features honest, unfiltered stories from ordinary people who couldn’t look away once they saw the hidden crisis impacting children and families in their own communities. People living normal lives who took imperfect, often reluctant steps toward brokenness — and were changed by it. This is not a podcast about quick fixes or heroic solutions. It’s about the long, costly, deeply human work of preventing family fracture and supporting families.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    She Built The Village | Rachel

    Welcome to the Running Toward Podcast! We are continuing our series celebrating the single moms who have stepped into the beautiful, hard, holy calling of foster care — and today, I get to sit down with one of my really good friends, Rachel Russo. Rachel has been fostering for twelve years, has had fifteen placements, has adopted three boys, and somehow still had enough margin in her life to found The Vault — a nonprofit built to remove the financial barrier that stops so many families from saying yes. Her story is one of obedience over readiness, community over independence, and a God who keeps saying, "You don't know what treasures I have for you." Hope you enjoy! 🏠 Connect with The Vault Fostering Community: https://vaultfosteringcommunity.org Thanks for watching! Follow South Texas Alliance for Orphans: 📲 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/southtxalliance4orphans/ 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SouthTexasAllianceForOrphans🎙️ 🌐 Learn more about fostering & adoption: https://www.southtxalliance4orphans.org If today's story moved you — share it with someone who needs to hear it. And if you've ever thought about fostering, even just once, let that thought be the start of something. 🤍—Running Toward Podcast is brought to you by the South Texas Alliance for Orphans — real stories from real families walking the road ahead of you. Be sure to like, subscribe. We'll see you next week. 🤍

    50 min

  2. 6 MAY

    The Only Adult In the House | Susan

    Welcome to the Running Toward Podcast! This May, in honor of Mother's Day, we're spending the whole month with single foster moms — because fostering as a single parent is a whole unique calling, and we have some incredible women sharing their stories. Today we start with Susan — a physical therapist, professor at the University of the Incarnate Word, and single mom to six kids ranging from 5 to almost 12. She moved to San Antonio in her early thirties with no family, no connections, and no idea that foster care was about to completely reshape her life. Hope you enjoy! —Thanks for watching! Follow South Texas Alliance Of Orphans 📲 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/southtxalliance4orphans/ 📘Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/SouthTexasAllianceForOrphans 🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5OW7JlcWOlbs9Ms4BQcdeI?si=0416b37dd53540c8 🌐 Learn more about fostering & adoption: https://www.southtxalliance4orphans.org If today's story moved you — share it with someone who needs to hear it. And if you've ever thought about fostering, even just once, let that thought be the start of something. 🤍 Running Toward Podcast is brought to you by the South Texas Alliance for Orphans — real stories from real families walking the road ahead of you. Be sure to like, subscribe, and share this episode on Facebook and TikTok. We'll see you next week. 🤍

    58 min

  3. 22 APR

    We didn’t know | Catalina

    Catalina Almanza didn't grow up thinking she'd foster — but in a way, she always was. Growing up in Colombia, her grandmother quietly took in children who needed a home, modeling a kind of love Catalina would one day step into herself.After facing infertility and the heartbreak of closed doors, Catalina found herself scrolling through Facebook when a photo of a pink room stopped her cold. It was a foster child's bedroom — simple, hopeful, and waiting. That image cracked something open in her.In this episode, Catalina shares the journey from that moment to welcoming her first placement — a baby boy she cared for from January through March — and the devastating 5-day notice that ended that chapter. She talks about learning to love fully, even when you know goodbye is possible, and why she'd do it all over again.This is a story about grief, generosity, and the kind of courage it takes to open your home and your heart — over and over again.If you've ever thought about fostering or adoption, let Catalina's story be the thing that moves you forward.📩 Want to learn more about fostering or adoption? Running Toward Podcast is brought to you by the South Texas Alliance for Orphans real stories from foster and adoptive families walking the road ahead of you. #FosterCare #AdoptionStory #RunningTowardPodcast #FosterMom #SouthTexas #Fostering #ChristianPodcast #FosterToAdopt

    55 min

  4. 15 APR

    Foster Care Is Not An Adoption Agency | Robyn

    Robyn grew up adopted. So when she started thinking about foster care, she wasn't approaching it as a rescuer — she was approaching it as someone who had already been the child in the story.As a teenager, Robyn saw a billboard of an elderly woman who had fostered nearly a hundred children and thought, "I want to be her one day." What she didn't know then was how much her own adoption story would shape the kind of foster parent she'd become — and how discovering that some of her biological siblings had been in foster care would change everything about why she felt called to this space.In this episode of the Running Toward Podcast, Robyn opens up about:- Growing up adopted and seeing foster care through the eyes of the child- The billboard that planted a seed she carried for decades- How her first pregnancy led her to search for her biological family — and what she found- Why she doesn't ask her kids to choose between their biological and adoptive families- Navigating transracial adoption and the education it required- A full-circle Buckner connection she never saw coming- What adult adoptees need foster and adoptive families to hearHer story is a reminder that the children we care for are writing a story that doesn't end at placement — and the most powerful thing we can offer them is the freedom to hold all of who they are. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The Running Toward Podcast is brought to you by South Texas Alliance For Orphans — transforming the foster care crisis in San Antonio and surrounding areas. 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss a story 🌐 Get involved southtexasalliancefororphans.org ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ #FosterCare #Adoption #RunningTowardPodcast

    52 min

  5. 8 APR

    They Were Never the Enemy | Shiana

    What happens when you say yes to foster care — not once, but twice — after walking through some of the heaviest seasons life can throw at you? In episode 13 of Running Towards, we sit down with Shiana, a foster mom, recovery advocate, and self-described bulldog for kids who need someone in their corner.Shiana shares how years of devastating loss — losing her dad, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and grandmother in a span of just a few years — actually became the foundation that prepared her and her husband Jermaine to step into foster care with open hands. She opens up about their first placement (a 16-month-old with no caseworker, no warning, and a heartbreaking goodbye), and their second — premature twin boys whose biological mom is now her neighbor, tenant, and one of her closest friends.Because Shiana is in recovery herself, she brings a perspective on addiction and the foster care system that most people never get to hear — including the hard truth about why 95% of foster cases are addiction-related, why kids are being sent home too soon, and what it actually takes to break the cycle.This one is raw, real, and full of hope. Don't miss it.

    45 min

  6. 1 APR

    She Still Calls Me | Brenda

    Brenda grew up watching her mother say yes to a boy no one else wanted. Decades later, she found herself standing in a shelter, being told she wasn't the mom — and that's when everything changed.Growing up in El Salvador, Brenda learned early that caring for a child without a home wasn't heroic — it was just the right answer to an obvious need. When infertility led her and her husband toward foster-to-adopt, she thought she understood what she was walking into. She didn't. What she found instead was the slow, holy unraveling of her need for control, her instinct to judge, and her definition of what a blessing actually is.In this episode of the Running Toward Podcast, Brenda opens up about:- Growing up in El Salvador watching her mother adopt a boy no one else claimed- Navigating infertility and saying yes to foster care and adoption- The shelter moment that stripped away every need for control- Learning that her calling was to be a mom — not a judge- The heartbreak of adoption day and why it felt like both an ending and a beginning- Building a lasting friendship with her daughters' biological mother years after reunification- What she told her daughter when she was afraid loving two moms meant betraying oneHer story is a quiet invitation: you don't need a perfectly prepared heart. You just need a bed, a willingness to show up, and the courage to let go of the rest.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━The Running Toward Podcast is brought to you by South Texas Alliance For Orphans — transforming the foster care crisis in San Antonio and surrounding areas.🔔 Subscribe so you never miss a story🌐 Get involved → southtexasalliancefororphans.org━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━#FosterCare #Adoption #RunningTowardPodcast

    56 min

  7. 25 MAR

    Beautifully Wrecked | Maren Baker

    In this powerful episode of Running Toward, Marin Baker shares her journey from planning international adoption to stepping into foster care, navigating special needs diagnoses, becoming a CPS caseworker, and ultimately learning what it means to release control and trust God fully. Marin opens up about the realities of the foster care system, trauma-informed parenting, courtroom heartbreak, and the emotional toll of advocating for vulnerable children. She also shares how foster care transformed her faith, her marriage, and her biological children — teaching compassion in ways nothing else could. This conversation is raw, honest, and deeply hopeful.

    52 min

  8. 18 MAR

    You Cannot Unsee Them | Alex Wallendorff

    In this episode of Running Toward, we sit down with Alex to hear her powerful journey into foster care, adoption, and advocacy. From working as a case manager to becoming a foster and adoptive mom of three, Alex shares how faith, obedience, and courage shaped her family’s story. She opens up about unexpected detours, early marriage, saying yes to hard callings, navigating trauma-informed parenting, and the challenges of welcoming children into her home. We also discuss supporting teens in foster care, aging out of the system, church involvement, and why stepping into broken spaces matters. This conversation is for anyone who has felt called to help but doesn’t feel “ready,” for families considering foster care, and for anyone wanting to live out their faith with purpose.

    41 min
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About

Running Toward tells the stories of ordinary people who couldn’t look away once they saw the hidden crisis in foster care and family. Each episode features honest, unfiltered stories from ordinary people who couldn’t look away once they saw the hidden crisis impacting children and families in their own communities. People living normal lives who took imperfect, often reluctant steps toward brokenness — and were changed by it. This is not a podcast about quick fixes or heroic solutions. It’s about the long, costly, deeply human work of preventing family fracture and supporting families.

Information

  • Creator
    South TX Alliance for Orphans
  • Years Active
    2k
  • Episodes
    18
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © South TX Alliance for Orphans
  • Show Website
    Running Toward

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