Encouraging Foster Parents to Persevere (w/Tony Mitchell) Ep.288
The Forgotten Podcast
The Forgotten Initiative
4.9 • 532 Ratings
🗓️ 16 February 2026
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of The Forgotten Podcast, Host Jami Kaeb interviews Tony Mitchell, who entered foster care as a newborn, was adopted at age two into a loving but impoverished farm family, and grew up learning work ethic, faith, and integrity. Tony shares learning about his adoption around age 9–10, wrestling with identity and belonging while facing racial isolation and teenage rebellion, and later coming to faith in college after reading the New Testament. In his forties he located his birth mother to thank her for choosing not to terminate the pregnancy, and at 59 he was contacted by the son of his foster family, filling in the missing story of his early years and confirming he was deeply loved. Tony emphasizes gratitude, grounding identity in God, and encourages foster/adoptive parents to never give up, reminding adoptees that God can redeem painful stories for good.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sharing the stories of the foster care community. This is The Forgotten Podcast. |
| 0:06.1 | At first, she was shocked, as you can imagine, in her mid-60s. She said, what do you want? |
| 0:12.9 | And she was almost defensive from the beginning. And I told her I wanted to pay tribute and said the two things I wanted to say. |
| 0:21.3 | And then she had told me she had walked around for over 40 years wondering what had happened to me and feeling that she had made a mistake and that I had been neglected and abused. |
| 0:31.2 | And this was the most freeing call she had ever received in her life. |
| 0:39.1 | Hey, it's Jamie Cabe. |
| 0:40.9 | Welcome back to the Forgotten podcast, where we are highlighting the stories of the people |
| 0:45.5 | of foster care. |
| 0:47.1 | With every episode, our goal is to help you better understand the foster care community. |
| 0:52.4 | We want to bring you hope and encouragement in your journey |
| 0:55.5 | and help you support the agency workers, foster parents, vulnerable adults, and children in |
| 1:01.5 | foster care right where you live. If you want to learn more about TFI, catch up on past |
| 1:07.4 | episodes, read engaging articles or partner with us on mission with a gift of any amount, head over to the forgotteninitiative.org. |
| 1:17.8 | We are in this together. |
| 1:20.2 | Thank you for listening and engaging with us. |
| 1:22.9 | We love having you as part of our family. |
| 1:26.3 | Okay, it is time. Let's do this. |
| 1:35.6 | Tony Mitchell entered foster care as a newborn and two years later was adopted into a |
| 1:41.2 | caring yet impoverished family. His family managed to meet almost all their needs from what was produced on their small farm. |
| 1:49.6 | Growing up in poverty and on a farm taught him the value of building life convictions based on faith and integrity. |
| 1:57.0 | And throughout his career, Tony has served in various leadership roles and now is passionate about utilizing his personal and professional experience as a board member, speaker, and advisor in just all different ways that he can help other people. |
| 2:12.4 | He is actively a champion for marriages and for children who've been fostered or adopted and |
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