Episode 254: What It’s Like Becoming a TFI Advocate (w/ Justin Meehan)
The Forgotten Podcast
The Forgotten Initiative
4.9 • 532 Ratings
🗓️ 11 November 2024
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s that time of year again! As you may know, we open applications to become a TFI Advocate only a couple times each year, and this November is one of those opportunities. If you’re considering applying, today’s episode is the perfect chance to learn more about what becoming a TFI Advocate journey really looks like.
That’s because we have the special treat of hearing from one of our most recently launched Advocates, Justin Meehan.
Justin and his wife have been foster parents for the last three years. Currently, they have three biological children and a soon-to-be adopted son. Justin is a newly launched TFI Advocate in Rochester, NH, where he is bridging the gap between his church and the local state foster care agency.
In this episode, you’ll hear what kind of support and community TFI Advocates receive, how seeing the struggles caseworkers are facing firsthand opened Justin’s eyes to their unmet needs, why answering just one question for your local church can help them get involved in foster care, and so much more.
Find resources mentioned and more in the show notes for this episode: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/justin-meehan-254/
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sharing the stories of the foster care community. |
| 0:04.0 | This is The Forgotten Podcast. |
| 0:06.0 | During that process, it really gave me a better appreciation of really the struggles that the caseworkers go through on a daily basis. |
| 0:16.0 | From where I started, you know, I did get frustrated with my caseworker, but the more I started |
| 0:21.1 | to understand what their day-to-day work looks like, the more I understood that, you know, |
| 0:26.1 | these people need some grace. |
| 0:27.2 | Hey, it's Jamie Cabe. |
| 0:30.7 | Welcome back to the Forgotten Podcast, where we are highlighting the stories of the people |
| 0:35.3 | of foster care. |
| 0:36.5 | With every episode, our goal is to help you better |
| 0:39.0 | understand the foster care community. We want to bring you hope and encouragement in your |
| 0:43.8 | journey and help you support the agency workers, foster parents, vulnerable adults, and children |
| 0:49.7 | in foster care right where you live. If you want to learn more about TFI, catch up on past episodes, |
| 0:56.6 | read engaging articles, or partner with us on mission with a gift of any amount, head over to |
| 1:03.0 | the forgotten initiative.org. We are in this together. Okay, it is time. Let's do this. |
| 1:21.1 | Today I get the joy of introducing you to Justin Meehan. Justin and his wife have been married for over 22 years and have |
| 1:29.7 | been foster parents for the last three. Currently, they have three biological children and a soon-to-be-adopted |
| 1:36.3 | son. They live in Stratford, New Hampshire, with their two dogs, one cat, and 16 chickens. That's awesome. Justin is a newly launched TFI |
| 1:47.8 | advocate in Rochester, New Hampshire, where he is connecting his church to his local state |
| 1:53.9 | foster care office. And Justin, you are a gift to our team. We're so grateful for you. We got to meet in person just recently at our |
| 2:03.9 | advocate retreat, which was awesome. And I know we're going to talk about your experience so far as |
| 2:09.4 | a TFI advocate, but I really want to start by talking about your journey into foster parenting. |
... |
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