Keri and Drew always knew that adoption and foster care would be part of their journey to grow their family.
“Keri and I always dreamed of raising four children. We envisioned the joy and the chaos, the laughter bouncing through the hallways,” said Drew. “But starting a family didn’t come easy for us. We faced heartbreak and unanswered questions. In the middle of all that pain, we knew one thing for certain: we had so much love to give.”
For Keri, a clinical supervisor with Nexus Family Healing in North Dakota, passion for fostering and adoption runs deep. Keri grew up with adopted siblings, and she fiercely believes that every person deserves to feel safe and secure.
“Being a clinical supervisor definitely aligns with my personal passion,” Keri explained. “I’ve done therapy and crisis work in the past, but it’s incredibly rewarding to help foster youth find their someone, their safety and their security. It feels meaningful to help youth and families in both my professional world and my personal one.”
Starting their family
Facing infertility struggles and having so much love to give, Drew and Keri decided to begin their foster care journey.
“Fostering gave us a chance to provide something every child deserves – a safe, loving home – even if only for a while,” said Drew, “Over two decades later, we’ve had the privilege of fostering children of all ages, from newborns to teenagers.”
Drew and Keri’s journey of building their family began with their oldest daughter, who came to them through a kinship adoption. Drew and Keri went on to have 3 biological daughters, during which they decided to take a break fostering.
However, after renewing their licensing, Drew and Keri got a call about a newborn who needed a home.
She stayed with us for a short while before being reunified with her family,” said Drew, “A few months later, we got another call—this time she and her older sister needed a home. We welcomed them without hesitation.”
When both sisters came to stay, it became clear that the oldest sister was suffering.
“She was terrified of men and completely shut down emotionally. It was heartbreaking to witness,” said Drew, “She needed so much care and attention that we ultimately made the difficult decision to foster only her.”
Drew and Keri cared for her for almost a year, working hard to help her heal.
“She began to trust again—especially in me,” said Drew, “then the state decided to reunite her and her sister with their great-grandparents. It was devastating to say goodbye.”
However, two weeks after she reunited with her family, Drew and Keri got the call that it wasn’t working out.
“I immediately reached out to the Indian Child Welfare Act worker and the tribe to see what we could do,” Drew said, “In the end, we were able to bring both girls back home, and today, they are legally our daughters. That experience showed me how powerful love and persistence can be, and how much healing is possible with the right support.”
Keri and Drew are now parents to 6 girls, 3 are adopted and 3 are biological.
“And we wouldn’t change any of it for the world,” said Keri.
A multigenerational calling
Foster and adoptive care have become a multigenerational calling. Today, one of their older daughters, along with her husband, is now a foster parent herself. To support them, Keri and Drew even got relicensed.
“Our daughter and her husband had an opportunity to go to Paris for two weeks,” said Keri. “So Drew and I got relicensed so we could care for our grand foster babies.”
Keri and Drew’s adopted children and biological children are extremely close. Still, there are moments of sadness, like not having birth videos or early childhood photos, but Keri meets those moments with love.
“I always remind them that they grew in my heart, and I picked them,” Keri said. “It’s one of the hardest things when they ask, ‘Am I as loved as my bio siblings?’ And my husband and I make sure they know, every day, that it doesn’t matter how you came to be part of our family, you are part of our family.”
Keri and Drew help their adopted daughters maintain safe and healthy relationships with their biological relatives, including a grandmother and half siblings.
“My girls know it will always be safe because we will always be with them,” Keri said. “They will never have to face those dynamics alone. We keep communication open and answer their questions as honestly as we can.”
Keri and Drew still maintain contact with many of the youth they previously fostered. Sometimes that’s difficult, especially when a young person struggles after leaving foster care.
“Knowing we left enough of an imprint that they’ll still reach out means everything,” Keri shared. “They come back because we spoke value into them. Every opportunity you have to speak love and care into a young person, to remind them that they have worth, is valuable.”
Save one starfish
“Think of the starfish story, where a child tosses one stranded starfish at a time back into the sea,” said Drew, “When told it won’t make a difference, the child replies, ‘It made a difference to that one.’ That’s foster care in a nutshell.”
“You don’t need a fancy car or a huge house to be a foster parent,” said Keri, “you just need room in your heart and home to show a child that they matter…they just want to be loved. It doesn’t take extra capacity; it takes willingness.”
She emphasizes the importance of being present: “With foster care, it’s so important to be in the mindset of the here and now. Fill them up with value and worth. Even if they go back to their people, you’ve left a positive impact.”
“Be intentional,” she added. “Speak life into them. Tell them they are special and valued and loved while they’re in your care.”
“You learn to hold on loosely, love fully, and appreciate each moment as a gift,” said Drew.