During the 2023 Wendy’s Wonderful Kids® Summit, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption recognized Andrea, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter with Raise the Future in Utah, as a Recruiter of the Year. Andrea is a passionate, diligent professional who has a special ability to connect with the children in her care and make them feel seen.
Through its Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program, the Foundation supports the hiring of adoption recruiters, like Andrea, who are dedicated to finding forever families for the longest-waiting children in foster care. That includes teenagers, children with special needs and sibling groups.
These recruiters use an evidence-based, child-focused recruitment model to find the right family for every child in their care. A rigorous, five-year evaluation revealed that children referred to Wendy’s Wonderful Kids are up to 3x more likely to be adopted.
“We’re always using the model to overcome challenges, because this work has so many challenges,” explained Andrea. “I believe in the model. I’ve seen it work. I’ve seen it work consistently.”
Through these challenges, Andrea has remained steadfast in her belief that every child is adoptable. She is willing to have tough conversations and go the extra mile to achieve permanency for the children on her caseload because she knows that having the stability and security of a permanent family can make all the difference in a child’s life.
“Everybody needs somebody,” said Andrea. “Everybody needs to feel like they belong somewhere. Everybody needs to feel loved.”
You can join the Foundation in recognizing the life-changing work of Wendy’s Wonderful Kids adoption professionals, like Andrea, by sending them a thank you note.
