Stories

More than 437,000 children are in foster care in the United States, 125,000 of whom have been permanently separated from their family of origin and are waiting for someone to step forward to adopt them — a 23 percent increase since 2012. In this letter to the Washington Post, the Foundation's President & CEO, Rita Soronen, discusses the far-reaching impact of this problem and how we must work together to ensure more children in foster care have a safe, loving home. Read More

For more than five years, Ariana bounced between foster homes, longing for a permanent home. “I thought, ‘Where am I going to live? Who is going to take care of me? How am I going to make friends?’” she said. That dream came true in 2014 when she was adopted by Chris and Joanna McIntyre with support from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and her Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter, Chelsea. Read More

National Adoption Month, held every November, is a special time each year to celebrate families that have grown through adoption and raise awareness of the more than 125,000 children still waiting to be adopted from foster care in the United States. "The importance of ensuring that every child has a permanent home and a loving family can’t be ignored," writes Rita Soronen, President & CEO of the Foundation, in this op-ed for The Chronicle of Social Change. Read More

Maya and Hannah spent six long years in and out of foster care as their parents battled addiction. In 2017, the sisters were adopted by Dana and Barbara Fontaine, of Massachusetts, through the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption's Wendy's Wonderful Kids program. The family shared their story with Boston 25 News. Read More

On the 20th anniversary of National Adoption Day, Rita Soronen, President & CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption; Cynthia Billey, Director of the Foster Care Adoption Program at Alliance for Children's Rights; and Judge Michael Nash, Director of the Los Angeles County Office of Child Protection, call for action to address the growing need to find adoptive homes for children waiting in foster care. "As leaders in this movement, we are sounding the alarm: people must start talking and taking action to ensure that every child has a permanent home and a loving family." Read More

Rita Soronen, President & CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, joined Ericka Andersen on the Worth Your Time podcast to discuss how the Foundation is working to find loving, permanent homes for children who have been waiting in foster care the longest, including teenagers, children with special needs and siblings. Read More

There is an increasing over-representation of minority, older and LGBTQ children in foster care. "With the increase of children entering the complex child welfare system, it is essential to maximize every avenue to find permanency and stability for these children," writes Rita Soronen, President & CEO of the Foundation, in this article for the Family Equality Council. Read More

Rita Soronen, President & CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, joined host Joel Riley on 610 WTVN in Columbus, Ohio to discuss the critical need to find loving, permanent homes for children waiting in foster care. Listen to the interview. Read More

It is with a heavy heart that the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption shares that Lorraine Thomas, wife of our founder, Dave Thomas, passed away on November 24 surrounded by her family. “Lorraine saw, first hand, through her husband’s experience as an adoptee, that having a caring, supportive family can make all the difference in a child’s life, and her service as a board member was instrumental to advancing the Foundation’s impact across North America,” said Rita Soronen, President & CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Read More

With support from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and our Wendy's Wonderful Kids program, nearly 900 adoptions from foster care were finalized in Louisiana between October 2018 and September 2019, the second-highest number of adoptions in a single year ever. Read More