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Lilyauna (Lily) loves four things more than anything: coffee, salsa, her pugs and her family. 

For nine years, she waited in foster care, fearful that she wouldn’t have a family and would have to face her future alone. She dreamed of being adopted but was almost too afraid to wish for it. “I don’t really remember a time not in foster care. I mean, I hoped, but I never really expected it to happen,” said Lily. 

When Lily was referred to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption’s Wendy’s Wonderful Kids^® program, her WWK adoption recruiter Andrea from Raise the Future in Utah helped change everything. 

Through this program, the Foundation supports the hiring of adoption professionals, known as recruiters, dedicated to serving youth who have waited the longest in foster care. This includes teens, children with special needs and siblings. 

Andrea was Lily’s Wendy’s Wonderful Kids adoption recruiter. It was her mission to find a permanent home for Lily before she aged out of foster care. In the state of Utah, Andrea had until Lily turned 21, but everyone wanted permanency and stability for Lily as soon as possible. 

When Lily’s foster care placement needed to change, Andrea knew the right foster family to help her regroup. Jess and Sam were known for taking in teenagers, giving them a safe place to land and allowing them to be themselves. They easily said yes to taking in Lily until a permanent placement could be found. 

However, Lily wasn’t as sure about the move. For three months she didn’t unpack her bags. Jess tried small ways to show they wanted her to have her own space and feel at home. “We let her paint her room. We didn’t go into her room. That is her space. We wanted her to feel that trust,” said Jess. “And I think after a few months of us just respecting her space in her room and her recognizing that we weren’t going to go in there, she kind of slowly was like, ‘Okay, I think they’re really serious. They’re not going to come in here.’”  

About the time that Lily started to unpack her things and talk to Andrea about wanting to say with Jess and Sam … Jess and Sam told Andrea they wanted her to stay with them for as long as she wanted.  

With help from Andrea and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Lily officially became Jess and Sam’s daughter at age 18.  

“She’s always been so work-oriented. She got a job right away. She finished her GED, and she got her driver’s license,” said Jess. 

For Sam, he’s excited to help Lily achieve her dreams. “She trusts me. It’s cool to be the support for her,” he said. 

Now, Lily has her eyes on taking her next steps with newfound confidence. “It’s good knowing that I’m not going to be moved again. That I’m going to know where I’m sleeping the next night. That I’m going to have people there for the rest of my life that are going to be there, supportive. It just means a lot,” said Lily. 

And for anyone considering becoming a foster parent or adopting from foster care, Lily has a message to you: “They’re not bad kids. Bad things happen, and they might need a little extra help, but nothing a little love can’t fix.” 

To learn more about how to adopt from foster care, download our Step-by-Step Guide to Adoption.