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Eight years ago, Misty received an unexpected call from child protective services. Authorities informed her that her young cousins were removed from their parents’ home due to abuse and neglect.

The sibling group was separated, and the youngest children were swiftly placed with foster families. But the eldest, Xavi, did not have any place to go. Misty was asked to take him into her home.

At the time, Misty was a crew member at a Wendy’s® restaurant. She was nervous about taking in an older child. She wanted to be sure she could provide him with the things he needed. But after thinking about it, she and her husband opened their hearts and home to Xavi.

He arrived without basic necessities, like clothes to wear. Thankfully, Misty was surrounded by a support system at Wendy’s.

“My general manager at the time went and bought clothes for Xavi. I am not an emotional person, but I cried and was so grateful,” said Misty.

Two years after Xavi was placed with Misty, she was able to start the adoption process. One year later, the couple officially became his mom and dad.

Misty is now a general manager at a Wendy’s restaurant in Colorado. She utilized Wendy’s adoption benefits, including paid adoption and bonding leave. This time off allowed their family of five to grow closer and gave Xavi time to transition.

Today, Misty advocates for foster care adoption, knowing how transformative having a permanent home can be for a child.

“My advice to anyone adopting a child is to have a lot of patience. Many children go through a lot of traumatizing things before they come into our homes. They need a lot of love and patience,” said Misty.

Each year, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption surveys organizations in the United States and releases a 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list. For many years, The Wendy’s Company was atop that list. In 2016, Wendy’s moved to Forever Family emeritus status, recognizing the company’s decades-long dedication to adoption and adoption benefits.

“As we have for more than 30 years, Wendy’s remains committed to our support of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and its mission to dramatically increase the number of adoptions from North America’s foster care systems,” said Kirk Tanner, President & CEO of The Wendy’s Company. “Wendy’s is proud of our emeritus Forever Family status on the Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list. We would also like to congratulate the organizations that are leading the way by recognizing the specific needs for families created through adoption and providing their employees with benefits to support them. We believe that your examples will serve as an inspiration for others to do the same.”

You can start the adoption and foster care benefits conversation in your organization by downloading the Foundation’s free Adoption-Friendly Workplace toolkit. For organizations already offering these benefits, register now to participate in our annual survey. You’ll be emailed when the survey opens.