Daily Inspiration: Meet Kristin Orphan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Orphan.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My husband, Mark and I started Finally Home in 2008 out of our personal experience as a foster, adoptive, and kinship family . As our family grew through having two biological sons, then becoming the kinship care providers to a developmentally disabled family member and then through private foster care and adoption of two little girls, we soon realized that we needed a lot of support. We felt ill equipped and isolated. It in that season, that we began to reach out to other families like ours and realized that our story was not unique. So, as we sought community, specialized parenting education, and support, we established Finally Home as a hub for other families on a similar journey. In October, 2008, we held our first Family Strengthening Conference, where we gathered whole families together in order to learn, share, laugh, and grieve those things that we only felt comfortable talking about with those who would understand. The feedback was amazing. We were not the only ones desperate for connection and honest conversations. Since then, we have continued to gather families together in person and virtually. We developed research based curricula for every life stage as well as resources and tools that families can use at home. We have also designed all of our programs with the idea of equipping churches to offer them, because we want families all over the nation to be effectively served and supported. While we are very proud of all of our curricula, what remains to be the most powerful tool to this day is simply offering a listening ear to a parent or caregiver who is overwhelmed and feels like no one understands. Our family support team is available to walk alongside of those who reach out, not even sure of what they need. They just know they cannot keep going much longer as they are. What started as a desire to encourage other families who had said “yes,” to caring for kids who need a safe and loving home, has grown into an organization that is equipping all family members to recognize that they are resilient and they can heal and thrive.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. We launched Finally Home in 2008, during a significant financial turn in our country. And yet, God is faithful and people continued to be generous. We worked hard to get resources donated so that we did not have to charge families for the support they desperately needed. Also, as a family, we endured significant struggles in raising our kids who had experienced trauma. So, while this personal experience throughout all of the different life stages of raising kids helped us to keep our materials and programs authentic and relevant, it was hard to address all of the needs in our own family while helping other families who were struggling. Once again, God brought the right people at the right times to help us.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We specialize in helping parents and caregivers learn how to build a healthy family. Our family strengthening curriculum is called, “Survival Skills for Healthy Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Families.” It’s research and evidence based and it addresses every member of the family. In other words, it’s not just about parenting. We take a family systems approach and believe that a healthy family is made up of healthy individuals and a healthy family produces healthy individuals. So, we talk about the key characteristics and skills that everyone needs to heal, grow, and thrive throughout a lifetime. I think the fact that we talk about the whole family and not just how to parent kids who have been through hard things, that sets us apart. We believe that it’s for everyone’s best that it not be all about any one person in the family. Everyone is important and when we take age appropriate responsibility for ourselves and help one another, we feel better about ourselves and the family is stronger. Our teen program is “Solid Rock Students,” and our kid’s curriculum is “SuperHeroes Bounce Back.”

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
For me personally, it’s the time I study God’s word that helps me most in my life. It reminds me that I am loved for who I am, not just what I do for others or the many roles I have in life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://finallyhome.net