Blog

When Lori Lee and her husband, Kevin, became licensed foster parents in 2012, they thought they knew what to expect. After all, they’d parented two biological children and witnessed friends who fostered. What they didn’t know was how profoundly the experience would change their family and shape Lori’s calling to serve others.

The Lees’ first foster placement was two young siblings, ages four and two. Soon after they arrived, Lori was desperate for clues about their favorite foods and bedtime routines. Regular things that any parent would know about their child, but were completely new to her. She was trying to give them a sense of comfort in the midst of chaos. The social worker connected Lori with the children’s grandmother. “That simple phone call changed everything,” said Lori.

That early experience taught Lori something that would guide her for years to come: children need stability, but they also need connection to where they came from. Over time, the children’s maternal grandparents became like a third set of parents to the Lee family, joining them for soccer games, birthdays, and holidays; remaining a constant presence. “It wasn’t required or encouraged by the system,” Lori explains. “It was simply the right thing for the kids.”

The kids with their maternal grandparents.

Adoption day April 2015, attended by maternal grandparents, great aunts, and second and third cousins, along with Lori and Kevin’s extended families.

Lori and Kevin went on to adopt the siblings in 2015. A few years later, they learned that the children’s biological mother was expecting again. Even though their home was no longer open to fostering, they didn’t hesitate to accept the new baby girl as a kinship placement. By then, Lori and Kevin were raising teenagers and suddenly back to bottles and midnight feedings. That experience showed Lori how drastically support can differ for kinship caregivers. They often shoulder the costs and logistics with little help.

“It opened my eyes,” Lori says. “We had friends who could help with meals, childcare, and supplies, but not everyone has that. Many kinship caregivers make enormous sacrifices in isolation.”

She began to see that families caring for vulnerable children often carry invisible loads, and they shouldn’t have to do it alone.

From Calling to Community

By 2020, after finalizing their daughter’s adoption, Lori began asking a new question: how could she help other families feel less alone in this journey? While still working full-time as a home health nurse, she came across the Foster Village model in Austin, Texas. She learned it was a nonprofit that equips caregivers, connects communities, and advocates for the needs of children in foster care.

“Their approach immediately resonated with me,” she recalls. “They were meeting practical needs and building community, the two main things families need most.”

Lori soon after co-founding Foster Village Lawrence in September 2020.

Within two years, Lori and her friends (and co-founders) Jenny Lichte and Meredith Marshall launched Foster Village Lawrence (later called Foster Village Northeast KS), the first affiliate in the state of Kansas. Opening a new nonprofit during the lingering uncertainty of the pandemic was challenging, but Lori and her team chose to lead with listening. They met first with local agencies KVC and DCCCA to ask what families needed most.

The answer was clear: respite care. That became Caregiver Night Out, one of the organization’s most popular and enduring programs. From there, Foster Village Northeast KS grew to include Welcome Packs for new foster placements, caregiver support groups, educational workshops, and fun family gatherings.

Building the Village

Today, as Director of Family Equipping & Engagement, Lori helps identify and respond to gaps in support for foster, adoptive, and kinship families. Her leadership has helped Foster Village Northeast KS grow rapidly since its launch in 2022, serving hundreds of families across Douglas and Shawnee counties. 

“I’ve experienced the full 360 of this journey,” she says. “And I know the best way we can support families is by listening to them, really listening, and letting their voices guide what we do.”

In late 2024, Foster Village Northeast KS surveyed 60 current and recent foster families and caregivers about what helps them most and what still feels hard. Their feedback echoed what Lori had seen firsthand:

• Many families feel under-supported by agencies, especially when navigating behavioral health needs.
• Connecting with other foster parents matters a lot. Nearly 60% said it’s very important to find others who “get it.”
• Personal networks and organizations like Foster Village offer a critical lifeline. Over 71% plan to continue fostering, in part due to Foster Village services and support.

Informed by this caregiver input, Foster Village Northeast KS launched new programming in 2025 to address specific needs, such as offering sensory support (Project SOOTHe), financial aid for extracurricular activities, faster access to mental health resources, and support specific to the unique needs of kinship caregivers (relatives and non-relative kin who step in to care for children). 

It also included opening a dedicated Resource Center in Topeka in order to better serve the growing need in Shawnee County.

For Lori, that sense of community is both the reward and the goal. Even after more than a decade in the foster care world, she continues to draw from the same conviction that started it all: every child and caregiver deserves to be surrounded by a village of love and support.

“We were never meant to do this alone,” says Lori. 

➡️ Learn more about Foster Village Northeast KS and explore ways to get involved in supporting out mission.