The Benson Family Spotlight Sarah and Scott Benson always knew that, due to medical challenges, they would grow their family through foster care and adoption. When the time was right, Sarah began researching and reaching out to child placing agencies, and Arms Wide was one of the few that responded. “I’m the type of person

The Yonda Family Spotlight For as long as she can remember, Amber Yonda imagined adopting. When she was a little girl, she asked her mom if she could even adopt her friend. “I’ll feed him and take care of him,” she said, to which her mom gently explained that that’s not how adoption works. When

The Cameron Family Spotlight Chantele Cameron was called to be a mother. But after years of fertility treatments and procedures, her doctor told her it would be best to consider adoption. “I always knew I wanted to be a mom, and I wanted the whole experience of pregnancy,” Chantele said. “When I accepted that I

The Elksnis Geisler Family Spotlight Irene Elksnis Geisler always wanted to be a mother but was not able to have children of her own. After being widowed for 10 years and facing the isolation of the pandemic, Irene had time to think about parenting again, and she started to seriously consider adoption. She was older

The Merlo Family Spotlight It’s not often youth we served reaches out to connect with us, but when they do, we are overjoyed and excited to hear how they’re doing. Recently, Michael Merlo, whom we served through a child-focused recruitment program for older youth in foster care until he turned 18, wanted to reconnect with

The Wiltz-Martin Family Spotlight Here at Arms Wide, we understand a family’s journey doesn’t end after adoption. Emotional scars from the neglect or abuse that led the children to experience foster care in the first place can last years after being connected with a permanent family. Extraordinary amounts of love, nurturing and commitment are sometimes

A Leap of Faith: The Scarlatella Family Spotlight Tina and Anthony Scarlatella adopted from foster care with Arms Wide a decade ago. In this family spotlight, they share their journey of adopting through foster care and saying ‘yes’ even in the face of uncertainty. Beginning the Journey Tina and Anthony knew that adoption was the

Long Journey to Family: The Shalack Family Spotlight Tiffinie and Jonah Shalack wanted to adopt for nearly 20 years but never felt ready for it. Jonah’s dad was adopted so it was always part of the family story. Once they accepted that, like many parents to-be, they may never feel ready, they decided to become

Ministry of Parenting: The Muery Family Spotlight November 2023 marked more than just National Adoption Month for Kevin and Debbie Muery – they adopted for the last time, adding two girls to their family. As biological, adoptive, and foster parents, they have parented more than 85 children, including 13 adopted children. “We never intended to