MPC: Milwaukee's Philanthropic Community
Jun 11, 2026 · 30 min · 9 segments
What does it really mean to “be the village” for foster and adoptive families? This week on #MPC, we’re joined by Natalie Anderson, founder of Fostering Community, an organization working to build…
Natalie AndersonGuest
Jill EconomouHost
Well, let's start by having you tell us what made foster care and adoption personal to you.
Yeah, I feel like a lot of people think that I have a foster child, which I don't.
And then my oldest niece on my family side is actually adopted from foster care, too.
But I think really where my heart came from foster care, I have a background in social work.
And I've done a lot of work in domestic violence shelters homeless shelters things like that and I kind of have worked with women that maybe aged out of the foster care system who never got that consistency that love that was needed and you see a lot of people who enter into foster care adoption wanting a baby.
And I always think, what if we cared for the 16, 17, 18 year old girl as much as we care for the baby? And so how do we kind of love bio parents, but also support families that have a two, five, eight year old kid and support them so that we don't see those kids age out of the system? And then they're able to have kids themselves that know what it's like to be in a healthy, safe environment.
I imagine sometimes the work seems heavy and hard when you're dealing with these children individually and these families.
I feel like it might sound a little weird to say it doesn't feel as heavy and hard as other work that I've done in the past.
And I think I've built good boundaries to separate myself a little bit and being able to come in and be what these families and these kids need.
And so since I'm not connected, like they're not my kids, I feel like I can kind of come in and maybe be a little more like healthier person who's not as focused with everything going on to kind of come and help meet some of those needs or just think about things that they don't have to think about or provide opportunities that maybe wouldn't be an opportunity for them else otherwise.
And also I think like it's more heavy and hard for the families, obviously, than for me because I'm a little more separated.
So being able to kind of how can I come in, help meet a need for a little bit, but then I get to leave at the end of the day, you know, kind of.
Well, let's start by having you tell us what made foster care and adoption personal to you.
Yeah, I feel like a lot of people think that I have a foster child, which I don't.
And then my oldest niece on my family side is actually adopted from foster care, too.
But I think really where my heart came from foster care, I have a background in social work.
And I've done a lot of work in domestic violence shelters homeless shelters things like that and I kind of have worked with women that maybe aged out of the foster care system who never got that consistency that love that was needed and you see a lot of people who enter into foster care adoption wanting a baby.
And I always think, what if we cared for the 16, 17, 18 year old girl as much as we care for the baby? And so how do we kind of love bio parents, but also support families that have a two, five, eight year old kid and support them so that we don't see those kids age out of the system? And then they're able to have kids themselves that know what it's like to be in a healthy, safe environment.
I imagine sometimes the work seems heavy and hard when you're dealing with these children individually and these families.
I feel like it might sound a little weird to say it doesn't feel as heavy and hard as other work that I've done in the past.
And I think I've built good boundaries to separate myself a little bit and being able to come in and be what these families and these kids need.
And so since I'm not connected, like they're not my kids, I feel like I can kind of come in and maybe be a little more like healthier person who's not as focused with everything going on to kind of come and help meet some of those needs or just think about things that they don't have to think about or provide opportunities that maybe wouldn't be an opportunity for them else otherwise.
And also I think like it's more heavy and hard for the families, obviously, than for me because I'm a little more separated.
So being able to kind of how can I come in, help meet a need for a little bit, but then I get to leave at the end of the day, you know, kind of.
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