ADOPTION STORIES
A series of interviews with foster/adoptive families, adult adoptees, and adoption-support professionals in Windham County, VT – created by artist and educator Jo Dery and clinical social worker and psychotherapist Tamara Evanson, both foster/adoptive parents. Children in foster care should be of concern to every Vermonter. There are 1,300 children in foster care across Vermont – around 150 of them are here in Windham County. In the past decade, our state’s child welfare system has been, and remains, under great stress. The themes touched on in these interviews include trauma, grief, resilience, celebration, and community – as well as the role that race, class, gender, and the opioid and housing crises play in why children end up in foster care in Vermont. Through centering foster/adoptive children’s and family’s memories of the past and dreams for the future, Adoption Stories paints a picture of the complex experience of these kids and families – full of love, loss, beauty, and pain. Adoption Stories was funded in part by a Brattleboro Town Arts Fund grant.
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Episodes
Saturday Oct 12, 2024
Saturday Oct 12, 2024
Danna Bare worked for Lund as a Post-Permanency Service Provider for nearly ten years, serving families formed by adoption and guardianship throughout Windsor and Windham Counties. In 2020, she was awarded the Congressional Angel in Adoption award for Vermont, for her direct service and leadership work in the field. Before finding her passion for family support work 16 years ago, Danna owned and managed two well-loved restaurants. In 2023, Danna began serving as the Executive Director of the Springfield Area Parent Child Center in Springfield, VT, where she was happy to find she still gets to share her adoption knowledge on an almost daily basis, through support to staff and families.
In this interview, we talk with Danna about her work supporting foster/adoptive and kinship families, trauma-informed parenting, adoption-competent classrooms, navigating connection to birth family, the importance of bearing witness as an adoptive parent, and the resiliency of adopted children, youth, and teens.
Content warning: Loss, grief.