When Heather and Scott McGhee first began talking about becoming parents, they knew they wanted their family to look a little different.
Both had worked with children impacted by foster care—Heather as a therapist in schools and Scott through camps and group homes. They had seen firsthand the incredible need for safe, loving families. But as first-time foster parents, they also knew they didn't want to navigate the journey alone.
After hearing about Koinonia Family Services from a coworker who had adopted through the agency, they began researching their options.
"We picked Koinonia because we wanted someone to advocate for us, walk us through the process, explain the ropes, and tell us what we needed to do to be ready," Heather shared.
That decision would become one of the most important their family ever made.
A Call That Changed Everything
Like many prospective foster families, Heather and Scott expected it might take some time before they received their first placement. They prepared a bedroom, told family and friends about their plans, and waited.
Just one week after becoming licensed, they received two placement calls in the same day. Within hours, they were rushing through Target, borrowing baby gear from friends, and preparing their home for a seven-month-old baby girl.
Everything happened so quickly.
"There was a seven-month-old baby girl... they said, 'You have two hours to get your house ready,'" Heather remembered.
Their daughter, referred to here as Z., had already experienced significant trauma. At only seven months old, she had been in multiple foster homes and struggled to sleep, crying through the night for weeks.
Heather and Scott were exhausted, but they weren't alone.
Their Koinonia social worker visited regularly, offered encouragement, and reminded them to keep going through the hardest days. Those early check-ins became a lifeline as they learned how to care for a child whose earliest experiences had taught her the world wasn't always safe.
Loving Through Uncertainty
Z. entered foster care on a reunification track, and what Heather and Scott initially believed would be a few months stretched into nearly four years.
Court hearings, missed family visits, legal proceedings, and constant uncertainty became part of everyday life. There were moments when they questioned how much more they could endure.
Yet through every difficult season, they continued showing up for Z., loving her wholeheartedly despite never knowing what the next court decision might bring.
Eventually, after years of waiting, parental rights were terminated, and Heather and Scott officially adopted Z. just before her fifth birthday.
"It wasn't until then that we could finally start enjoying being parents," Heather said. "It wasn't a fight for survival anymore."
An Unexpected Phone Call
After such a long and emotionally taxing journey, the McGhee’s believed their foster care chapter had come to an end.
They sold baby gear, bought their first home, and transformed the extra bedroom into an office.
Then, in August 2024, everything changed.
Heather received a voicemail from a social worker explaining that a baby had just been born at the hospital—and she was Z.'s biological sister.
The family didn't hesitate.
Although their foster care license had expired, Koinonia quickly stepped in to help them navigate the process of becoming licensed again.
Working closely with their Koinonia social worker, Jenessa, the family completed updated licensing requirements and a new home study so they could welcome the baby into their home as quickly as possible.
Today, little C. is thriving with the family, and they are eagerly awaiting her adoption to be finalized.
"We said we'd never do it again," Heather laughed. "And then we did it again."
The Difference Advocacy Makes
Heather says one of the greatest gifts Koinonia provided wasn't simply training or paperwork—it was knowing someone was always in their corner.
Throughout the years, Koinonia connected the family with resources like respite care, developmental assessments, daycare, and even swim lessons for Z. whenever needs arose.
But the biggest impact came during the family's most difficult legal battles.
"When things really fell apart and we felt like we were drowning, not only did our social worker go to bat for us, but the director of Koinonia did too," Heather shared. "They vouched for who we were and what we'd done for our daughter."
Having an agency willing to advocate for them gave the McGhee’s confidence that they weren't facing the foster care system alone.
"If you just had the county and no one in the middle to advocate for you and vouch for your character, that would be really scary," Heather said.
Never Walking Alone
Today, Heather and Scott are raising two incredible daughters and continuing to advocate for children and families involved in foster care.
Heather hopes more people understand that foster parents aren't heroes or babysitters—they're parents.
Parents who wake up in the middle of the night to comfort a scared child.
Parents who love deeply, even when the future is uncertain.
Parents who celebrate reunification when it's possible and grieve alongside children when it's not.
Looking back, Heather doesn't focus on how difficult the journey was. Instead, she reflects on the incredible privilege of becoming a mom.
"I feel like everyone says they're so lucky to have you," she said. "But I feel so lucky to have them. I feel like I won the lottery getting to be their mom."
For the McGhee’s, foster care has been a journey marked by uncertainty, resilience, and unwavering love. Through every challenge, Koinonia was there—not only providing resources and guidance, but advocating for their family when it mattered most. That support gave Heather and Scott the confidence to keep showing up for the children in their care, knowing they never had to navigate the journey alone.
Kaitlin Earnest, Contributor