Fostering AfterCare

About Fostering AfterCare

A podcast for adults who have aged out of foster care and are ready to continue the journey of holistic healing. Rooted in Biblical wisdom, the series follows the theme The Long Way Home—a journey through grief, resilience, and hope after foster care.

Publisher

Ángela Quijada-Banks

Category

health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

22 Sept 2025

Latest episode

24 Mar 2026

Latest episodes

9 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Mar 2026

   After the Sand: You are not Behind, You are Rebuilding

   After the Sand: You are not Behind, You are Rebuilding The feeling of being “behind” after foster care isn’t just in your head. For many of us, it’s the result of trying to build a life without ever being given a stable foundation to begin with. In this deeply reflective episode, Angie explores the persistent belief of being “behind” in adulthood after foster care. Through powerful storytelling and vivid imagery, she introduces the metaphor of the three little pigs to describe how many of us built our lives with straw, then sticks, doing the best we could with what we had, only to watch it collapse when life’s storms came. Angie shares how survival-based tools like hyper-independence, self-reliance, and intuition shaped her early attempts at stability, and why those materials, while necessary at the time, were never meant to sustain a lifelong foundation. She also names the deeper layer beneath it all: the unstable ground and unprocessed weight of grief, bitterness, and a hardened heart that made it even harder to stand. Through her personal story, including becoming a caregiver to her husband after a traumatic accident, Angie reflects on what it looks like when life forces you to stop, reassess, and rebuild from the ground up. She introduces a new way of understanding healing, not as catching up, but as rebuilding on something strong enough to finally withstand any storm. This episode is for anyone who feels like they are behind in life, tired of starting over, or questioning why things never seem to stick, and for those who want to understand what it truly takes to build a stable, grounded life after instability. 💭 What You’ll Hear in This Episode Why the feeling of being “behind” after foster care is rooted in foundation, not failure The three little pigs metaphor: straw, sticks, and brick as stages of survival and rebuilding How hyper-independence and self-reliance can only take you so far The impact of grief, bitterness, and a hardened heart on your ability to build stability What it means to build on unstable ground vs. something that can actually stand firm A personal story of collapse, caregiving, and being forced to rebuild What “brick” looks like in real life: truth, structure, and spiritual alignment Why healing isn’t about catching up, but about rebuilding differently 🪞 Reflection Question If the foundation you started with was unstable, what could your life become if you rebuilt it on something strong enough, steady enough, and true enough to finally hold you? 📚 Resources & Links Connect with Angie via email: Hello@angelaquijadabanks.com Follow on Instagram: @angelaquijadabanks Subscribe to The Cozy Glow Newsletter for behind-the-scenes reflections, healing, and faith-based encouragement Explore more : AngelaQuijadaBanks.com

2. 

   19 Mar 2026

   The Power of Validation: The Cost of Self-Worth After Foster Care Ft. Ivory Bennett

   The Power of Validation The Cost of Self-Worth After Foster Care Featuring Ivory Bennett, Lived Experience Partner Angie is joined by her lived experience partner for this episode, Ivory Bennett, an advocate, educator, and writer who spent 17 years in foster care across multiple placements and school systems in Pennsylvania. Ivory holds a dual Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies and English Literature with a minor in Theatre Arts (Performance) from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a Master of Education Administration, and is an aspiring doctoral student. She is deeply committed to foster care and education equity, serving on multiple child welfare and education boards and organizations, and engaging in advocacy through writing and public speaking. She is also a newly adoptive mother, an identity that further grounds her personal and professional work. Her passion for holistic health and well-being is rooted in a trauma-informed lens, with a particular focus on epigenetic impact, informed in part by her lived experience with Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. In this episode, Angie explores the hidden weight of being labeled “strong” and how validation rooted in survival can shape identity in ways that are both empowering and limiting. Through personal reflection and lived experience, she walks through her own journey of seeking validation through relationships, purpose, and recognition, and what it looked like when those foundations began to collapse. With insight from Ivory as a lived experience partner, this conversation also names a deeper and often unspoken grief: not just what was lost in foster care, but the experience of trying to build self-worth without stable foundations. Together, they highlight how systems often fail to nurture identity, and how spaces like Youth Voices Rising are creating room for that process to be reclaimed and redefined. This episode gently challenges the idea that strength alone is enough, and instead invites a shift toward identity that is not rooted in performance, survival, or external validation. This episode is for anyone who has ever been praised for their strength but felt unseen in their humanity, and for those seeking to understand how to support people whose identity was shaped in survival. 💭 What You’ll Hear in This Episode: • How being labeled “strong” can shape identity in both empowering and limiting ways• The hidden grief of building self-worth after foster care• Why survival behaviors cannot sustain long-term identity• The different ways validation shows up through relationships, purpose, and recognition• What happens when validation from the world becomes the foundation of identity• The difference between human validation and God’s validation• Why identity rooted in creation does not have to be earned, proven, or performed• How lived experience voices like Ivory’s are reshaping conversations around identity and belonging 🪞 Reflection Question: If the validation you receive from the world disappeared tomorrow… would you still know who you are? What labels are you still carrying that were formed in survival, and are they still serving who you are becoming? 📚 Resources & Links Connect with ivory via email: ivory@fosteringmediaconnections.orgOn Instagram: @ivorybennett Learn more about Youth Voices Rising at and explore lived experience writing and advocacy Connect with Angie via email: Hello@angelaquijadabanks.comOn Instagram: @angelaquijadabanks Subscribe to The Cozy Glow Newsletter for behind-the-scenes, holistic wellness, and mamahood:https://angelas-newsletter-bc8a88.beehiiv.com/

3. 

   13 Jan 2026

   The Fragility of Trust: Learning How to Build Healthy Relationships After Foster Care

   The Fragility of Trust: Learning How to Build Healthy Relationships After Foster Care “Connectedness has the power to counterbalance adversity.”— Dr. Bruce Perry The challenge of acquiring, maintaining, or even desiring healthy relationships after foster care is that many of us are neurobiologically inclined to accept unsafe or unhealthy connection simply because it feels familiar. And layered on top of that is the reality that relationships often feel fragile, like they are always one moment away from being lost. In this deeply personal episode, Angie names a shared but often unspoken struggle among adults with foster care experience: the longing for connection alongside the fear of abandonment. Drawing from lived experience, trauma research, and faith, she explores how early relational ruptures shape the nervous system, distort our understanding of love, and make trust feel terrifying to extend. Angie reflects on how inconsistent caregiving, repeated abandonment, and the absence of repair taught her body to stay alert. She traces how survival-based definitions of love, rooted in compliance and self-abandonment, followed her into adulthood and even shaped how she once perceived God. This episode is for anyone who desires healthy relationships but feels overwhelmed by closeness, conflict, or vulnerability, and for communities seeking to understand how to create environments where trust can grow slowly and safely. 💭 What You’ll Hear in This Episode Why trust can feel fragile after foster care How early relational trauma shapes the nervous system The difference between love and compliance, and connection and self-abandonment How distorted views of love impact adult relationships and faith What Scripture offers as a grounded definition of love How healing happens through safety, consistency, and healthy connection Why trust is not rebuilt through pressure, but through presence 🪞 Reflection Question Where have you learned to shrink, comply, or silence yourself in order to preserve connection, and what might change if love no longer required self-abandonment? 📚 Resources & Links Connect with Angie via email: Hello@angelaquijadabanks.comFollow on Instagram: @angelaquijadabanksSubscribe to The Cozy Glow Newsletter for behind-the-scenes reflections and spiritual nourishmentExplore healing and identity resources at AngelaQuijadaBanks.com

4. 

   13 Jan 2026

   You Are Not Broken, You Were Just Unprotected Ft. Kassandra Villarreal

   You Are Not Broken, You Were Just UnprotectedFeaturing Kassandra Villarreal, M.S., LPC Associate Angie is joined by her sister in Christ, Kassandra Villarreal, a Counselor and LPC Associate with a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. With professional experience as a Youth Specialist at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and a deep commitment to supporting children, parents, and families, Kassandra brings both clinical insight and lived understanding to this conversation. Beyond her work, she is a devoted wife, mother of two boys, and community builder who hosts weekly coffee gatherings and intentional spaces for women to connect and heal. In this episode, Angie and Kassandra gently shift the lens from the belief that people with foster care experience are “broken” to a more truthful and compassionate understanding: many of the wounds carried into adulthood were formed in the absence of protection, consistency, and care. Angie also reflects on how internalizing the “broken” narrative impacts self-worth, relationships, and the future we believe we deserve, and how healing begins when blame is removed from the self and placed where it belongs. This episode is for anyone who has ever questioned their worth, struggled with shame around survival behaviors, or wondered if healing means fixing themselves rather than understanding what they were never given. 💭 What You’ll Hear in This Episode:• How the “broken” narrative forms in foster care and other systems of harm• The difference between being broken and being unprotected• Why survival behaviors were adaptive, not defective• How internalized shame shapes adult relationships and self-expectations• What healing looks like when we center safety, protection, and truth 🪞 Reflection Question:What parts of yourself did you label as broken that were actually doing their best to protect you? And were you instead just unprotected? 📚 Resources & LinksConnect with Angie via email: Hello@angelaquijadabanks.com On Instagram: @angelaquijadabanks Connect with Kassandra V. via email: kassandra_villarreal@outlook.com Subscribe to The Cozy Glow Newsletter for behind-the-scenes, holistic wellness and mamahood: https://angelas-newsletter-bc8a88.beehiiv.com/Explore healing and identity resources at AngelaQuijadaBanks.com

5. 

   13 Jan 2026

   The Unwritten Guidelines of Adulthood: What We Weren’t Taught Before Aging Out Ft. Lola Bunn

   The Unwritten Guidelines of Adulthood: What We Weren’t Taught Before Aging OutFeaturing Lola Bunn's poem: "I'm an adult" Expectations are often what we’re met with after foster care, with very little guidance and sometimes even less grace. Because we should already know. But turning eighteen doesn’t mean we were taught how to be successful, healthy adults. It simply means the responsibility shifted. In this episode of Fostering AfterCare, Angie explores what it means to enter adulthood without a written roadmap and how the quiet expectations of the world, around relationships, finances, work, and self care, can feel overwhelming when the instruction was never given. Through layered commentary, Angie names how what often gets labeled as personal failure is actually the collision of multiple realities. The personal, the relational, the communal, and the systemic. All happening at once. All placing expectations on individuals who were often trying to heal while also trying to survive. This episode is also held in poetry. Angie is joined by her little sister, Lola Bunn, a lived experience expert, videographer, creative, and poet. Lola’s words give voice to the emotions many adults with foster care experience carry quietly. The overwhelm. The confusion. The grief. The longing. Her poetry offers a body level reflection on becoming, survival, and healing in adulthood. Angie also shares a faith flashback from early adulthood, navigating housing instability, financial pressure, spiritual questioning, and the search for truth and belonging. Together, these stories invite listeners to reconsider what it means to learn late and to release the shame of being expected to know what was never taught. This episode is for anyone who has ever felt unprepared for the expectations placed on them, and for those who walk alongside people with foster care experience, offering consistency, grace, and support. 💭 What You’ll Hear in This Episode: Angie’s personal reflections on entering adulthood after foster care with expectations but no instruction A layered exploration of the unwritten rules of adulthood, from finances and relationships to work, self-care, and managing a household How missing guidance is often misread as personal failure instead of a collision of personal, relational, communal, and systemic realities A faith flashback from early adulthood navigating housing instability, financial pressure, spiritual questioning, and searching for belonging Lola Bunn’s poetry giving voice to the overwhelm, grief, longing, and becoming many adults with foster care experience carry quietly A prayer and reflection for those learning late, releasing shame, and rebuilding adulthood with compassion and support 🪞 Reflection Questions: What expectations were placed on you without guidance or explanation? Where do you still feel pressure to already know what you’re still learning? How might compassion, for yourself or others, change the way you approach adulthood now? 🌿 Sponsor Spotlight This episode is sponsored by A Home Within, a nonprofit dedicated to the mental health of youth in foster care and adults formerly in care. A Home Within connects individuals to free, long-term, relationship-based therapy, recognizing that healing is a lifelong process. Learn more at ahomewithin.org. 📚 Resources & Links Connect with Angie via email: Hello@angelaquijadabanks.com On Instagram: @angelaquijadabanks Subscribe to The Cozy Glow Newsletter for behind-the-scenes, reflections and mamahood: https://angelas-newsletter-bc8a88.beehiiv.com/ Explore healing and identity resources at AngelaQuijadaBanks.com

6. 

   14 Oct 2025

   Healing the Weight of “What Ifs” After Foster Care: Growing Up Without a Foundation

   Growing up without a stable foundation changes everything. For many of us who aged out of foster care, the “what if” questions don’t fade with time — they deepen. What if I had a home that felt safe? What if I had parents who protected me? What if I didn’t have to survive before I could dream? In this episode of the Fostering AfterCare Podcast, Angie opens up about the grief that comes not only from loss, but from absence. Absence from what was never built in the first place. She reflects on moments when the past reemerged in adulthood: in motherhood, marriage, and milestones that brought both joy and pain. Together, we’ll explore what it means to grow up without a blueprint, and how that lack of stability ripples into early adulthood. Angie shares personal stories of housing instability, fractured relationships, and rediscovering hope in faith and community. We’ll also unpack the data behind the experience; from homelessness and mental health challenges to the concept of “relational poverty” that is revealing the deeper cost of growing up without secure roots. More than an exploration of grief, this episode is an invitation to healing. It’s about recognizing that while we can’t rewrite the beginning, we can rebuild the foundation with one act of faith, one relationship, one prayer at a time. This conversation is for anyone who has ever carried the weight of “what if” after foster care, and for those who walk alongside them, helping turn survival stories into stories of restoration. 💭 What You’ll Hear in This Episode: Angie’s personal story of parental grief resurfacing in adulthood A story of housing loss and instability after aging out and how community support made a difference The heartbreaking reality: between 31–46% of youth who age out experience homelessness by age 26 Why the absence of stable love, housing, and belonging makes adulthood harder to navigate The call to reimagine foster care as a healing ecosystem ; one that supports both youth and the adults who care for them A prayer and reflection for those grieving what never was but still daring to build what could be 🪞Reflection Questions: What “what if” questions do you still carry from your past? How do those questions show up in your life today; in your relationships, faith, or sense of belonging? If you support youth or adults with foster care experience, how can your consistency help transform grief into restoration? 🌿 Sponsor Spotlight This episode is sponsored by The Empty Frames Initiative, a nonprofit empowering orphaned and vulnerable youth as they transition out of care by providing life skills, community, counseling, and access to the Gospel.Learn more at fillingemptyframes.org. 📚 Resources & Links Connect with Angie on Instagram: @angelaquijadabanks Subscribe to The Cozy Glow Newsletter for behind-the-scenes reflections and cozy spiritual nourishment Explore I Am Success Workbook for guided tools on healing and identity restoration Learn more at AngelaQuijadaBanks.com What Happened to you ? (book)

7. 

   29 Sept 2025

   The Heart Behind AfterCare

   Welcome to the very first episode of Fostering AfterCare! I’m Angela Banks—though you can call me Angie. This podcast was created for us, by us; for adults with foster care experience and anyone walking the long road of healing beyond survival. In this episode, I share the heart behind this podcast, the story that sparked it, and what you can expect this season. We’ll talk about why your identity is not defined by trauma, and why healing is a lifelong journey of rediscovering who we are. Whether this is your first step into healing or you’ve been walking this road for a while, I want you to know...you’re not alone. This space is here to remind you that your story doesn’t end in survival. It continues into healing, wholeness, and purpose. What You’ll Hear in This Episode: The vision for Fostering AfterCare and why it exists. My personal journey aging out, searching for identity, and shifting from survival into healing. What this podcast is not (spoiler: no “my way or the highway” here). A powerful question from a 2022 workshop: Who am I without my past trauma? What you can expect this season: conversations on aging out, hyper-independence, peace and safety, trust, relationships, parenthood, and more. An invitation to reflect Prayer of hope and love Reflection Question for You: Who am I becoming beyond my past trauma and pain? Take this question with you into the week and throughout this podcast. Journal on it, pray on it, or simply let it sit with you. My Hope for You: That you feel less alone. That you find language for what you’ve carried quietly. That you’re reminded you are worthy of love, peace, and a life built on who you truly are and not just what you’ve been through. ❤️ Resources & Links: Connect with me on Instagram: @angelaquijadabanks Learn more about my work: www.angelaquijadabanks.com Share this episode with a friend who needs encouragement.

8. 

   29 Sept 2025

   What Now? The Impossible Leap We Ask Young People to Make

   Aging out of foster care often feels less like a graduation and more like an eviction. One day, you’re told to pack your things. The next, you’re expected to step into adulthood with no clear foundation and no one to guide you. In this episode of the Fostering AfterCare Podcast, Angie shares her own story of being abruptly displaced under the CARS agreement, navigating college while homeless, and wrestling with deep questions of identity, faith, and survival. We’ll explore what happens when the “blueprints” of foster homes keep changing, leaving young people with fragments instead of a steady foundation. We’ll also dive into sobering statistics about homelessness, unemployment, and mental health, and reflect on what must change in the ecosystem of care if we want better outcomes for youth. This episode is about more than data; it’s about grief, faith, and the ongoing search for belonging. It’s for anyone who has ever asked, “What do I do now?” and for those who walk alongside adults with foster care experience. What You’ll Hear in This Episode: Angie’s personal story of aging out and the abrupt loss of stability. A moment of faith questioning and searching for truth. The blueprint and foundation metaphor; why building a stable life after foster care is so difficult without support. Heartbreaking data: 1 in 4 youth experience homelessness within 4 years of aging out. Why caregivers, caseworkers, and communities also need support to prevent burnout. A vision of what aging out could look like: not a shove off a cliff, but a supported step into a larger room. A prayer of encouragement for all who carry the question, “What now?” Reflection Questions: Have you ever faced a moment where the question, “What do I do now?” echoed loudly in your own heart? How did you navigate it, and who walked with you? If you’re an adult with foster care experience, how have you carried that question into adulthood? If you’re a supporter—friend, ally, mentor, or relative—how can you help turn the impossible leap into a supported step? Sponsor SpotlightThis episode is sponsored by the Empty Frames Initiative, a nonprofit empowering orphaned and vulnerable youth as they transition out of care by providing life skills, community, and access to the Gospel. Learn more at fillingemptyframes.org. Resources & Links Connect with Angie on Instagram: @angelaquijadabanks Subscribe to the Cozy Glow Newsletter Learn more about I Am Success Workbook

9. 

   22 Sept 2025

   Trailer (2025)

   🎙️ Fostering AfterCare: The Long Way, Together Aging out of foster care isn’t the end of the story...it’s the beginning of a whole new chapter. But what happens when that chapter feels overwhelming, lonely, or disorienting? Welcome to Fostering AfterCare, a podcast created for adults with foster care experience and anyone who wants to understand and support them better. Hosted by award-winning author and advocate Angela Quijada-Banks (Angie), this series blends storytelling, biblical wisdom, and practical tools for healing, encouragement to stay on the path and building a life far beyond survival. This is a three season podcast following the series theme of " The Long Way Home". In Season 1, we’ll walk “The Disorientation of Aging Out” together. Each episode explores the real challenges and quiet victories of life after foster care; from identity and relationships to holistic health and faith. Through honest conversations and guided reflections, you’ll find reminders that you’re not alone, that your story matters, and that healing is possible. Whether you’ve aged out yourself, love someone who has, or simply want to learn how to walk alongside this community, Fostering AfterCare is your space to breathe, heal, and grow. ✨ Join us on September 29, 2025—the 5-year anniversary of The Black Foster Youth Handbook—as we begin this journey. Subscribe now so you don’t miss the first episode! And share with someone who needs to know: you don’t have to walk this path alone. Stay connected:📖 www.angelaquijadabanks.com📘 Instagram :@AngelaQuijadaBanks🌱 Subscribe to the Cozy Glow Newsletter

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

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Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.