We believe that every child deserves to feel
safe and loved.
Our Mission
The Restore Network was created to help the church respond. We link arms with those on the front lines of foster care through long-standing partnerships with child welfare agencies and court staff. But, as a privately run organization, we can remain agile in our response to the foster-care crisis, allowing us to respond in realtime, as Christ would.
Goodness
As we engage the foster care crisis, we remember that every person is created in the image of God. Therefore, each person has goodness, dignity, and humanity within them — each wounded foster child, each struggling birth parent, each broken family. Because we value life, we value each life. Every life has incredible value because of God.
Honesty:
We face the world as it is. God created this world good, but it has all been tainted by sin — by what we’ve done, by what’s been done to us, and by the brokenness that has taken hold of creation. Sin has the ability to destroy life through a vicious cycle of personal tragedy and failure, which is often seen in the “cycle of foster care.” By serving the foster care sphere, we are honored to link arms with birth parents who have likely suffered abuse, neglect or abandonment themselves, leaving them without the necessary resources to parent well. We are lights for Christ in this cycle of hurt brought on by our fallen world.
Love:
We put away the pointing finger (Isaiah 58:9) and put on love. Love heals what is broken and restores God’s goodness in each life. We love because God first loved us. We serve a Savior who showed us compassion when we were lost and without hope. He did not save us from far away, but drew near and made His dwelling among us (John 1:14). Our love for birth families is rooted in the compassion that Christ showed us. Henri Nouwen reminded us that compassion means “to suffer with”: “Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears, to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.”
Church:
We love the church. We are convinced that God longs to bring healing and restoration to families through the body of Christ. God designed children to grow up in healthy families, but when families are in crisis, God wants to heal them through the church. No other community on earth has the privilege and the power to stand between what is and what shall be in the world. The church is the sign pointing to new creation, the foretaste of what it will be like when all is restored and an instrument by which God restores goodness in the world right now. We work with God to love and to heal, and we rejoice with God when families are restored.
Family:
We see family as a haven and refuge not only from the world but also for the world. Family is not an impermeable sanctuary that one must be born into but, instead, is a hospitable people who share a readiness to welcome others home. Children who have been harmed in relationship will only find healing in relationship. Therefore, families are the primary way to bring healing to vulnerable children.
Support:
We believe that every Christian and every church can participate in caring for the vulnerable. James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” While we are all called to care for the vulnerable, those callings will be different: some will foster, some will adopt, and–just as importantly–some will support. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul calls the church “the body of Christ” in order to make a comparison to a human body. Just as the parts of our bodies must work together, so all believers and all communities of believers must use their diverse, God-given gifts to minister to the vulnerable. Some are called to foster, some are called to adopt and some are called to support, but we are all called.
Commitment:
We are committed to pursuing God’s restoration in the lives of the children we serve. Trauma affects everyone in tremendous ways, and healing is not quick. We enter the journey with realistic expectations, which means we prepare ourselves for a difficult and uncertain journey for the sake of the child. We are committed to being learners for how to parent children from hard places, and we will ask for support and resources during times of crisis.
Scripture:
The Bible is the inspired and infallible instrument for God’s authority being exercised in the world. We submit ourselves to the Spirit’s voice addressing us through scripture to correct error, heal brokenness, reveal God’s plan for restoration and release us for service to the world.
We put
Children
first
We have an unwavering, non‑negotiable commitment to what’s best for each child.
We love
Jesus
The Restore Network is faith-based, but we welcome all to help solve the problem.
We are an
Open Book
Organization-wide financial reports are always available upon request.
See the transformation.
Check out our blog for stories of people, like you, who have impacted the trajectory of kids’ lives for good.
Our Core Team
The foster care crisis seems overwhelming. So overwhelming, in fact, that – no matter how heartbreaking – it can feel intimidating to act. Surely someone better equipped will respond. We felt that way too, at first.
We took a risk, opened our homes, and now invite you to join us to play your part.
Jordan Bird
Executive Director
As a Southern Illinois native, Jordan has been in ministry for many years. However, it wasn’t until he, along with his wife Riley, began intentionally seeking to engage in relational ministry that they were confronted with the overwhelming need of vulnerable children in the area. They knew immediately that both their family and church had to respond, and they have been all in with Restore Network ever since. As a foster family, they’ve seen a beautiful reunification of one of their kiddos to their biological parents, they’ve adopted a kiddo into their family, and they’re still fostering. Their church also mobilized to launch Restore Network in Williamson County! As a foster dad who gets called for more kids than their family can say yes to, he feels the urgency and is eager to help God’s people in churches all around our state respond to the call to be a light in the darkness.
Ashley Bennett
abennett@therestorenetwork.org
Director of Trauma-Informed Care & Strategic Operations
Ashley has a Master of Social Work degree from St. Louis University and, since 2007, has worked with foster and adoptive parents, before becoming a foster parent herself in 2014. In 2019, Ashley became a Trust-Based Relational Intervention Practitioner and uses her education and training in trauma-based parenting to equip staff and foster parents within the Restore Network to facilitate healing for the children we serve. Ashley is also the proud parent of three boys that were adopted from foster care.
Taylor Sunderland
tsunderland@therestorenetwork.org
Development Director
Taylor is committed to making a difference in the lives of children and teens. As a mother of three boys, she understands the importance of a supportive environment for youth. She worked alongside her husband, a youth pastor, for six years, which fueled her passion for helping young people. Taylor also spent three years with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), gaining insight into the foster care system.
Victoria Haney
Parent Coach
Working in her community as a pediatric nurse, serving children and youth ministry in the local church, and becoming foster parents, Victoria sees the value in people. She has spent several years dedicated to learning all she can about trauma and the effects it has on our children and families. She and her husband have 3 precious kids that have come to them through foster care. As a Parent Coach and TBRI Practitioner who focuses on foster family recruitment & support, she takes her love for people and her passion for trauma informed care to raise awareness and meet a huge need in our community – caring for the older child in foster care.
Cristalle Turner
Lead Director, Metro East Region
As Lead Director, Cristalle seeks to provide cohesion and support to the County Directors serving our 6 Metro East Restore counties. Cristalle and her husband were foster parents for 11 years and adopted 3 children, making them a family of 8! Cristalle previously served with The Restore Network as the Madison County Director and has counted it a privilege to walk alongside families as they navigate the beauty and brokenness of their fostering stories. Cristalle is passionate about discovering hope in the journey, celebrating everyday moments and clinging to the truth that God is making all things new.
Liz Sanders
lsanders@therestorenetwork.org
Lead Coordinator, Metro East Region
Serving as Lead Coordinator, Liz walks alongside the Metro East County Coordinators to provide support and a sense of unity. Prior to serving as Lead Coordinator, Liz was the St Clair County Coordinator for The Restore Network, serving local families through event planning, and supporting the incredible team of St Clair volunteers. During her teenage years, Liz came alongside a mama friend in crisis to provide support for her and her infant son. God used this experience to plant the seed of foster care and adoption in her heart, which grew over the years into a passion for serving vulnerable children in the community. After officially licensing as a foster family in 2020, Liz and her husband, Jim, have welcomed 3 kiddos into their home. Liz feels truly blessed to have been called into this ministry, as God has walked alongside their family through the beauty and the brokenness of foster care. Their current family of 5 spend their free time hiking, camping and enjoying this beautiful season of life.
Melissa Triplett
mtriplett@therestorenetwork.org
Lead Director, Southern Region
As Lead Director for the Southern Region, Melissa seeks to provide leadership and support to the County Directors who are caring for families in the 8 counties we currently serve. Melissa and her husband Kyle began fostering in 2019 and have 6 children, 3 of whom joined their family through adoption. In 2022, she joined Restore as Williamson Area Director and found great joy in walking alongside the families she served three years in that position. Melissa is passionate about bringing healing to children and families through the extensive supports we offer and considers is an honor and privilege to continue working in this ministry. She looks forward to our continued growth, and is excited for more foster families to discover the hope, healing, and community that can be found within Restore.
Kaitlin Stearns
kstearns@therestorenetwork.org
Lead Coordinator, Southern Region
As Lead Coordinator for the Southern Region, Kaitlin provides support to the County Coordinators serving 8 counties across our region as they recruit and support volunteers, plan elaborate events, and serve foster families in a variety of ways. Kaitlin joined The Restore Network as the Williamson Area Coordinator in 2020 walking closely with the incredible Williamson Area volunteers to support local foster families. She and her husband Tom began fostering in 2022 and have 3 children, 2 biological sons, and a 3rd son who joined their family through adoption. Kaitlin feels truly blessed to have been called into this ministry and looks forward to seeing how the Lord continues to work through Restore as it expands into more areas to change the culture of foster care.
Our Board of Directors
The board is made up volunteer members with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
Cheryl Hale
Chair | Retired, OSF Healthcare Medical Group
Tim Carter
Treasurer | Midwest Members Credit Union
Steve Campbell
Secretary | Retired, Lewis & Clark Community College
Laura Stine
The Simple Room
Jason Cook
First Mid Bank and Trust
Chad Flannery
The Journey SI Church
Susannah Day
Recovery & Wellness Center
Shayne Robinson
Redeemer Church
Kyle Triplett
Southern Illinois Healthcare
Andrew Rose
Voxel Dental
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Kimberly Brockmeier
Express Scripts
Use this guide as you pray about your response:
8 Ways Your Family Can End the Foster Care Crisis
(…whether you become a foster family or not).