Frankie knows how children feel when they are suddenly removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect. “You start off scared. You’re being taken out of your home,” he explains. “You’re overwhelmed, you want your mother or father.” Frankie knows this because he lived it. At age 7, he entered foster care due to…
In her position, Seana oversees the foster care program in Wayfinder’s Ontario location and runs the adoption program across all offices. Seana has a deep understanding of the struggles and rewards of fostering and adopting children because she has two adopted daughters. After eight years of marriage and no children, Seana was saving for an…
Former Foster Youth in Wayfinder’s Foster Care and Adoption Program When you first came to Wayfinder, what was your biggest obstacle? What did Wayfinder do to help you overcome it and thrive? My biggest obstacle was feeling that nobody heard me or believed me. My social worker helped me. She would talk to me on…
At age 10, Ryan Fernandez realized he could no longer see on the baseball field. He was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, which causes degeneration of the central visual field. Ryan explains that what he can see 20 feet away is what someone with good vision can see at 250 feet away. He cannot see detail…
One morning, Lorenzo Paz woke up with a pain in his forehead. He thought maybe he had had too much to drink the night before. By the afternoon, the pain was worse. “I went into the hospital walking and came out blind,” Lorenzo remembers. “I got blind in one day.” A freak infection took Lorenzo’s…
Meet Hector and Maria Parents of Elena, a Child in the Early Intervention Program When you first came to Wayfinder, what was your biggest obstacle? What did Wayfinder do to help you overcome it and thrive? Elena was born at 24 weeks. Our biggest worry was, what was she going to be behind on? And…
Meet our Executive Director of Foster Care and Adoption Services Leslie Oropeza is recognized for her ability to nurture relationships with our children, families and community partners. We asked her what being a Wayfinder means to her. How do you bring Wayfinder Family Services’ mission to life? I am motivated by our children growing and…
How do you bring Wayfinder Family Services’ mission to life? My staff is dedicated to being mentors in and out of workshops… to lending an ear when one is needed… and to connecting students to the resources we can’t provide. We are meeting the needs that will lead students to their own self-determination. What does…
Meet Director of Transition Services Rob Schulenburg When Rob Schulenburg was born in the early 1970s, doctors quickly noticed his erratic eye movements. They assumed that this was a sign of multiple disabilities: total blindness, hearing loss and intellectual disability. The doctors suggested Rob’s parents give him up to the state; a woman was in…
An hour east of Los Angeles, in the city of Fontana, resides a woman with an extraordinary mission. Originally from Zacatecas, Mexico, Gloria first heard about foster parenting through a friend in the late 1970s. Since then, she’s fostered around 300 children, including kids with various disabilities. “I currently have three siblings who have…
