Professionally, Jean Minton is Sutter Health’s neuroscience service line executive. Personally she is passionate about helping children in foster care find their forever families.
As a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Jean witnessed the plight of orphaned children whose parents had died of AIDS.
After returning to the Bay Area, Jean joined the board of directors of Adopt a Special Kid where she learned about the many children that needed to be adopted in Northern California. Jean then joined the board of Lilliput Families when the two organizations combined.
When Lilliput became part Wayfinder, Jean became a member of Wayfinder’s Community Council in Northern California. “My commitment to children in foster care and the Wayfinder mission has been an important part of my life for the last 10 years.”
As a Community Council member, Jean helps organize fundraising events in Northern California that support Wayfinder’s child welfare programs. She is also a longtime donor. “I give to the mission, knowing the impact that my donation will make on these kids and their eventual forever families.”
Jean didn’t stop there in her commitment to finding homes for children. She wrote a book, All the Sweeter, about adopting children from foster care. Many of the families interviewed for the book were Wayfinder families.
In February 2022, Jean deepened her dedication to the cause when she and her fiancé, Matthew, became certified resource parents with Wayfinder. Their first foster child was a teenager who needed a home for three months until reaching age 18. “Between the education and support provided by Wayfinder and everything that I learned from the foster families that I interviewed for the book, I felt very well prepared for being a resource parent,” says Jean. “The support Wayfinder provided when we had our foster teen was unbelievable.”
One evening after dinner in October 2022, Jean and Matthew received a text from their Wayfinder social worker, asking if they were open to fostering a 13-month-old girl. “Sure,” they texted back. “Tonight?” texted the social worker. Two hours later, at 10:30 p.m., Jean and Matt welcomed Ami into their home and family.
“When she tilts her head and smiles at us, when she calls us ‘Mama’ and ‘Daddeeee!’ and when she digs her little fingers into our shoulders so that we don’t put her down, my heart just fills,” Jean says. They hope to adopt Ami in the spring.
Jean adds, “Having our own foster children, I am beyond grateful for the level of care and attention each of the children—and we—have received from Wayfinder. I can speak from experience when I say that a donation to Wayfinder is a donation that will be truly impactful for children and families in our communities.”
Community Council members like Jean Minton provide a wealth of experience, knowledge, and enthusiasm to help connect Wayfinder to new resources for support. To learn more and to get involved, please contact ddebolt@wayfinderfamily.org or (916)678-7254.
January 30, 2023