ADOPTION STORIES

A series of interviews with foster/adoptive families, adult adoptees, and adoption-support professionals in Windham County, VT – created by artist and educator Jo Dery and clinical social worker and psychotherapist Tamara Evanson, both foster/adoptive parents. Children in foster care should be of concern to every Vermonter. In the past decade, our state’s child welfare system has been, and remains, under great stress. The themes touched on in these interviews include trauma, grief, resilience, celebration, and community – as well as the role that race, class, gender, and the opioid and housing crises play in why children end up in foster care in Vermont. Through centering foster/adoptive children’s and family’s memories of the past and dreams for the future, Adoption Stories paints a picture of the complex experience of these kids and families – full of love, loss, beauty, and pain. Adoption Stories was funded in part by a Brattleboro Town Arts Fund grant.