Hope Forti lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado with her husband and five year old son. Hope decided to get involved with foster care after giving birth to her son, and seeing the immense importance of nurture in a child’s long term thriving. Since pushing through her initial fear of foster parenting, she’s fostered four children, age 10 days to 12 years. She enjoys the process of sending children home to their parents, when possible. Hope started Foster Together Colorado, a 501c3 nonprofit, to tell the human stories of foster care and give the wider community simple ways to help. To date, she has matched 70 foster, reunified, and kinship families with “Foster Neighbors,” who deliver monthly meals and friendship. She is beginning to launch this program around the United States. Ultimately, she hopes to build “extended families” between neighbors to share the weight of raising whole and happy Colorado children.