Growing up in Tennessee, Brittney Conroy’s home life was riddled with divorce, addiction, and mental health struggles. The conflict and confusion left Brittney feeling lonely and different from kids who came from stable homes. The thing that saved her, she said, was her knack for finding good families to latch onto. “These families, usually my … Read more
Bernice Porter Riggs of Lexington remembers the cold December day in 1951 when her father dropped her and her three sisters off at Epworth. At the time Bernice, nicknamed Bunny, was 10, and her sisters were 7, 8 and 12 years of age. Until then, the girls had spent most of their lives with their … Read more
Lowcountry resident Qwan Butler, 46, grew up in a large extended family and knew from an early age that she wanted children. In 2020, after moving to a larger home, she applied to become a foster parent with Epworth. Soon after the first foster child placed in Qwan’s home was reunited with her birth family, … Read more
Akira stood over the stove, frying bacon for herself and her cottage mates. After everyone filled their plates, she placed leftovers in the refrigerator, washed the pan and wiped down the kitchen surfaces. Her cooking and housekeeping skills were honed by years of helping her parents take care of her younger siblings. It was her … Read more
Charleston couple Allison and Bo Cordle are the kind of people willing to take bold chances to create the most fulfilling and meaningful lives possible. Their courage, sense of adventure and open hearts led them to sail the ocean, spend time in dozens of foreign countries, and foster – and ultimately adopt – five beautiful … Read more
Epworth’s growing Foster Care program recruits and supports foster families with training, services, fellowship with other foster parents, and more. When a foster parent chooses to adopt the child or children they are fostering, Epworth supports them through that journey as well. Here is a story about a past Epworth foster parent who is now … Read more
Gina and Albert, a South Carolina couple in their mid-30s, invited Amelia, now 16, into their rural home in 2021. “Amelia was my cousin’s child,” Gina said. “Her mom died when she was very young, and her grandmother cared for her as long as she could. When it became too much for the grandmother, we … Read more
School bus driver Michelle Harris, 52, said that growing up in New York as the only child of a single working mom, she lived a sheltered and somewhat spoiled life. “We certainly were not rich, but because I was an only child, I had my own room and I wore nice clothes and enjoyed other … Read more
Lead Clinical Specialist A’Nadia Anderson recruits and supports foster parents for an Upstate foster agency. So, when the 38-year-old, with her husband Desmond, decided to fulfill her own dream of becoming a foster parent, she felt well prepared. However, the reality of fostering – especially fostering a teen – came with some surprises. “I used … Read more
Has there ever been a time in your life when everything seemed to fall into place almost without effort, as if fate – or God – was pointing you forward? That was the extraordinary experience of Elena and Stephen, a couple in their early thirties who moved to South Carolina from Chicago four years ago … Read more
Epworth is nationally accredited for outstanding programs and services, as well as a nationally recognized leader for fiscal management, accountability and transparency.
