Bios

Aimee brings a unique perspective through her experience intersecting with the child welfare system both through her professional lense and experience working within the system and in her personal life through her journey as a foster parent. Aimee has two daughters adopted from foster care and remains an active foster parent and respite provider. Aimee is a LBSW and a License Child-Placing Agency Administrator. She has valuable experience working at several local child placing agencies prior to joining the Foster Village team to lead the Partners in Permanency Program. She is passionate about supporting biological families and being partners in permanency following family reunification.

Belinda Honey is a person in long term recovery with over 27 years. As a child Belinda suffered severe trauma, being abandoned at age 11 by mother, and physically, emotionally and sexually abused by father. At age 15 Belinda ran away from home, and began a life of sexual promiscuity, which began her  ( SUD  substance use disorder ) to worsen and her life became unmanageable. 

Today Belinda is living successfully in Waco Texas, She is a licensed Peer Specialist Supervisor by the State of Texas, and RSPS since 2018. Belinda is Director of Recovery Support Services at Christian Farms Treehouse in Temple Texas, and Peer Specialist with Mclennan County DWI/ Drug Court. Belinda has been working with Williamson County Family Recovery Court clients since 2023 and loves bringing Hope to our clients and guiding them to a successful future in the Community. 

 Belinda has 3 children who are living successfully and enjoys her thirteen grandchildren. She lives her life to serve others, her family and God.

Cheyenne is the Director of Safe Families Austin. As a junior in college, Cheyenne had an unexpected pregnancy that turned her world upside down. Due to this experience, she is passionate about creating practical resources for people facing crises with a limited social support system. Cheyenne fell in love and married her high school debate rival. They have three kiddos and live in South Austin.

Cortney Jones, Founder and Executive Director of Change 1 in Austin, is a passionate advocate for foster care alumni success. With 14 years of advocacy and a background as a former foster youth, Cortney is dedicated to empowering individuals to overcome challenges. Appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to the Family and Protective Services Council, she contributes to shaping policies for the Department of Family and Protective Services. Cortney holds a Bachelor in Social Work from Texas A&M University-Commerce and a Master in Social Work from Texas State University. As a Social Worker, she champions the Restorative Approach, blending research with compassion to support trauma-informed child treatment. A dynamic speaker and former Department of Family and Protective Services employee, Cortney actively serves on advisory committees and boards, fostering positive change in the field of child welfare.

Derrick “David” Bryant has been married to his lovely wife, Mary, for 23 years and is the proud father of a 14-year-old daughter. David has over 15 years of experience in working with youth, fathers and families. He currently works in prevention with the Texas DFPS Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI). David has been invited to speak at regional and international conferences all over the country and teaches that fathers are an important part of our community and should not be left out of the conversation.

Jordan Hope Vera is an Austin area TBRI® Practitioner and the Parent Development Manager at Fostering Hope. Over a decade ago, she began her official career in child welfare through direct care with children and teens who have experienced loss, trauma and separation. She held positions at emergency shelter and residential treatment center (RTC) before deciding to take her expertise to other social service spheres in the Austin area. She has implemented trauma informed care into her work with aged out foster care youth who are court involved, experiencing homelessness, and/or are survivors of trafficking.

Jordan’s favorite roles are being mom, grandma Hope, and Titi. She is a mom through adoption to one + her others came home after having aged out of the foster care system. The Vera home is always full of people that have called it their own. Outside of work, Jordan enjoys serving with the worship and outreach team at her church in East Austin.

Josh has a passion for equipping and empowering local churches to meet the needs in and around foster care. He was adopted from foster care, and he has served as a foster parent since 2017. He and his wife have five children ages 7 to 19. Josh has over ten years of church leadership experience and most recently worked as a special education teacher and middle school coach. Outside of work, you can find Josh fly fishing, hiking, enjoying cold brew coffee, and rooting for Austin FC.

Karen Goldapp is an adoptive mother of two girls adopted from foster care.  She previously worked with kids in foster care at CASA of Travis County.  She has been married for 12 years to her wonderful husband.  Lakeway EMDR is owned and operated by Karen Goldapp (she/her), LCSW.  She works with individuals 18 and up, many of whom have histories of trauma, including survivors of abuse, neglect, generational trauma, helping professions, and individuals with family of origin trauma.

Karen is certified in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR). Karen's primary modality is EMDR, and it is helpful for persons who have survived abuse, neglect, and other kinds of trauma by somatically processing “stuck” memories and negative self-beliefs.  Karen has seen numerous clients empowered from EMDR to reduce and eliminate many symptoms like anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and other triggers.

Kim is a Regional Consultant for Fostering Hope. In college, she worked as a Youth Pastor and mentored a teen in the foster care system. She and her husband, Brian, adopted a 2 ½-year-old and a newborn within 6 months of each other. Walking through that process without much support gave Kim the motivation to begin working with a newly formed foster care ministry at her church. She has also served as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in the Highland Lakes area since 2020. Kim feels God has given her an ability to connect people with resources, whether it be meeting needs for a new foster/kinship family or helping an individual understand the foster care system and how they can get involved in one of the Five Areas of Need.

Lonnie Wendling serves at Journey Bible Fellowship as Co-Director of Foster Family Ministry. He also is on the board of AngelHeart child placement agency. Both roles are voluntary. In his career, he is the Technical Services Program Director for the Government Consulting & Advisory (GCA) organization with NTT DATA Services focused on supporting State government agencies with a focus on Health & Human Services.

CindyWendling serves at the Journey Bible Fellowship as Co-Director of the Foster Family Ministry. She has been a memberof Journey Bible Fellowship for 11 years. Cindyhas been working with children and children's ministries in various capacities throughout the past 20 years. She also has a deep understanding of Biblical Worldview as a graduate of the Colson Fellowship Program and has a passion to help Foster and Kinship Families be better served through The Church.

As Hope Chapel’s Foster & Adopt Ministry (FAM) Coordinator, one of Mandy’s greatest desires is to see Christ glorified through family. FAM currently serves adoptive, foster, kinship and reunified families within Hope Chapel's congregation and is actively growing in size. Her own family is an open foster home seeing their previous four placements reunified with biological relatives. In her free time you can find her working as a part time L&D RN, chasing her own five kiddos, and being the wife to Hope Chapel’s Senior Pastor, Matthew.

Marie Ezell is mom of four and has been married to her husband for 24 years. She entered the foster care system when she was seven years old through a kinship placement. By the age of 15 she had been through multiple foster homes and was pregnant. Her prayer is to inspire other “un-fostered” children in the child welfare system by sharing her story of how God brought her through foster care into starting her own non-profit to change the way we interact with children who have experienced the foster care system.

Marie is the founder of Angel In Me Incorporated. A non-profit organization whose focus is the success of children aging out of the foster care system. 

Melissa Cook got her start in child welfare 25 years ago as a case manager for foster parents. That started get journey as a case worker, clinician, and finally attorney representing children and parents in CPS initiated legal cases. For the past 4 years, she has enjoyed being a member of the Family Recovery Court program in Williamson County and further serving families.

Nadia Castilla serves as the Case Manager for the Family Recovery Court in Williamson County, Texas.  She oversees the activity of the team, conducts quality assurance of each team member, maintains client data, and coordinates services from each discipline, and the local community, in a manner that is most therapeutic to the participant. Nadia is passionate about working with individuals from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and belief systems. She has over 18 years of experience in case management and crisis intervention with clients of various ages and backgrounds.

Dr. Season Mussey is an educator and volunteer trainer with UnboundNowAustin, a non-profit organization that aims to end human trafficking and ignite hope. She earned her Masters and Doctorate at the University of California, San Diego, and is now teaching mathematics and English as a Second Language in Austin, TX. Season loves teaching and learning and cares deeply about the youth and families she serves. In the fight against human trafficking, she believes that raising awareness is the key to prevention, and providing hope and encouragement to victims and survivors can improve individual lives, communities, and the world.

Stephanie Acker was born and raised in Austin, Texas. And a graduate of Texas State University in San Marcos. Professional, Stephanie has served the data and sass industry for the past 15 years.

Stephanie is a wife to husband Vance of 13 years, Mama to Nickolas (8) and Olivia (6), and a co-founder of Dwelling Place, whose mission is to specifically serve the foster, adoptive and kinship caregivers in our area of Liberty Hill/Leander area.

Stephanie is a chronic reader of thriller novels, addicted to true crime podcasts, a lover of lattes, and is obsessed with Beyoncé. She is committed to building a legacy of leaving things better than she found them and pursuing Christ first and foremost in all her endeavors.