MEET OUR STaff & BOard
meet our Staff & Board
OUR STaff
Jonathan Reid
Jonathan Reid is the Founder and Director of Fostering Hope. A native New Englander, Jonathan and his wife Virginia began their foster care journey in 2004 when a precious little boy joined their family as a pre-adoptive placement. This experience radically transformed their perspective. Children in foster care were no longer an abstract, statistical category. They were real kids with real names, real faces, real stories and real needs. Each one was an individual person with dignity and value that was worthy of love. This compelled the Reids to continue to foster and adopt. Over the years, they have cared for 30 incredible children and six of them have become a permanent part of their family.
In the meantime, frustrated over the urgent shortage of foster and adoptive homes, Jonathan began to imagine a day when ZERO children in foster care were left waiting for a safe, supported family to care for them. As he began to dream, an exciting revelation dawned: as daunting as the situation seemed, the need could begin to be met if people of faith would open their hearts and homes to children and families impacted by foster care. Not only could this happen, it should happen! Caring for children in need of families is an authenticating expression of genuine Christian faith. So why wasn’t it happening? The church community needs awareness, vision, and a viable path to engage. And so, to meet this local need, Fostering Hope was born.
Jonathan finds great joy in helping to bridge the gap between the church community and our amazing neighbors in the foster care community. He is inspired by the incredible people he gets to serve alongside in churches, the child welfare community, and other community organizations. He is convinced that together we can bring hope and healing to our vulnerable neighbors impacted by foster care.
Mike Brown
Mike Brown is the Associate Director at Fostering Hope. Mike’s work is deeply personal due to his own experience as a foster and adoptive dad. From early in their marriage, Mike and his wife Karen discussed becoming foster or adoptive parents. In 2005, Mike and his family relocated from the Chicago area to Boston to help start REUNION Christian Church where he served on staff for 12 years.
Soon the foster care conversation was on hold as the church and their family grew. With three biological children and a busy life as church planters, the timing never felt right. As they continued to think about it, however, Mike and Karen came to a realization. While they were waiting for the “right time” to foster or adopt, kids in foster care didn’t have that luxury. Instead, too many were either bouncing around the system or living in group homes while they waited for a safe and loving foster or adoptive family. So, in 2016, the Browns took the plunge and became licensed foster parents. Since then, they have provided a home for many youth in foster care and in the Fall of 2019, they had the privilege of adopting their youngest son.
The Brown’s experience with foster care compelled them to step away from their roles on staff at REUNION to discover new ways to respond to the foster care need. Mike joined Fostering Hope in 2018 and is excited to help churches create sustainable cultures of ministry to the foster care community. He is particularly passionate about our generational vision of ZERO youth in foster care waiting for a safe, supported family to care for them.
JESS DaCunha
Jess DaCunha serves Fostering Hope as administrative support staff. Originally from the City of Brotherly Love, Jess moved to Rhode Island for school in 2014 and quickly became invested in her church community and campus ministry.
Jess enjoys finding creative ways to care for those around her and help them to feel "seen." She feels grateful to have had exposure to the foster/adoptive care community through friendships with peers who had been adopted and families who provide different types of care to children in foster care. Jess is honored that so many children and families touched by foster care have shared their lives with her and allowed her to learn from them.
She and her husband Dan are parents to a joyful boy and this has solidified their conviction that every child deserves to feel the love and support of a family. In particular, they feel deeply for children who are at risk of "aging out" of the foster care system.
Lauren wasinger
Lauren Wasinger serves Fostering Hope as the Development Coordinator. Before starting her role on staff, Lauren served as a board member for 4 years.
A native of Rhode Island, Lauren has lived around the country while serving in the U.S. Air Force. Lauren and her husband Nick have four children, two of whom joined their family through intercountry adoption. During their second adoption, they received TBRI® training that was transformative for their whole family. Their experience as adoptive parents has given them a deep appreciation of the need for stable and supportive care in the lives of children and a strong commitment to caring for the vulnerable children in their community.
.png)
Paige Brooks
Paige Brooks is the Communications Coordinator at Fostering Hope. Hailing from South Georgia, Paige moved to Boston in 2022 with her husband Mike. Paige has a degree in advertising, and her experience with nonprofits has given her the skills to find what moves hearts and minds toward businesses doing good in the world.
Paige has long had a desire to help children and families in foster care since learning more about the urgent need for foster homes. In 2023, Paige and Mike began their personal foster care journey, and they recently had the joy of adopting their 8-year-old son, Kevin. Paige is thrilled to serve the Church by empowering it to better serve vulnerable families in New England.
Alexis Walls
Alexis Walls is Fostering Hope's Network Director, helping churches and community partners work together to support children and families impacted by foster care.
Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Alexis moved to Massachusetts in 2015, where she first witnessed the life-changing impact that caring, consistent adults can have on children and youth. That experience grew into a deep commitment to children touched by foster care, which led her to serve as a volunteer with the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program beginning in 2021.
Before joining Fostering Hope, Alexis worked in public health and advocacy, leading strategic partnerships and campaigns to advance state legislation that improved community health. Earlier in her career, she partnered with neighborhood groups and local government to develop initiatives that helped prevent substance use among young people in Boston. She earned her Master of Public Health from Boston University.
Alexis is passionate about equipping churches to walk alongside children and families with compassion and consistency, and about uniting churches and partners to create a strong community of care.
.png)
Macie Thorson
Macie Thorson serves Fostering Hope as the Church Ambassador, helping local churches and partners use CarePortal to meet the needs of children and families facing vulnerability.
Macie grew up in Dallas, Texas, in a home that welcomed children in foster care. Those early experiences shaped her lifelong passion for serving youth navigating instability. Since 2013, she has volunteered with Royal Family Kids Camp and Lonesome Dove Ranch, organizations that support children who have experienced trauma, abuse, and neglect.
Her professional background includes program management roles in both the nonprofit and software startup sectors, where she gained valuable experience in collaboration and implementation. She studied International Relations and Global Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
Macie is honored to walk alongside churches as they discover practical ways to support children and families together.
OUR BOARD
Hope Haslam Straughan: Adoptive Mom, Ph.D, Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work at Boston University
Jonathan Reid: Foster and Adoptive Dad, Founder and Executive Director of Fostering Hope
Travis Shultz: Foster and Adoptive Dad, MA DCF Adoption Unit Foster Parent of the Year (2020), Wealth Management Advisor at Northwestern Mutual
Wendy Jacobi: Adoptive Mom, Founder of Home for Good
Lara Durand: Director of the Back Bay Development Group, Founder and CEO of Plain Jaine Foundation
Patrick Menard: Director of Business Development at Doro Mind, Entrepreneur