Robbinsdale Woman Delivers “Reel Hope” to Foster Kids
In this age of digital technology, Kaycee Stanley of Robbinsdale has become somewhat of an internet-influencer.
Yet she’s not using the web to promote a product. Instead, she’s trying to sell people on the idea of adopting foster children.
“There is this huge line of families to adopt babies,” Stanley said. “If you want a baby, you’re waiting 5-7 years, you’re paying $20,000 to $40,000. There’s a long, long line of people waiting for babies. And then there’s this long, long line of kids with no families.”
Stanley wants people to realize that those older kids need families too, so she started a nonprofit called the Reel Hope Project.
“Essentially what we do is we make videos of kids in foster care in Minnesota who are waiting to be adopted, and then we use those videos to try to get kids to forever families,” she said.
The Reel Hope Project
Since 2016, The Reel Hope Project has made 89 videos that showcase who these children are. Many of the kids they feature are teenagers.
“Every kid needs a family, regardless of how old they are,” Stanley said. “And sometimes we hear things like, ‘Well why would you adopt a teenager? You’re only going to have him for a couple years, and then they’re gone.’ But family doesn’t end when our son turns 18. Families are forever, and kids need a family for their whole lives.”
She’s now on a mission to spread that message to different faith communities and anyone who’s willing to listen.
Stanley and her team work with different counties, social workers and adoption agencies to put together these two-minute videos.
“So our goal is to make a video for every kid in Minnesota who’s waiting to be adopted,” she said. “There’s about a thousand kids in our state who are waiting to be adopted.”
It’s a lofty goal, but in the three years since the organization started, they’ve matched about 45 kids with families who are moving toward adoption.
“They deserve families. I believe they were created to live in a family,” Stanley said. “And when you get to have that kind of an impact and stick with a kid through their whole life, you get to see some pretty cool things happen.”
Meanwhile, Stanley and her husband are close to becoming adoptive parents themselves. They met a child on a video shoot back in September and decided to begin the adoption process.
