03/31/2025
As Women’s History Month comes to a close, I am reminded that history is not just something we honor—it is something we carry forward.
Generations of women in my family have fought, survived, and rebuilt. We have faced foster care, trauma, and uncertainty, yet we have never stopped pushing forward. The women before me endured hardships that could have broken them - yet they persisted. And here I stand, carrying their strength, their fire, and their unwavering spirit.
Most days, people ask how I do it all—how I juggle advocacy, parenting, career, and community. Some days, the weight of being the "foster care success story" feels suffocating. Some days, patience wears thin when change moves too slowly. Some days, it feels like every part of my being is woven into foster care—the youth, the alumni, the advocate, the professional, the foster/kinship/adoptive parent.
But then, I remember:
I am also the friend. The wife. The mother. The woman.
The woman who inherited fiery grit that cannot be extinguished. The woman who is unlearning chaos, rewriting our family’s story, and showing my daughters (and son) what it means to heal and thrive.
Healing is not just personal—it is generational. Every boundary we set, every piece of wisdom we pass down, every cycle we break is paving a path towards a different future. We are not just changing our own narrative—we are showing other families that transformation is possible. From influencing policy to showing up with small acts of care, we are fully invested in creating a world where foster youth and alumni, birth families, and resource families can heal together.
Every day, I am grateful. For this life, for the opportunities, for the unshakable women who came before me, and for the fierce next generation we are raising.
The trauma stops here. The healing continues. And we carry the strength of every woman who came before us.
Always and with gratitude, we are 💪💙
~ Constance Iannetta
