Episode 20

Episode 20 - Through Bre’s Eyes: Growing Up in Foster Care and Breaking Generational Cycles

Published on: 30th September, 2025

In this powerful 20th episode of the Dream Small Podcast, Jason and Whitney sit down with their friend Bre, who courageously shares her story of growing up in foster care, navigating trauma, and breaking free from generational cycles.

Bre is the second oldest of eleven siblings and entered foster care as a teenager after years of instability and hardship. In this conversation, she opens up about:

  • What it was like to be separated from her siblings and move through multiple foster homes.
  • The painful realities of neglect, false assumptions, and lack of support that many foster teens face.
  • How she learned resilience through broken systems, financial struggles, and the weight of raising her younger siblings.
  • The turning points that helped her reject destructive cycles and choose a different future.
  • The role of faith, perseverance, and intentional choices in becoming the mom and wife she always longed to have herself.

Bre’s honesty gives foster parents, adoptive parents, and anyone walking alongside vulnerable kids a rare glimpse into the lived reality of the foster care system. Her perspective is raw, emotional, and filled with hope.

If you’ve ever wondered:

  • What does foster care feel like through the eyes of a child?
  • How can foster parents better support teens in care?
  • Is it possible to break free from generational trauma?

…this conversation will inspire, challenge, and encourage you.

✨ Share this episode with foster parents, adoptive families, social workers, or anyone who cares about kids from hard places. Bre’s story is a testimony of redemption and the impact of choosing faithfulness in the small things.

Connect with us:

  • Email: dreamsmallpodcast@gmail.com
  • Instagram: @dreamsmallpodcast
  • Facebook: Dream Small Podcast
  • Twitter/X: @DreamSmallShow

🎵 Music Credit: "Paradise Found" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) | Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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About the Podcast

Dream Small Podcast
The Dream Small Podcast is a foster care and adoption podcast hosted by Jason and Whitney Small, foster and adoptive parents who have welcomed more than 14 children into their home and adopted three. Through honest conversations and real life stories, the podcast encourages foster parents, adoptive families, and those considering foster care.

Each episode explores the realities of foster care, adoption, and parenting children from hard places, offering practical encouragement and hope for families navigating the foster care journey. Jason and Whitney share lessons from their own experience, faith, and conversations around trauma informed parenting, family life, and supporting vulnerable children.

Whether you are a current foster parent, an adoptive parent, considering becoming a foster parent, or someone who supports foster families, the Dream Small Podcast exists to encourage and equip you along the way.

Jason and Whitney believe that changing a child’s life rarely happens through big moments. More often, it happens through small, faithful acts of love lived out every day.

If you're thinking about becoming a foster parent or walking the foster care journey, this podcast will help you navigate the challenges, celebrate the wins, and stay encouraged along the way.
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