We had the good fortune of connecting with Julius and Shanda Karow and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Julius and Shanda, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
At Kingdom Care Orphan Care, oour mission is to transform the lives of vulnerable children and youth by emptying the foster system through comprehensive support for foster/adoptive families, biological families, and aged-out foster youth.

Julius and Shanda Karow started Kingdom Care Orphan Care out of inspiration from their own personal stories. Julius was adopted as a sibling group of 4 by his grandparents. Shanda, too, was raised with caring for others in the system by her mom who is a Licensed Therapist with much of her experience being working with youth in the foster care system. Together-they knew that their experiences were made for more and set out to make an impact on this community and population of people.

We began our journey in 2012 in the licensing process to adopt a child out of the foster care system. Through many different events (& honestly mishaps!) we unbeknownst to us licensed to be foster parents! We set out on an incredible journey and more than 12 years later have fostered over 25 children and have adopted 4. Throughout this time, we knew we saw many “cracks” in the foster care system and were determined to help others along with hope and healing. At Kingdom Care we want to make sure no one journeys alone!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Since 2020 Kingdom Care has served more than 800 families and more than 2,000 children. We have had a financial impact to the community of more than $500,000! Kingdom Care is what we lovingly refer to as our “side labor of love” as Julius and Shanda both work full time in local area school districts. It definitely has not been an easy journey but has been filled with so much joy, sweat and a few tears that each day we are grateful to have the opportunity to make an impact on others. Parts of Kingdom Care are moving almost every day of the week and real needs are met every single week. Some of the work Kingdom Care does is meet tangible needs (furniture, clothing, shoes, diapers, backpacks, toys, hygiene items, school supplies, etc) for at-risk or biological families with open CPS cases, foster/adoptive families and youth aging out of the foster care system. We also provide mentorship to current and prospective foster parents, every other month parent night out events, Dad support groups, annual women’s retreat, and quarterly connection events for foster/adoptive families to come together and have community with each other. In between, we do many other things and are frequently called on to assist with needs. The biggest lesson we have learned along the way is letting our “yes” be a YES and protecting our “no”. If there is a way to meeting a need we are not afraid to jump in, but when we feel like it’s a time when we have to say “no” in order to best serve our families or others, then we have learned to be okay with that too!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We love to be out in the community! We are frequently found eating out at local restaurants such as Jimmy Changas, Walk Ons or Southern Komfort all in the La Porte area. We have a lot of kids, so kid friendly places are always a must! Taking a day trip down to Galveston to visit Moody Gardens, Lighthouse Fair in Kemah, a water park, local parks, the movies, or seeing a Dynamo game are some other family favorites! If we are heading out to vacation you may catch us in San Antonio, a Jellystone Park or even Great Wolf Lodge! There are so many fun things to do with kids surrounding Houston!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We have had many examples of people being our “village” throughout our journey as foster/adoptive parents and running Kingdom Care as a 501c(3) nonprofit organization. We are grateful for people who have loved us and our family without judgement and offered us hope throughout some of our lows. There are too many people to thank, but ultimately our biggest shoutout would be all the glory going UP! We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for giving us a purpose, passion, and commandment to care for the orphan. When we look back at our story so far, we can only say BUT GOD for how we have not only survived, but thrived in this work. We are grateful to have the opportunity to use those experiences and wisdom to help make it a little easier for others in this arena. We could do nothing without Jesus!

Website: https://www.kingdomcareorphancare.com/

Instagram: @kingdomcareorphancare

Facebook: @kingdomcareorphancare

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