Making Some Changes

Welcomed is an organization born out of desire to see vulnerable children cared for and loved well. The Williams’, being foster and adoptive parents, and Kingston’s, being adoptive parents and missionaries focused on orphan care, experienced first hand how isolating and lonely it can be to care for kids from hard places. And so Welcomed was born; through a series of God-connections and encounters, Welcomed started in on fulfilling its mission to care for vulnerable children and the families who support them with caring communities.

We still do that! Six years later, under the careful and steadfast leadership of Co-Directors Bruce and Scott, Welcomed has grown, surrounding over 47 families with caring communities, spreading awareness of the need, and helping the Church take action on their eagerness to show compassion and to help.

Over the years, Welcomed has needed to make some shifts to accommodate our growth (yay!) and strategy (think, 2020). One big change Welcomed experienced in 2022 was when Scott made the difficult decision to step down from executive leadership in the wake of 2020. Welcomed got an opportunity to practice what Scott and Bruce had always believed - to hold this ministry with open hands.

Now we look forward to another change with anticipation.

Bruce and Stephanie Williams have been fostering for over nine years. They welcomed their first placement in 2014 and never looked back. When Bruce and Scott started Welcomed in 2017, the Williams were the first family to be surrounded with a care community through his little home church in Wild Rose. Bruce believes in Welcomed and in God’s Church. He would often say, “I don’t care how small your church is, you can do something.” And his family was immensely blessed through their little church with friendship, meals, and prayer for the next 6 years as their care community ministered to them.

After nine years of fostering and advocating for vulnerable children, the Williams’ will be making a change. Bruce has taken an opportunity to coach college basketball, a role he has dreamed of playing for many years. This means a change in the Williams’ role as foster parents; they will no longer be taking on long-term placements, however, they will still be providing some respite care. This also means there will be a change in Bruce’s role at Welcomed. Although Bruce will no longer be Executive Director of Welcomed, he will continue his role as President of Welcomed’s Board of Directors. He is excited to stay on in this capacity and offer his experience and guidance as Welcomed continues to serve foster families across Wisconsin.

Bruce and Stephanie are excited for this new chapter in their lives, and so are we!