Welcome to the place to learn about foster care from diverse perspectives.
Podcast Library
As Featured By
Foster Care Podcast & Community
What People Are Saying
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Just As Special sounds like it will be the This American Life of foster care podcasts.
— Ethan McGrath
Just what I need!
As someone who is considering becoming a foster parent, a podcast like this is just what I am looking for!
I appreciate the chance to hear the experience of different foster families firsthand and am especially excited to hear the perspectives of different races coming together as a family.
— Nicole via Apple Podcasts
For more than foster families
It’s clear that the creators hold meaningful discussions to inspire empathy and learning from diverse perspectives.
Our family is foster adjacent (we don’t foster, but are close with several families that do), and the inclusive discussions presented here are exactly what our family has been looking for to better support them.
— Pam Wolford
Excellent
Showcasing foster care from so many perspectives is really an amazing idea.
It’s a subject that has so many stereotypes but also so many different dimensions. I am excited to learn more!
— Laurlor44 via Apple Podcasts
Understanding from the inside
There is no doubt our foster care system needs to be improved.
Instead of criticizing and complaining, Just As Special delves into finding the “why” from people who have experienced various aspects of foster care from all different perspectives.
— T. Davis
Our Story
When it comes to foster care, many stories aren’t being told.
It’s too rare that we get to hear from former youth in care, foster care professionals, and nontraditional foster families.
We are proud to be the only active foster care podcast with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) hosts. And we are the only foster care podcast centering BIPOC, LGBTQ+, multi- and non-religious perspectives.
Each year in the U.S., more than 25,000 kids age out of foster care without any family to call home. Most of these kids end up surviving on less than $8,000 a year. Many end up homeless or in jail.
We believe there’s a lot of room for these statistics to change if more people get involved in supporting kids in care and their families. Join our foster care community and podcast to learn how you can make a difference.
Meet the Hosts
NATASHA PEPPERL | FOUNDER & PODCAST CO-HOST
Natasha (she/her) is a foster mom who welcomes teens and tweens into her home. She was selected for the national New Leaders Council to advance her foster care advocacy work and co-launched a statewide Foster Care Collective to improve child welfare in Colorado.
Natasha also co-hosts the Just As Special podcast which ranks top 10% of podcasts worldwide, charted Top 200 Kids & Family Podcasts in the U.S., and is recognized as one of the Top 10 Foster Care Podcasts by FeedSpot.
Before launching Just As Special, Natasha founded the digital marketing company, Pulse Perfect Consulting, where she worked with many of Colorado’s movers and shakers including Rocky Mountain PBS, Denver Public Schools, and Colorado Succeeds.
Natasha is also a published poet and enjoys running in Colorado’s foothills.
RACHEL PEPPERL | PODCAST CO-HOST
Rachel (she/her) co-hosts the Just As Special podcast with Natasha — and they have basically been having conversations together their whole lives since they are sisters.
Besides serving as a mentor to kids in foster care, Rachel has experience volunteering at a women’s prison where she works with moms who have kids in the foster care system.
Rachel supports women serving time in developing stronger and healthier relationships with themselves and their loved ones to help break cycles of generational trauma.
Rachel lives in Arkansas and enjoys kickboxing in her free time.
Dig Deeper
Proud Partners
Hope felt like she had way more help than she could use as a foster parent which led her to start thinking about how she could help other families who could benefit from even just one more friend.