Allie Missler: Badass advocate and foster parent (she's fostered more than 80 children)

She's an established Patient Voice Advocate with 20 years+ biotechnology experience (a woman with a badass career) ... a wife, mom of two adult kids, foster mom to more than 80 children in emergency situations, and an advocate for important causes. Last year she testified before both the House and Senate opposing Senate Bill 2 (in her words: "a half-assed attempt to placate the public after stripping women of bodily autonomy"). The Senate bills aimed to address expected rise in unwanted pregnancies. Allie spends much of her time and energy advocating for children and their families who are in the state’s care. She has submitted proposals for conferences and was selected to present at the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Congress in Muscat, Oman. She told us she will never let what she cannot do stop her from doing what she can. When she started volunteering her home for emergency short-term foster care in 2017, she and her husband had hoped to just provide temporary shelter for children in central Indiana who needed help. She has answered calls to host a child at 3 AM “because their only other alternative is to sleep on the DCS office floor.” She has loved and cared for a malnourished 1-year-old who only weighed 11 pounds, a spunky preteen (and her doll, Malachi), 3 infants who were surrendered at “safe haven” locations, where no questions are asked, a young boy with cancer, and so many more. In total, Allie and her husband have housed 79 kids for anywhere from one night to several months. She talks about her advocacy work, being a foster parent, feeling vulnerable, and so much more in this episode.  She also encourages listeners to get involved (a message we thought was important to share here):  "We must create space for people to contribute in unique ways that connect to their strengths. I often say that not every home is set up to host a child, but EVERYONE can do something. Send a foster family a meal, pass along outgrown winter coats and boots. $21/day does not begin to cover the cost of raising a child. I fancy myself an “aggregator of goodwill.” I seek to match needs and resources. We all have connections, and all can contribute to the solution."