Our history.
Amanda arrives.
Accompanied by her caseworker, Amanda arrived on Otis’s doorstep carrying two black garbage bags containing her belongings. In front of Sarah and Jim stood their new child, who until then had only experienced trauma and hurt, holding her entire lifetime’s possessions in a pair of trash bags. They felt it was demeaning to Amanda and knew there must be a better way.
The beginning of Love and Luggage.
Around 2010, the Otis family began kicking around the concept of what would become Love and Luggage. In 2018, they started having conversations with LCCS. Sarah and Jim had no desire to create another nonprofit in Northwest Ohio; however, applying for grants from donors such as the Greater Toledo Community Foundation required being a registered 501(c)(3). Therefore, partnering with an existing local nonprofit that worked with foster youth was the ideal solution.
Eventually, Love and Luggage became a program of the Adopt America Network. What began as a mutual connection is a supported program encouraging adoption and healthy relationships for those in foster care.
Today, Amanda is a married mother of two. Although she struggles with mental health issues related to her early childhood trauma, Amanda has learned to cope and manage life successfully.