About

Breaking the Silence: Understanding Youth in Crisis

Dedicated

This website is dedicated to Heidi and Tim Fox, Kimberly Williams and her daughter Star Odom-Cole.


These children need to be with family instead of with strangers who are getting a pay check. We have thousands of children that have been orphaned because the parents’ rights were terminated. If a child is in the system and has not been adopted out then these parents should be able to get their rights reinstated. Some parents are not fit or capable of raising their children however, there is almost always a close friend or family member who can take the children. Children should never be alienated from their families. Parental alienation and family separation can cause deep, lasting trauma for children. Every child deserves to maintain loving relationships with their birth family whenever possible and safe. The connection to one's birth family is not just about emotional bonds - it's also about identity, cultural heritage, medical history, and a fundamental sense of belonging. When children are cut off from these connections, it can impact their development, mental health, and sense of self

Children greatly benefit from having loving, supportive families who can provide for their physical and emotional needs. Family relationships, whether with parents, siblings, grandparents, or other caregivers, play a crucial role in healthy child development. Through these relationships, children learn trust, communication, emotional regulation, and social skills. They also gain a sense of security and belonging that forms the foundation for their future wellbeing and relationships

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2-11-25 In Memory of Kimberly Williams who lost her battle to cancer at the time we were making this website. Always and forever in our hearts. One night I got a phone call from a ten-year-old girl who had run away from a group home, She told me that she had been taken away from her mom and she didn’t know how to contact her, she wanted to go home because this group home beats her. I didn’t know what to do because I had no way of knowing how to contact her mother and I knew that CPS would hide behind the confidential law so I contacted Mary Meining from the Children’s Ombudsman's office. Mary tells me that this child has a lot of mental health issues and is an irate violent child. I told her that I was concerned because she had no way of contacting her mom and I was extremely concerned for her safety because she keeps running away. Mary was not allowed to give me any information without a release from her mother. I didn’t know what to do so I was talking to a friend about this situation and she suggested we post it on Craigslist and see if anyone sees it. I was so surprised that I got a phone call from her mother a few days later. Kimberly was reluctant to talk to me because of what she had been through, however, she was very open and wanted to work with me. CPS told her I was someone that would hurt her case and she shouldn’t talk to me. Kimberly said, “You have done nothing to help me so I have nothing to lose”. Kimberly signed the release and it took me two months to get her home. Star was not a troubled kid that needed to be medicated, she just wanted to go home and was a tough cookie that was going to make their life hell. Star is now married with two children and is doing extremely well. I want to thank Heidi Fox for having Star contact me because I can’t imagine where this little girl would have been without my intervention. If you are a child searching for your family please reach out we will do everything we can to reunite you to a safe family member. If you have aged out of the system and would like to find your birth family please join our group and we will do everything we can to help you reunite. “NO CHILD SHOULD EVER BE ORPHANED AND LEFT BEHIND”    

OUR APPROACH

About Us: Fighting for Families, Reuniting the Lost

At Families Matter we believe that no child should be torn from their family unjustly, silenced by a system that claims to protect them but instead buries them in red tape.

At Families Matter we believe that no child should be torn from their family unjustly, silenced by a system that claims to protect them but instead buries them in red tape.

Our mission is simple: to fight for children like Star, to reunite families, and to expose the injustices that keep them apart.

The story of Star is just one of many. A ten-year-old girl, scared, abused, and desperate to find her mother—yet trapped in a system designed to keep them apart. When the courts, CPS, and group homes failed her, we refused to.

We are here to stand in the gap.

We fight for the children who are wrongfully separated from their families. We advocate for parents who are silenced by bureaucracy and fear. We challenge the system that hides behind confidentiality laws while children suffer in silence.

Through advocacy, investigation, and unwavering persistence, we help families navigate a broken system, reconnecting them with their loved ones and restoring hope where it was once lost.

Today, Star is a mother herself—thriving, safe, and free. But there are still so many others who need a voice, who need someone to fight for them.

If you or someone you know is struggling to reunite with a child lost in the system, we are here to help.

Because no child should ever feel abandoned.

And no family should have to fight alone.  

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