Olympic Angels launches foster care community read campaign

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Olympic Angels, a nonprofit serving children and families connected to foster care in Clallam and Jefferson counties, has launched a community reading initiative, Pages of Perspective, in hopes of raising awareness about the long-term effects of early instability on children placed in foster care.

As part of the campaign, donors have funded hundreds of copies of “Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of Foster Care,” written by Claudia Rowe, a journalist with The Seattle Times. The books are available at locations in Clallam and Jefferson counties.

The campaign will culminate in a community discussion featuring Rowe and area residents with lived and professional experience in foster care. Those scheduled to be panel participants are Colleen Robinson, a former caregiver who currently heads Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County; Amber “Bambi” Hunter, who experienced foster care as a youth; Rachelle St. Peter, area administrator for the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF); Nicole Ferguson, Olympic Angels case manager; Misty Adair, Olympic Angels volunteer; and Tasha Fitzgerald, executive director of Olympic Angels and panel discussion moderator.

The community discussion will take place from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 8 at the Sequim Elks Ballroom, 143 Port Williams Road in Sequim. No prior reading is required, and the event is free and open to everyone.

“It’s so profoundly moving,” Kathy Zelenka, a Port Angeles resident who serves as both a case manager and longtime volunteer with Olympic Angels, said of “Wards of the State.”

“This book really explores how often kids who experience the foster care system go on to experience things like homelessness and addiction and incarceration, and how early support could change that direction.”

Pages of Perspective is designed to deepen local understanding of foster care and its ripple effects — and to invite more neighbors into the work of supporting vulnerable youth close to home.

Zelenka said organizers hope the morning will be “an inspiring time centered on stories, truth and hope,” with space for honest conversation about the realities of foster care and the resilience that can emerge “when people are seen, heard and supported.”

“We’re not trying to tell people how to think,” she said. “We’re trying to open up a discussion for people to think critically themselves and draw their own conclusions about this broader issue.”

Zelenka came to Olympic Angels after reading a newspaper article about the organization shortly after it launched. Her connection is personal.

“I come from a background of generational trauma, where my dad was in foster care, and I experienced some instability when I was a child,” she said, adding that between sixth and ninth grade, she attended four different schools in three different states. “So I understand inherently, through my own life, about instability and the effects of that on the life of a child.”

When she learned about Olympic Angels’ model — volunteers forming teams to provide support for families caring for children in foster or kinship placements — she felt “an instant click.”

“These are the people for me,” she recalled thinking. “I loved what they were doing, just sharing life with vulnerable kids and supporting families that were caring for them.”

Zelenka initially volunteered in Jefferson County before helping launch one of the first volunteer groups in Sequim. She now serves as a Clallam County case manager as well as a volunteer. Her job includes supporting volunteers, connecting families with resources and helping maintain consistent, healthy relationships around children who have experienced trauma.

She said the book and the initiative align closely with Olympic Angels’ mission.

“One of our big goals is to rally the entire community,” she said. “People have strongly held and very differing opinions about the causes and solutions to homelessness and crime and addiction. But one thing that can and should unite us is that there’s an early intervention — stable, caring relationships — that would change the direction of a lot of people who are headed toward those futures.”

Where to find books

Free copies of Rowe’s book are available at these locations:

Clallam County

• Port Book & News, 104 E. First St., Port Angeles

• Pacific Mist Books, 122 W. Washington St., Sequim

• Friends of the Forks Library, 171 S. Forks Ave., Forks

• Sunsets West Co-Op, 16795 Highway 112, Clallam Bay

Jefferson County

• Chimacum Corner Farmstand, 9122 Rhody Dr., Chimacum

• Imprint Bookshop, 820 Water St., Port Townsend

• Catkin Coffee, 294963 US Highway 101, Quilcene

Inside resource

Olympic Angels uses trust-based relational intervention, a relationship-centered approach to working with children who have experienced trauma. Staff and volunteers engage in ongoing training and professional development, Zelenka said, and Rowe’s book was originally selected as an internal resource before staff realized its broader potential.

“The book is so deeply affecting that we wanted more people to read it and just spark discussion and deepen understanding,” she said.

“As a case manager, my number one need always is more volunteers to match with families. Somebody brings a meal, somebody plays with the kids, somebody tutors — none of those necessarily sound like life-changing help on its own, but together, just doing life with somebody…for the child and the family, it means a great deal.”

For Zelenka, the work is rooted in a simple conviction.

“Every single human being has infinite precious worth,” she said. “Those of us who are in a stable place right now have so much to offer just by sharing our ordinary lives with people who don’t have stability.”

The Pages of Perspective initiative, she added, is “more than a community read — it is a movement toward a more compassionate, informed community.

“Without someone who loves them and wants to be there, kids who are raised by a system are headed in a direction that is heartbreaking. Healing comes primarily through healthy, stable, consistent relationships, where children learn to believe they have a possibility of a bright future.”

Community forum on foster care

Featuring author and The Seattle Times journalist Claudia Rowe, along with local panel participants.

Date: Saturday, Aug. 8

Time: 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Location: Sequim Elks Ballroom

143 Port Williams Road, Sequim