North Dakota
How a new partnership is helping spotlight North Dakota kids waiting for adoption
FARGO — Many children awaiting adoption in foster care have to wait a long time before finding their adoptive families. Some never do.
Eight years ago in Minnesota a project was created to help children and teens find permemant homes through customized videos that feature a foster child’s unique personality and interests.
Fastforward to 2024 and the project now finds itself making impacts across North Dakota.
The
Reel Hope Project is a Minneapolis-based organization that specializes in customized videos
for children awaiting adoption. The videos allow waiting youth to connect to potential adopters through expertly crafted videos that are widely shared online.
Contributed / The Reel Hope Project
The project began working in North Dakota just a few months ago after being approached by
Adults Adopting Special Kids
(AASK) – a Fargo-based adoption service through Catholic Charities North Dakota.
The two foster care groups say the newfound partnership is a game-changer for adoption in North Dakota, one that is anticipated to have big impacts for kids in the coming years.
Treated like a movie star
AASK Program Director Kara Eastlund said the new collobartion “has been phenomenal.”
Adding video allows her team to feature the personalities of kids in a way that goes beyond words and a photo.
The videos highlight each child in a brand new way and bring more awareness and connections by being shared online, making it easier for waiting children to find their match.
Contributed / The Reel Hope Project
The concept hasn’t been done before in North Dakota, Eastlund said.
Weeks before The Forum intervieweed the two foster care groups, a North Dakota boy in the foster care system was adopted thanks in part to the new video format.
Abby Marino, the director of operations and outreach at The Reel Hope Project, said the boy’s video premiered across social media sites like
and
and garnered over 40 inquiries from potential adoptive households.
Those kinds of inquiry numbers are huge, Eastlund said, and difficult to obtain.
Often, the videos prompt prospective adoptive parents to get licensed, Marino added, and push them to connect with adoption agencies to start the process.
On top of all of that, the North Dakota kids who have made videos so far have really enjoyed the process, Eastlund said.
The youth have a lot of input into what goes into the video, Marino said, and the end goal is for each child to feel celebrated and valued.
“Kids are enjoying it,” Eastland said. “It’s really a way to show them how incredible they are.”
Before the film crew arrives, The Reel Hope Project team works with each child and their care team to help pick out a fun activity that the kid wants to do during the video.
What follows is a fun day out where each child is treated like a movie star.
“We want it to be a fun day for them,” Marino said, as well as a confidence boost during the adoption process.
Contributed / Catholic Charities North Dakota
‘No child should be waiting’
On any given day there are between
20 to 30 kids in North Dakota
who are waiting for a permanent home, Eastlund said. Children find themselves in the foster care system for a variety of reasons.
All kids that come into foster care have had some level of abuse or neglect in their life, she said, and if they are seeking an adoption that means they weren’t able to be reunified with their birth family. In those cases it means that their parents’ parental rights were terminated.
Losing birth parents, no matter the circumstances, is often extremely difficult for a young person.
“Every child that we work with has experienced immense trauma; immense loss,” Eastlund said. Many children experienced neglect or abuse.
Finding homes and families for the kids not only provides them with a place to call home but also helps them heal from the past, she added.
“No child should be waiting,” Eastlund said. “One is too many.”
Older children often face extra hurdles to finding their forever homes, Eastlund continued, adding that it takes the right family to jump into parenting an adolescent or teenager. They make up a large portion of children waiting in foster care.
These kids might require extra time and care from their new family and often have family connections that they want to maintain, Eastland said. It’s important for the child that their adoptive families support these relationships, she added.
Raising awareness for tweens and teens awaiting adoption is near and dear to The Reel Hope Project’s heart as well.
Contributed / The Reel Hope Project
The project was created in 2016 after founder Kaycee Stanley saw a need for innovative changes in the adoption field. She met her adopted teenage son on the day of his own video shoot, Marino said.
There hasn’t been a lot of change in child recruitment efforts over the decades across the nation, Marino said, and the introduction of video shakes things up.
The project
relies on private donations to fund their work
and now operates in seven states, with a goal to have a footprint in all 50 states, according to Marino. The
webpage features galleries
of kids up for adoption,
including in North Dakota.
“What fuels me is how effective it is,” Marino said. “Over half of the kids that we’ve made a (video) for since 2016 have been adopted.”
The average age of a child they feature in a video is 12 years old, Marino said.
“Oftentimes, if a child has been in the system for several years, or they reach teenage age, the added recruitment resource of a profile video can be a game changer,” Marino wrote in a message to The Forum.
The Reel Hope Project’s videography team now comes in on the regular to meet with North Dakota kids. The organization has six videos planned for 2024 and have five more in the works so far, said Marino, adding once a child is adopted, the video is deleted to protect privacy.
While the efforts have helped many kids find homes, some do age out of the system without ever finding a family. Those kids often face some “scary statistics,” Eastlund said.
Those who fall out of the system are at higher risk of experiencing homelessness, unplanned pregnancies, trafficking, addiction or incarceration, she said.
“There is a lot of general trauma that is happening right now in the foster care system across the county,” Marino said.
Adoption mitigates these outcomes for youth, Marino said, and helps them handle the hand that they were dealt.
“We’ve found that the power of video breaks through all of those labels,” Marino said. “It helps people remember that these are just kids and they need a family.”
Submitted Photo
U.S. Air Force veteran Jim Clifford of Minot is shown with the Lincoln Memorial in the background during his trip to the Washington, D.C., area with the Western North Dakota Honor Flight.
U.S. Air Force veteran Jim Clifford of Minot said his recent trip to the Washington, D.C., area with the Western North Dakota Honor Flight was a memorable one.
“The honor is so great,” he said.
Clifford was among more than 100 veterans on the trip from Bismarck, Sunday, April 26, and returning, Monday, April 27. Besides Clifford, several other Minot veterans made the trip.
He said he was very impressed with the N.D. Western Honor Flight organization and the coordination of the trip.
“The coordination is unbelievable. We had a police escort from our hotel room in Arlington, Virginia, to the Capitol. It was right at rush hour,” he said. He said the group of veterans traveled in four buses.
When they arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport, people with signs were standing to the side to greet them.
“It was just unbelievable,” he said. When they left the Bismarck airport, he said, the lobby there was full of people. He said Bismarck comes out really well for the veterans going on these trips and it was the same when the Western N.D. Honor Flight was out of Minot for the first time in April 2025.
Clifford was active duty in the Air Force from 1971-75. For 10 months he served in Taiwan but his Air Force time before and after was at Minot Air Force Base with the fire department.
“My first fire chief was Ken Gillespie,” he said. Gillespie’s son, Ken Gillespie aka Dizzy the Clown, is well known in the Minot area.
After discharge from the Air Force, Clifford continued civil service with the base fire department from 1976-2008, retiring as fire chief.
During the Honor Flight trip, Clifford said, they visited many highlights — veterans’ memorials including World War II, Korean and Vietnam, the U.S. Capitol and the Dulles Air and Space Museum. Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak, R-ND, and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum met with the group during their visit.
The veterans also visited Arlington National Cemetery.
“We got to see the Changing of the Guard and see them laying two wreaths,” he said.
At a banquet held that night for the veterans at their hotel, the Hyatt Regency in Arlington, he said the sentinel, the lead person for the Changing of the Guard, spoke to them.
“It was a very worthwhile trip. If you’re a veteran, you need to sign up for it,” Clifford said of the Honor Flight.
The Western North Dakota Honor Flight will be the grand marshal of the 2026 North Dakota State Parade Saturday, July 18, in Minot.
A celebration of life is being held in Moorhead on Friday for Liz Anne Conmy, who was killed alongside her partner in a plane crash in Brooklyn Park on Saturday.
The celebration of life will take place at RiverHaven Events Center from 4:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M.
Those paying their respects are asked not to wear black in accordance with Conmy’s wishes, who said that one shouldn’t wear black to a funeral because it should be a celebration, and are asked to wear something colorful instead.
North Dakota State Representative Conmy and her partner, Dr. Joseph Cass, a retired Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon, were killed when the Beechcraft F33A they were in crashed near Crystal airport.
At this time, an investigation into what caused the crash is still ongoing.
SEE North Dakota lawmaker 1 of 2 killed in plane crash near Crystal Airport
Commy, a mother of four with ties to Minnesota State University and the University of St. Thomas, was known for her dedication to environmental and educational issues.
Friends say the couple had a passion for flying and traveled together all over the country, including in Minnesota, where Cass had a lake house.
SEE Friends, colleagues remember North Dakota lawmaker and partner killed in plane crash
Conmy’s political colleagues say she was preparing to run for a second term in the North Dakota House of Representatives.
Submitted Photo
Randy Burckhard, right, receives the Commander’s Award for Public Service from Gen. S.L. Davis, left, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command and commander of Air Forces Strategic-Air, U.S. Strategic Command. The award was presented Tuesday, April 28, at the 2026 North Dakota Nuclear Triad Symposium in Minot. Photo from Minot Area Chamber EDC.
Randy Burckhard of Minot was caught by surprise when he was called to the stage to accept an award at the 2026 North Dakota Nuclear Triad Symposium held in Minot Tuesday, April 28.
Gen. S.L. Davis, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command and commander of Air Forces Strategic-Air, U.S. Strategic Command, presented Burckhard with the Commander’s Award for Public Service.
The award is in recognition of Burckhard’s distinguished service as an outstanding Air Force advocate representing Minot and surrounding areas, as part of the Air Force Global Strike Command Civic Leader Program, from Jan. 1, 2010-December 31, 2025.
“Randy has been a great supporter. He was an honorary commander when I was a wing commander (at Minot AFB from June 2011-June 2012). He became an Air Force Global Strike Civic Leader,” Davis said.
He said Burckhard recently asked to be moved to emeritus status but will continue to serve as a mentor for his replacement with the program.
Burckhard said it has been an honor and pleasure for him to serve and gave his appreciation for the award.
Maj. Thomas Barger, chief of Public Affairs at Minot Air Force Base, read the citation accompanying the award to symposium participants.
The citation states that during his tenure in the Air Force Global Strike Command Civic Leader Program, Burckhard represented the communities surrounding Minot AFB and supported the 36,000 airmen and families in Air Force Global Strike Command.
The citation also noted he provided vital advocacy for Spouse Licensure, the Interstate Compact for students, and tax exemptions for military members and retirees in North Dakota.
Burckhard, a state senator for 16 years, will retire at the conclusion of his term in late November.
The citation said that additionally, he advocated for the B-21, Sentinel and MH-139 programs through both his role on the Civic Leader Program, and as a leader with Task Force 21, whose Nuclear Triad Symposiums have served as a vital platform for both education and advocacy for the nuclear mission.
He routinely advised command senior leaders during annual commander’s conferences on matters affecting community partners, and highlighted community issues key to the Command’s mission. He also enhanced public awareness and support for Global Strike issues through engagements with his local, regional, state and national contacts.
“The distinctive accomplishments of Mr. Burckhard reflect great credit upon himself, Air Force Global Strike Command and the United States Air Force,” the citation concludes.
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