The Zukowski Family

In adoption from foster care, even the smallest moments can turn into lifelong connections. For Brittany, Steve, and Audry, that moment happened at a MARE matching event.

At 16 years old, Audry first met Brittany and Steve Zukowski at the Jordan’s Spring Meet and Greet in March 2025. Her social workers were surprised when she wanted to attend since she was very quiet and shy, and expressing interest in going to an event like that was quite unusual for her.

The Zukowskis, however, attended with the sole purpose of meeting Audry. A month earlier, at a MARE event for interested families and social workers, they had come across her profile and talked with her social worker, who thought Audry could be a good fit and encouraged the connection. When they finally met at the Jordan's event, they talked for nearly an hour and a half, cracking jokes and learning more about each other. As the conversation continued, Audry began to come out of her shell. “We were able to joke with her, and it was a really good connection,” Brittany said. “I remember afterwards, Steve and I were both in our cars talking, and Audry passed us by in her social worker's car and waved to us. She was so happy.”

For Audry, the first meeting was memorable for a much smaller moment. “They came up and helped me with my hat,” she recalled. “It was too big, and they tightened it for me.”

That small gesture seemed to stay with Audry, and the next day, she was already telling her teachers about Brittany and Steve, giving the couple another encouraging sign that she felt the same connection they did.

Growing up, adoption had always been something Brittany imagined for her future and had talked about wanting to adopt since she was a young girl. After facing health challenges that could make pregnancy difficult, adoption began to feel less like a distant possibility and more like a path toward building the family she had always wanted.

"There are so many kids in the system who really need families," Steve explained. "So, we thought, what if we foster to adopt? It fit what we wanted to do to potentially grow our family and then at the same time help get a kid out of the foster system.”

Brittany and Steve’s desire to help soon met many of the roadblocks of an overwhelmed foster care system. They experienced the difficulty of a foster placement not working out and a critical lack of support available from the Department of Children and Families. Like many other families, their first experiences in child welfare left them confused at the lack of communication, frustrated by process delays, and looking for answers.

Others may have given up at this point, but Brittany and Steve didn’t quit.

Instead, they reached out for support. Liz Joyal, MARE’s Director of Family Support Services, became an important source of support for the couple, helping them navigate the process and providing emotional support during a difficult period.

“She was really good about giving us time, her time, just to chat and help us get through it,” Brittany said.

Brittany diverted her energy into her hobbies, creating crocheted plushies for youth attending MARE events and eventually bringing together a group of like-minded volunteers known as the Crochet Cluster. The couple became more intentional about what they needed to know and what they could offer as parents and came to understand how important it was to have a social worker who would advocate for them and provide consistent support throughout the process. Having someone they trusted in that role made a significant difference.

They also sought out training and support beyond the basics, learning more about parenting children who had experienced trauma. Especially important to them was completing Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) training, which they credit with changing the way they approached foster parenting.

“The TBRI trainings were amazing and should be mandatory. It was an absolute game changer," Brittany said. "So much so that we’d TBRI the cats if we could,” she joked.

“If there’s one thing we would say to any future foster parent who’s interested in going into foster parenting and wants to adopt, do the TBRI trainings,” Steve agreed.

Beyond TBRI, Brittany and Steve found other resources and relationships that helped them navigate the foster and adoption process. The “Ask Me, I Did It” series was helpful, as was connecting with other foster parents who understood the challenges and frustrations. They also took advantage of MARE's "Friend of the Family" mentor program for additional support and continued to stay in touch with their mentor.

“Just making friends with other foster parents kind of gets you through the dark days, too,” Steve said. “It can help some, knowing that you’re not alone.”

At home, they relied on each other just as much.

“What honestly helped the most during the process was probably just constantly talking with each other,” Brittany said. “Talking through how we were feeling, what we liked or didn’t, and being brutally honest with each other about how we felt about things."

By the time Audry’s profile came across their path, Brittany and Steve had a clearer understanding of what they were looking for and, just as importantly, what they could offer. What followed was a gradual process of getting to know one another and discovering what life might look like as a family.

The transition into family life was relatively seamless because Audry had already been spending weekends with Brittany and Steve for some time. They also stayed in touch throughout the week, communicating by email and talking on the phone twice a week. “I remember always thinking that the visits flew by. It’s not like we were doing anything wild either. It was stuff like shopping because she’s growing and needed new clothes, exploring the town, and getting her bedroom set up. Just the little things,” Brittany recalled. “Time flies being with Audry because she’s so fun.”

“When we first met her, we got to know a lot about what she liked, so we planned a few activities to do during the weekend visits, and then left the rest pretty open,” Steve said. “We did life. That’s what made it easier.”

For Audry, the cats and having “weirdos who care” helped her feel safe and happy in her new home.

“If anything, the cats had a hard time every Sunday or Monday night when Audry would leave. They would sleep on her bed, so I would send her pictures of them during the week,” Brittany recalled.

Audry describes her family as “weird, fun, entertaining, and funny,” and says family means “being understanding of one another, being there for one another, and being kind and supportive.” Steve jokingly adds his definition of family as “organized chaos,” and Brittany defines it as “having people to lean on and unconditionally love.”

The Zukowskis finalized Audry’s adoption on June 4, 2026, celebrating the moment with family, friends, and supporters gathered both in the courtroom and cheering on through Zoom.

Now, Brittany and Steve are looking forward to watching Audry grow into an independent life, celebrating her progress and the skills she continues to develop. They hope her future includes her own apartment, a cat, and, if she chooses, a partner who understands and complements her.

Audry has goals of her own, too. In the short term, with Senior Prom coming up in the spring, she is excited to pick out a new dress. Looking ahead, she says, "I want to get better at photography and video making, make as much money as I can, and focus on what I can do instead of what I can’t.”

When asked about one of the most rewarding parts of the adoption journey, Brittany said, “Helping Audry build a life that honors her past, but also celebrates her future, and having her biological mom and brother along for the journey, I think is really special.”

For families considering adoption from foster care, the Zukowskis emphasize patience and a willingness to meet youth where they are. Audry offers similar advice, encouraging families to remember that youth in foster care “have gone through a lot and need patience and understanding.”

And Steve has one more piece of advice, one that feels especially fitting for the family Audry has found.

“Just be silly and have fun,” he said. “Even if they’re a teenager, just be silly. They’ll respond to it and it’ll lighten every situation.”

“That’s why she calls us weirdos,” he added. “Because we took that to heart from the start.”