Episode 69 – From Foster Care to City Hall: The Story, Lessons, and Inspiring Vision of Mayor Jason Salamun

• Jason Salamun emphasizes the beauty and hospitality of the Dakotas.
• Rapid City is experiencing significant growth, attracting families.
• The importance of community support for children in foster care.
• Resilience is key for youth facing challenges.
• Faith communities can play a crucial role in foster care.
• Foster families are essential for providing stability and love.
• Every child deserves a place to belong.
• Community engagement is vital for addressing social issues.
• Jason’s personal story highlights the impact of family support.
• The need for qualified foster families is critical.

 

TRANSCRIPT:

Travis (00:02.014)
Welcome to another episode of the Foster Friendly podcast. I’m your host, Travis Fong, and as joined by my cohost Courtney Williams. Courtney and I are really excited today to introduce a guest from South Dakota. Jason Solomon moved to Rapid City in the late 1980s where he was locally educated from elementary school through college. After serving the U S air force and meeting his wife, when they returned to Rapid City to plant their roots, raise their family and build their life together.

Fueled by a desire to serve, Jason was elected twice as city councilman for Rapid City and served as council president from 2017 to 2018. And in 2023, he was elected mayor, which is awesome. So Jason is living proof that Rapid City is where Possibility lives. As mayor, he is driven to help his community be an even better place to raise a family, grow a business, and live the American dream. Welcome Jason.

Courtney (00:58.662)
Yeah

Jason Salamun (00:59.531)
I’d like you pull that right off the website.

Travis (01:01.63)
hey, it’s nice and polished already, so.

Courtney (01:07.422)
yeah. Well, it’s fun to have you on here. Part of a national podcast and Jason, what you might not know is both Travis and I grew up in North Dakota. So you and South Dakota, so pretty close to each other. lot of, very good. Not too often we get to be on a national thing and have three people from the little sphere of the Dakotas. So as people who love the Dakotas, what do you think is best? What’s the best asset to that area of the country?

Travis (01:17.222)
reppin’ the bison today.

Jason Salamun (01:18.519)
I see that, I see that.

Jason Salamun (01:34.487)
Well, of course I’m partial to South Dakota because, know, the natural, especially where I live in the black Hills of South Dakota, just the beauty here is remarkable. I know we get to live where a lot of people vacation. I think about that a lot. are just in the shadows of Mount Rushmore here. So we get a millions of visitors each year. but I think, you know, this part of the country is, I think known for its people and the hospitality they serve others with and how we treat one another.

Courtney (01:36.493)
it

Jason Salamun (02:04.471)
You know, it’s, think that’s the best part are the people. And I hear that all the time that you’re so nice and, and, friendly and welcoming. And so I think that’s probably the best aspect of, of South Dakota. And I’m sure in North Dakota as well.

Courtney (02:20.43)
Yes, for sure. And it’s funny when I talk to people and say I’m from North Dakota, they’re like, you mean South? Like some people don’t even realize North Dakota is a state. So you get all the credit.

Jason Salamun (02:28.717)
well, we get the Dakotas, which I’m like, well, there’s a distinction here, but which we’ve already, you know, talked about, and I’m sure folks get a nice, they don’t even know where it is on a map a lot of times you have to, when I travel, I travel, I’ll go to conference or whatever. And, you know, I tell people where I’m from, and they kind of give me that look. like, so yeah, I had to get go to Old Man Jenkins farm to hop on a propeller plane in order to get to the nearest there, which is not true. But you know, I think that’s the

Travis (02:30.29)
Yeah.

Courtney (02:32.286)
Yes. Yes.

Travis (02:33.554)
Yeah.

Travis (02:41.382)
That’s true, 100%. And I think there was.

Courtney (02:54.658)
Yeah.

Jason Salamun (02:58.507)
the thought of folks who we don’t think about this part of the country, but it is really breathtaking here. so beyond the people, the place is just remarkable. And so we live in just a beautiful part of the country and we’re very grateful for it.

Courtney (02:59.086)
percent.

Travis (02:59.902)
Yeah.

Courtney (03:06.094)
Hmm.

Courtney (03:16.052)
Yeah, awesome. I’ve read that Rapid City is the fastest growing city in the Midwest. Is that true?

Jason Salamun (03:22.251)
Yeah, last year they do these rankings and by percentages and we are doing very well. I think it all depends on how you define Midwest, regardless, there’s really been explosive growth here since COVID. A lot of folks, a lot of families especially come here to raise their family. We have a lot of interest in businesses locating here. And I think once people come here and you get on the map, that

that really, we always say it starts with a visit. So people come here and they’re always surprised. We have a military installation here elsewhere at the Air Force Base. And I’ll talk to airmen from time to time and they might be from another part of the country. And when they got orders to come here, their first impression was, no, out in the middle of nowhere. And then they get here and they end up loving it. In fact, so many people who were stationed here come back here to retire. So what they thought they knew, they were.

delighted and surprised just by how great it is. So we have a lot going for us. We have a lot more on the way. It is really an exciting time in Rapid City. It brings all these opportunities, brings all these challenges too. But what a time to be alive here in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Courtney (04:35.598)
That’s great.

Travis (04:37.948)
Yeah, well, yeah, thanks for the great setup and talking about more about your awesome city. And yeah, we’re all fans of Dakotas and, yup. miss living there. I don’t miss the winters. I’m in South Carolina. So yeah, that’s changed for me. So yeah, that was great. Year round, great weather and the beach and yeah.

Jason Salamun (04:50.473)
okay. I love South Carolina.

Jason Salamun (04:57.406)
So you’re wearing a North Dakota Bison shirt, but you’re supposed to be a Gamecocks fan. Is that about right? How does that work?

Travis (04:59.998)
Mm hmm. No, I mean, well, we have Clemson. I Clemson is probably the bigger one here. But, you know, I think people we all know how it’s like where you grew up is who who, you know, I mean, so I mean, always a Vikings fan and, know, so, yeah, it’s fun how our sports teams kind of go with their childhood. So for a lot of us, at least.

Jason Salamun (05:08.522)
Okay, that’s the entire video.

Jason Salamun (05:19.392)
You know, my crazy thing for me, I actually grew up in Texas until I was 11, then I moved to South Dakota. so I was supposed to be a Cowboys fan, but I’m an Eagles fan. I’m a Mets fan. so by my, grew up in the eighties. And so the Mets were clearly, I first got into baseball in 86 when they won the world series, thought Darrell strawberry and Doc Gooden were the best ever, you know, and then, the cowboy, and this is not a sports podcast. You’re like, but

Travis (05:24.305)
Okay.

Travis (05:42.588)
yeah.

Travis (05:47.599)
but we’ll make it.

Jason Salamun (05:48.225)
You know, the Cowboys, it’s interesting. This kind of feeds into my family story. So as a, a, as a kid, I spent a lot of time with my mama and my papa. They’re my grandparents and they both have passed away since then, but they were kind of a really the bright spot in my childhood.

a challenging childhood, they were the bright spot. But my papa loved the Dallas Cowboys. And so, you know, we’d watch the games and Tom Landry was the coach back then. And I associated Tom Landry with my papa just in my my little kid head. Well, then these rumors started to swirl the mid to late 80s about Tom Landry might get fired because they were not doing very well. He had been there for so long. And as a kid, that’s like my first impression. Well, why would they fire Tom Landry? It’s like firing my papa.

Travis (06:15.624)
Wow. Huh.

Travis (06:32.687)
Right.

Jason Salamun (06:32.736)
and they hadn’t done it yet. was like these rumors. And I remember for whatever reason, I’m in that environment, kind of mad at the Dallas Cowboys for wanting to fire Tom Landry. And then I watched the Philadelphia Eagles play them. That’s Randall Cunningham, Reggie White. I mean, I can go on about that, the team, but those two in particular.

like wowed me and I’m watching, you know, this video game come to life. And from then on, I was an Eagles fan. So my dad though, he’s a Broncos fan here in Rapid City, either Broncos or Vikings fan. My dad’s a Broncos fan. you know, it’s been my formative years as a kid in Texas, supposed to be a Cowboys fan, ended up an Eagles fan. I guess that’s just the way it goes.

Travis (06:59.176)
Ha

Travis (07:06.398)
Sure.

Courtney (07:15.786)
Yeah.

Travis (07:18.046)
I love that. That’s a great little backstory of just how, yeah, our sports teams, yeah, you can’t always decide what it should be. It’s just like, and that’s a great, actually that’s a great segue into your pop-off of kind of your backstory. So let’s kind of go there. So, you know, as you said, you were in Texas, you moved into Rapid City when you were 11. And before that, it sounds like you would switch elementary schools multiple times and then replace in kinship foster care a few times. So just.

Let’s go back to that time, share a bit about that and the of feelings it brought then and even now.

Jason Salamun (07:52.045)
Yeah, so my folks, you I was the product of a teenage pregnancy. My folks split when I was pretty young, had me and a younger brother. I stayed in Texas with my mother. She had custody. That’s just kind of the way it was. My dad ended up going back home. He was from Colorado at that time. So that’s where he went, ended up remarrying and moving to South Dakota. But I didn’t really have him in my life very much.

So my mother, God bless her, she really struggled with addiction. so a lot of different living situations, I actually swapped back and forth elementary schools a dozen times, going from kindergarten through sixth grade, which was back in my day was elementary school. And in the midst of all that, there’s, you know, there’s a lot of chaos. you have.

different relationships and marriages and those sorts of things. So we’re always moving around. And so when I talked about my mama and my papa, they were really a bright spot because when I stayed the weekend with them, it was like going to Disneyland for me. You know, I have such warm memories of just sitting on my papa’s lap. He’s reading a Louis Lamour book. Smoking was big back in the day. So we had a cigarette to take out ashes that would burn his old cowboy shirt on the TV would be pro wrestling.

Courtney (09:04.942)
Looking what they’ve activated.

Travis (09:10.462)
Ha ha.

Jason Salamun (09:13.412)
we’d have Neapolitan ice cream, you know, bed that was made every night and just so comfortable. just, have these, when I look back, just have these fond memories and they didn’t have much. didn’t, I came from pretty extreme poverty. but I’m so grateful for that time. And then the living situation was tough. I was the big brother. my mother, was usually a bartender when she worked. So I had to get my brother and I to school.

Travis (09:19.859)
Mm-hmm.

Jason Salamun (09:41.953)
all those situations and some of those situations that we were in were awful because you’d have fights and you’d have domestic disputes and alcoholism was really big and drugs often played a factor. And so on occasion when let’s say a Friday night got out of control and they couldn’t reach my mama or my papa or my aunt and uncle later, my uncle would get married and they would be helpful but.

my brother and I would have to stay somewhere temporary until we can get to family members. And so I remember those, it happened about two or three times. I think we were actually taken away for a night. I remember one time was a whole weekend and I thought I was in jail. It was a weird, especially how institutional it was. So I’ve never forgotten that.

Courtney (10:25.069)
Yeah.

Travis (10:28.627)
Hmm.

Jason Salamun (10:33.228)
As we talked about being a kid of the 80s, so I would watch these TV shows with these families on sitcoms and having the families that I always wanted, you know, watching those and wishing I had one of those that, you know, I didn’t stay in a school long enough to really make really good friends because we just kept moving. And so it was a difficult time. as I got older.

Travis (10:43.752)
Hmm.

Jason Salamun (10:57.8)
something’s changed. My mom, my pop, all new, my, dad had remarried to my mom here in South Dakota, who’s amazing. And when I was between fifth and sixth grade, they really said, we love you so much. We don’t want to let you go, but we got to get you to your dad. And so they actually were the ones that facilitated there. My mom’s parents, but they knew that she needed to get the help she needed. And

Courtney (11:13.582)
Hmm.

Jason Salamun (11:22.314)
that we needed to move up here to South Dakota. And I need to build my relationship with my dad. And I had seen him a couple of times in between all of this. My mom had been in prison once for several months, I guess. And so we moved with them. And so I knew who he was, but didn’t have that deep relationship that I have with him now. So I permanently moved to Rapid City right before my sixth grade here. And we didn’t have much, but we had

Courtney (11:50.383)
you

Jason Salamun (11:52.371)
love, belonging, family dinner together each night. I had to do dishes after dinner. had structure and my parents still live in the house that I lived in when I first moved up here. So I’ve had this interesting experience in life where I’ve had this challenging childhood that, you know, looking back, there’s a lot I can see how and why we got through that. But I also had this loving family. And when I moved up here,

I started to play sports, started to make friends, started to discover who I am. I won awards for being really quiet in elementary school and here I became obnoxious, know, in middle school. I think it came out of my shell and I think that it speaks to me about the importance of family and really a mom who took me in as her own, which is really beautiful.

Courtney (12:24.82)
I to discover who I am. I won awards for being really quiet in elementary school and there I became a master. I think it came out of my shell.

Travis (12:33.992)
Ha

Travis (12:42.11)
Hmm.

Jason Salamun (12:47.882)
I’m so grateful for that. So there’s a lot of sacrifice, a lot of love along the way. So I gave you a lot there, so I’ll stop talking for now. But yeah, I’ve definitely seen a lot of things, lived in Crack House at one time. I remember all these crazy things during that season. And it felt like forever, it was probably a month. But that’s just kind of the way my life was. And I understand when people…

tell me their stories. hear stories all the time. They’re usually surprised that I can somewhat relate. Thankfully for me, I did not go down the route of addiction. In fact, I fought it quite heavily. I have two brothers and a sister, but my brother that I lived with in Texas, he opted to stay.

Travis (13:17.747)
Mm-hmm.

Travis (13:21.288)
Hmm.

Jason Salamun (13:36.557)
He has given me permission to tell his story a little bit, but you he ended up going down the path of addiction and and The challenges all that brings with it and so he’s doing much better right now even though he is in prison he is Seeking sobriety, and I’m really proud of him. He’s doing great work, but

Travis (13:43.304)
Okay.

Travis (13:52.902)
Awesome.

Courtney (13:53.742)
Mm.

Jason Salamun (13:56.029)
That’s what I’ve seen is people’s decisions in their lives really impact the people around them. And so I think you go one of two directions. And for me, very anti. And because I’ve seen what it does to people I care about.

Courtney (14:10.318)
what it does to people I care about.

Travis (14:11.314)
Hmm. Wow. Yeah. Thanks for sharing about that.

Courtney (14:15.764)
Yeah, it is what you just said at the end there. You we we foster primarily teenagers and we get teenagers. We always sit down at some point and have this conversation of you have a choice to make. Your life can either go this way or this way. And and really, it can go either way. Like you have the power to change these generational cycles or, you know, the cycles that your parents might be in. And oftentimes we see kids like that that say, I don’t want anything to do with that. Help me, like help me figure this out. And it’s a great thing to be able to do. And I can imagine

Travis (14:40.925)
Mm-hmm.

Courtney (14:44.93)
You know, my husband went through some really hard things as a child, as a teenager, did not have a present dad still to this day. And so he’s able to connect with kids differently. And you, I’m sure as a mayor, like you said, to be able to connect with people in your community that might think, I don’t have a connection to him. And then they get to know you, like, he really can connect with me a little bit more of the understanding maybe of some of the things we’re going through. So speak to that a little bit. Like how, how has this worked into thinking foster care?

Travis (14:59.773)
Mm-hmm.

Courtney (15:11.566)
You know, we at America’s Kids Belong, we work to create foster friendly communities. We want communities to see everybody can come alongside and help the foster families, the foster kids, the foster youth so that they don’t age out. And if they do age out, we want a community to come alongside them. So what does that mean to you? Like, we think of the term foster friendly and thinking about your past and the people you come in contact with, what does foster friendly mean and what does that look like for a community?

Jason Salamun (15:35.767)
Well, my big vision for Rapid City, and this is how I measure success, is whether kids thrive and families flourish. I think that is my measure of success. It’s not about how big we are as a city or how much we’re growing, which we talked about earlier. That means really nothing if your children aren’t thriving and families are flourishing. And that includes the kids who might fall in the cracks or have difficult situations in and of themselves.

In Rapid City, I’m very proud to be a part of a church that really got into the foster care movement in a big way with wraparound care. I I heard a statistic that, and I was on staff at this church, but that we had the most foster families in our church then.

than any other in our area because I think that network was so tight and we just did so much in that space. I think that’s big. We have a big need for foster families in our community. I think we have about 500 kids in need of foster care right now in our county. And so we’re trying to raise awareness through South Dakota Kids Belong, which is part of your organization. So we do, we try to do our best to say, hey, this is a need. And if this is something one that you’re called to, there’s resources and help to

Travis (16:21.351)
Mm-hmm.

Jason Salamun (16:47.468)
do it and if you are not called specifically to be a foster family, they need support and help to come alongside them and whether that’s a night out or whether that’s encouragement or you know business friendly opportunities whatever the case may be. So really try to challenge the community to really wrap around this because those kids deserve a shot you know and I appreciate that you tell that you tell young people that they have a choice. One of my

Travis (16:54.75)
Mm-hmm.

Jason Salamun (17:17.428)
One of my concerns is sometimes we love the victim card and we just want to play a victim card our whole life. And it doesn’t mean bad things did not happen to you. But you have a choice whether to be a victim or an overcomer. Today, I love to see us build resilience in young people. A lot of them have seen stuff, but resilience comes by going through stuff and coming out the other side. And you can be stronger.

Travis (17:21.629)
Right.

Jason Salamun (17:41.069)
Or you can let it define you and you know for me I have a story I tell now I don’t really always go around telling that story Although as mayor it seems like I’m telling it all the time because I find these opportunities to relate to people But I want to say, know, no matter where you came from. That’s great thing about our country But it’s also a great thing about you that you are not defined by where you came from You’re not defined by what your circumstances are that you can every day make a decision and you have ownership of your life

Travis (17:44.072)
Mm-hmm.

Travis (17:54.834)
Yeah.

Travis (18:09.342)
Mm-hmm.

Jason Salamun (18:11.642)
And I think whether it’s foster, being a foster friendly community or speaking to young people, really understanding that you have an opportunity to do something bigger than yourself. That’s what I’m so grateful for foster families for. They say, we’re gonna sacrifice. that’s what, you know, heroic actions require sacrifice. We’re gonna sacrifice our life for the sake of others. And it’s hard sometimes, it’s emotional sometimes, especially in the foster space.

You know, with adoption, you have this opportunity that you get to raise a child as your own. With foster, you may be a temporary situation. Your heart may always be with them. But, knowing so many people who are in that situation, it’s always like, you know, a piece of their heart. But at the same time, they wouldn’t trade it for anything, especially when they see stories and some of these young people grow up and have a shot in fulfilling their purpose in life. That’s the ultimate reward.

Travis (18:56.296)
Right.

Jason Salamun (19:05.382)
And that’s a pretty cool thing. as a community, just want to encourage our community and all communities to champion it, get around those foster families and really help those kids at the end of the day because that’s what it’s all about.

Travis (19:19.069)
Yeah.

Courtney (19:19.413)
Yeah, one of our favorite lines is your past affects your future, but it doesn’t have to determine it. Yeah, and I hear you saying that over and over that that really is like when we can come alongside these kids, these youth and help them see that and see that they’ve got a community around them. It helps them feel like they can like my past does not have to determine my future when I’ve got people around me.

Travis (19:34.536)
Mm-hmm.

Travis (19:40.188)
Yeah. Yeah. And I think I really appreciate it in your story as you kicked it off contextually for your background of not only the lens in which you sort of see Rapid City as a mayor through that compassionate gaze, but also through just experientially like the pain, the sort of, mean, really a key part of foster care is instability. mean, that’s sort of, you this conversation is always a swirling what’s going to happen next in my story.

Jason Salamun (19:42.025)
Absolutely.

Travis (20:08.446)
It was really fascinating to listen to you talk about like these 80s sitcoms that, know, corny and cheesy as some of that was. It also was stability. was like, this is, this is a stable place, you know, where group hugs at the end of a full house episode. It’s like all that good stuff, but like, you know, it just, kind of takes you to what you were longing for as a kid, you know? And so what we lament for all the kids that don’t have that. talking more again, kind of back to your mayoral.

Jason Salamun (20:23.02)
Yeah.

Travis (20:37.018)
view in Rapid City, you’ve already set up well the ways in which you’re of helping motivate people in the community to engage the issue. Have you had some examples you could share or just even some, you know, inspiring time so far that you’ve seen where, you know, foster parents have been more supported or you’ve seen businesses kind of step into the space or talk a little about that kind of thing?

Jason Salamun (21:00.844)
Yeah, I think the most encouraging things I’ve seen have been, I’ll speak at events. So gosh, this summer I spoke at a music festival with thousands and thousands of people encouraging them. One of the things more strategically I think we’ve really tried to go after is getting more churches engaged. And what I love to hear is when churches say, we’re going to step up on this. This is not something we’ve actually, I mean, we care about it, but we haven’t thought about the need.

and promoting that in our church. And that’s really a great effort to the South Dakota Kids Belong folks. They’re working with government agencies, of course, and businesses. But I think our faith communities are a great opportunity for that because they’re primed to help. so that’s where I’ve seen the best fruit so far. When you put this effort into things, that’s been a big one. And of course, you know, the relationship with our state government and our

Travis (21:54.098)
Mm-hmm.

Jason Salamun (21:57.605)
Child Services folks have been really good. I think that’s been a really healthy thing in the inroads. Our former governor, Governor Noem, was big on the foster care thing. And so she really made that a priority. And that was as I was coming along. And so I took it here locally. Current Governor Rodin, his wife actually was very involved with this initiative. So to have help at the state level here, which is big because those agencies were report

Travis (22:08.07)
huh.

Travis (22:22.354)
Mm-hmm.

Jason Salamun (22:25.504)
to them and as mayor, know that. And so we know that the help can be had that those agencies know that there is a foster organization and movement ready to help them. think that base of mobilization though, is the other part of it. And, you know, I’ve done things, I’ve done media stuff on this, I, you know, tried to continually get the word out, but there’s so much noise and so many needs in the world. So it’s, it’s always a challenge to try to keep this on the forefront.

Courtney (22:36.234)
I think that’s a nice mobilization though.

Travis (22:50.28)
Yeah.

Jason Salamun (22:53.888)
just because you said it once doesn’t mean you got to keep talking about it. And it takes people quite a while for they really start to realize, hey, maybe this is a sign for me to step up and serve. But yeah, the most rewarding thing, I would say the faith community response has been very strong. I think there’s always room for growth there. I think that’s where the fertile ground is. It’s not the only one, but it is certainly an important one. And I think the one that I’m most proud of.

Travis (23:21.746)
Well, let’s, since you’re on that, that’s a great, we were gonna go there too in this conversation. So since you kind of already opened that, which is great, as far as you were also, talked about being a former executive pastor. What is, if you sort of had a message that you kind of say right now to churches out there, what would the message be to the faith community from you, even wearing the old pastor hat from back in the day?

Jason Salamun (23:49.345)
Yeah, you know, I’ve had an interesting career in military. I spent 20 years in business, spent time in ministry and public service now. The thing I would tell pastors in particular churches is don’t shy away from it. you promoting it is more powerful than you realize. And I think that is something that when you your voice to this issue, it means something. People are listening to you. They’re watching you.

Courtney (23:58.969)
the thing I was told.

Jason Salamun (24:18.776)
And I think some pastors may say, well, I don’t know if me and my family are a place to do foster care. Many are. I know many who are. And so I think that might keep them from speaking about it. But that’s OK. That’s what wraparound care is for. And I’ve come to learn that that’s really critical because it could be isolating and lonely sometimes for these families to some of these challenges. And when you have that wraparound care for the kids, but also for the families, that is really a big deal. That’s one way to minister. And so

I think you’d be hard pressed to look through the scriptures and not find plenty of examples of why this is an important thing. You know, for me and like things like the pro-life movement, which I’m passionate about, the extension of that are things like foster care. So what are we going to do with kids who may fall through the cracks that their lives matter to? Not just as little kids, but as teenagers and…

people becoming young adults and what can a church do to step into that space? And what’s really great is you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There are great organizations to partner with like yours. And there are others here that we have in South Dakota that you can partner with that could say, hey, we can help you take that step. So I’d say, what if you took a Sunday and really promoted it and had…

Flyers and handouts to people to say hey, here’s how here’s how to take the next step because it can seem so Large and vast you don’t even really know where to start But you don’t have to figure all that out. You do not have to reinvent that wheel their organizations ready to help All you have to do is say yes And if you say yes and are open to it I think you can have a significant impact and what you’ll find is you start to build a culture of people doing that gosh, there was a movie I

Travis (25:44.253)
Yep.

Travis (26:00.882)
Mm-hmm.

Jason Salamun (26:05.63)
I saw this last year, we had a big screening here in Rapid City. It was The Sound of Hope, that’s what it was. What a powerful movie. So we had this massive screening. My wife and I went along with a whole bunch of other people. It pretty tremendous event. But that story was powerful because it was about a particular pastor. And it did shy away from these hard parts about taking kids in.

Travis (26:10.62)
Yep.

Travis (26:27.272)
Yep.

Jason Salamun (26:30.828)
Which I think sometimes we gloss over like it’s an 80s sitcom and it’s not real life is gritty tough and hard and messy and But you love through it anyways, and that’s what real love loves through all the mess not just when things are great and you start to get to the end of yourself and That’s where you have to really rely on something supernatural and I think that’s where something beautiful comes in

Courtney (26:34.606)
Thank

Travis (26:34.684)
Right, right, right.

Courtney (26:44.362)
Hmm.

Travis (26:44.606)
Yep.

Jason Salamun (26:55.116)
Uh, but I watched that movie. was great was not just this family that said yes, and this in particular, the mom in the movie, uh, but how it started to inspire people around them. And they built this culture of it and that they became known, uh, for taking care of the least of these. And that was a really powerful, uh, movie. And I think stories like that are really powerful. think what’s, what’s great about your podcast is the power is in the story and there’s no story without struggle.

Travis (27:06.93)
Yep.

Travis (27:23.848)
Mm-hmm.

Jason Salamun (27:25.14)
So if you get a chance to tell how people tell stories to say hey I could you know, I may not have been a permanent foster kid in some long-term situation And most people are really surprised by my backstory but I just I feel like an obligation or duty to share it at times because For for kids in that situation. I want them to know that that’s possible But also just with families to say, this is tough as they hate

But you never know. You never know what’s gonna happen and God can use this in a mighty way. And so I definitely would encourage pastors to take it up. I mean, it is something that people can rally behind and there’s something for everyone in it. I think that’s the big part is not just, hey, will you be a foster parent? Which is a direct call to action and should happen.

Courtney (27:59.119)
you

Jason Salamun (28:17.46)
should be championed and celebrated. But there’s also a part for everyone to play around that. And I think whether it’s wraparound care, giving financially, or providing other resources, maybe your business that can offer discounts. mean, there’s all sorts of things people can do if they just say yes.

Travis (28:39.229)
Yeah.

Courtney (28:39.555)
Yeah, that’s great. Yeah, it makes me think about our founder, Brian Mavis. He just released a book called Go Upstream. And part of the Go Upstream, the reason why he wrote it is there’s these 10 social wounds that are affected by foster care things. And you’ve mentioned a lot of these even in your personal story, poverty, incarceration, homelessness, addiction, trafficking. What do you think of these kids that have gone through these things? And oftentimes,

When you look at the ACEs, adverse childhood experiences, and they’re broken into 10 categories as well. The average kid in foster care has gone through four to five of those. That’s the average kid. I’ve had kids in my care who have gone through eight of the 10 things on that list, things that we just don’t want kids to have to go through. Then we see the cyclical pattern. We see why it leads to, if they age out or their families, poverty, incarceration, homelessness, how do you see these things interrelated?

Travis (29:22.099)
Mm-hmm.

Courtney (29:32.364)
And I don’t think our communities often know it. Like, you use any of these examples when you’re talking to people? like, these are things we should care about, and this is why. Like, what would be your message to those types of social wounds that are affected by foster care?

Jason Salamun (29:44.493)
Well, yeah, lot of, know, for example, we’re working on a lot of our crime is rooted in addiction and substance abuse. And so, and we know there’s all sorts of ramifications for that. So when we’re talking about substance abuse, you know, one of the ramifications are the impact it has on the kids that leaves behind, you know, a lot of times people are in that situation because of what trauma did to them. Doesn’t excuse it, but it just shares that there’s a reason behind it. And so.

Travis (29:52.158)
Mm-hmm.

Jason Salamun (30:14.252)
when we’re going after things like, how do we offer better treatment options in our community for people battling substance abuse? How do we go after, you know,

things that are going to impact young people in a productive way. for example, one of my big projects we’re working on here is a brand new sports complex. want it be a year round destination for national and regional youth sports events. People come here all the time anyway, so we’re working to build it. Well, the positive aspect is during the week, we see that this could be a great outlet for kids of all types to be able to have something productive to do. And they learn a skill and they have a purpose, learn to work in a team,

Travis (30:53.628)
Hmm.

Jason Salamun (30:56.572)
get out of their situation. So it always comes back to, this help a kid thrive for me? So even when you’re talking about dealing with crime and addiction and a lot of our homeless issues, our chronic homeless issues are also fed by addiction or mental health. But people also getting healing from the stuff that they’ve been through, you know, and getting the help.

Travis (31:11.602)
Mm-hmm.

Jason Salamun (31:18.156)
that they need through that. think that’s important. all of these, and also encouraging families of today, hey, mom and dad, you need to be present. You need to love your kids. You know, we got to break those cycles and whatever your family’s story doesn’t have to be your story. Then I know my dad, he struggled as a young man and divorced, but my dad is actually the one who…

Travis (31:34.686)
Hmm.

Jason Salamun (31:42.709)
really made a difference in our family’s life. And I’d say my mom up here too, but my dad, you know, broke free of addiction that he once upon a time had decades clean now. My dad changed his life. My dad really put his faith at the utmost importance. And so.

Travis (31:53.278)
Hmm.

Courtney (31:58.319)
really put his faith at the utmost importance. So he was a hardware of humanity and saw the pouring for a living. So we had again.

Jason Salamun (32:02.336)
He was a hardworking man. installed flooring for a living. But we had, again, love and togetherness and structure and all of that. And then you had my mom up here into the mix and the nurturing and all the stuff she gave me and how important that was. We need, if we had strong families, it would.

greatly impact our society. In fact, our police department, I say this all the time, our police department deals with the symptoms of our social issues. They’re dealing, all of this stuff are symptoms of a greater issue. And I always say public safety starts in the heart and the home. And so that’s what you want. And there’s the ideal situation that kids grow up in a loving environment and we should still always promote that. But for those who fall in the cracks of that,

Travis (32:24.328)
and

Travis (32:33.683)
Right.

Jason Salamun (32:48.704)
then we have to step up and help fill that gap so they have a place to belong. All kids ask questions like, do I belong? Can I do it? Am I loved? Does anyone care? These are questions kids are intrinsically asking. And so if they don’t get it from their immediate family, and there could be a lot of things that come along with it, somebody else can step up and say, yes, you matter. Yes, I care. Yes, you belong. Yes, you’re loved.

Travis (32:56.51)
frozen?

Jason Salamun (33:13.916)
And they need to hear that. And that’s where a lot of healing takes place. And then, you know, eventually maybe they’ll grow up into people who can reach out and help someone else down the road. So it’s, think it’s all really interconnected. Every piece plays a role in this. So yeah, all these, all those issues that you talked about from his book. And I think he had mentioned that in a, I was at an event, he spoke that and he had mentioned some of those.

Courtney (33:27.566)
I

Travis (33:29.842)
Mm-hmm.

Jason Salamun (33:42.017)
And I thought, that’s, that’s pretty interesting because that’s what it has. So this is the foster side of things, but it really is so macro. and it’s all really interconnected. And if we can really get back to the basics of making sure every child has a place to belong and people to belong to, I think that will go a long way and making things better in the future.

Courtney (34:05.934)
Yeah, well said. And yeah, like you said, the church communities, the communities as a whole, faith communities, sports community, I mean, all of these communities, parts of a community can play this part to help these issues and help these causes. So, yeah.

Courtney (34:24.066)
Well, as we close this out, we usually ask our foster parents or former foster youth, what’s the most important thing they think kids need in care? What’s the one thing they need in care? But we’re going to ask you a little different question because you got kind of a bigger view lens. So if you could change one thing with the foster care system, what would that be?

Jason Salamun (34:45.93)
Well, we have to get more qualified and caring people to be foster care families. And so I think sometimes the speed or the bureaucracy can hang things up. I do think you have to check those things out and all of that. talking to some foster families, some of their greatest concerns are what happens to the kids when they’re out of my care.

Travis (35:15.336)
Mm-hmm.

Jason Salamun (35:15.828)
and what’s the follow-up care behind that if they’re reunited with family members or whatever the case may be. And I think that probably differs from state to state. So I’m sure some states are crushing it. Other states can be better. But I’ve heard from time to time that the process just taken so long to become a foster parent. And I don’t know why. And maybe it should. I mean, you definitely don’t want to.

Travis (35:42.802)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Jason Salamun (35:42.945)
bad people being foster families. But if there’s any red tape that is unnecessary or any, I guess, sense of urgency, more or less, to make sure that we’re able to get people lined up so that you try to recruit. And then once they are trying to become a licensed foster family, that process that takes place, you’d like to see that streamlined and more efficient so that we can encourage more people to do it.

that’s needed. And so I’m, I’d be more interested in hearing from you all. You’re the experts, you know, I’m not, I’m not the expert. So I only hear anecdotal things, but that, that I would love to hear from you about what you think needs to be done, because that’s probably something that someone like me as an elected official needs to learn from you. What do you think?

Courtney (36:14.882)
Hehehe.

Travis (36:18.258)
Mm-hmm.

Courtney (36:27.982)
Yeah, that’s a hard question. get asked that we’ve kind of answered that question a few times. I think for me, it’s, you know, I try to recruit foster homes and people say, I don’t want to be part of the system. The system’s, you know, messed up or has its issues. It’s like, okay, well, what can we do to change it? Or what are your issues with that? Because there’s not going to be a perfect system. I think we’ve seen that over the years of foster care, these ebbs and flows, if we focus on the family and then we focus on the child and then we focus on, you know, we have to change the focus to mental health or whatever it might be. So I feel like it’s always trying to make

The system is trying to get better all the time, but when we change those focuses, I think sometimes we will focus on one little area, like right now, it’s reunification. I am all for reunification when it’s safe, viable, when it’s what we should be doing, right? That should be our number one goal for the most part, but there are times when that’s not the best situation. And so think when we put all of our eggs in that basket of reunification, then we forget about the kids who are waiting for permanency and we kind of like, they get lost in the system.

So for me, it’s like not putting all of our eggs in one basket of the area of foster care. We need to look at the whole picture and have that be the systematic change.

Jason Salamun (37:33.856)
I’ve also heard like there are some bad foster families that give everybody else a bad name. So, so rooting out rooting out the clowns and the people who are who are not great for the movement and then really promoting those who are doing amazing work. They’re usually the most humble, so they don’t want the attention. I think there’s opportunity there.

Travis (37:40.637)
Yeah?

Travis (37:44.225)
Ha

Travis (37:49.566)
Yeah.

Travis (37:53.562)
Yep. Well, and what I love, we have a picture of that with the Savannah bananas. I mean that if you followed them or whatever, but they’re nonprofit bananas foster does that very thing. I mean, it’s unbelievable to me that yeah, at all these feet games are selling out MLB stadiums, football, NFL stadiums. They have this concept. Yeah. To have this idea that at some point in the game that they bring down the local foster family to honor them, celebrate them in front of this massive audience. And then nationally.

And then we got to actually interview, you know, owner, Emily Cole and her describing what it’s like to also follow them up the stands as they go out, you know, celebrate as heroes as they should be. it just gave me chills thinking about it. So I mean that these podcasts that were highlighting people, I mean, it’s just, you know, we’ve talked about this as a, as a problematic issue, but one of the things with

the complexity of the foster care system is that oftentimes the pendulum never swings in the middle, that’s a reality. So it’s like if there was a, this happens to your point of maybe it was an abusive foster family that, you know, some tragedy happened in their care. Well, then the pendulum can swing on the child services thing of like less removals or whatever, and less, know, and then we’re trying to…

And then it can go the other way as well to where it’s like, maybe there’s a higher rate of removals that are, so it’s like, you have this system that’s kind of always trying to cater between different clients. Is it truly the child and their safety? Is it the families, you the birth families and sort of supporting them? Yes to both, but it’s like, that target seems to move, you know, and I don’t know. So there’s so much complexity in there.

Jason Salamun (39:45.207)
That’s interesting. First of all, Savannah bananas are awesome. I definitely want them in Rapid City. Bananas Foster, what a great, I mean, how clever and how cool, what a great way to promote foster care. But to your point, that’s really interesting that you have these ebbs and flows and probably over-corrections and all these things. And one of the things I just, you know, I guess I admire a lot about those in the foster care movement is,

Travis (39:47.9)
Yeah.

Travis (39:53.779)
Alright.

Jason Salamun (40:12.438)
That’s really tugs on your emotions in a lot of different ways. How you keep your heart, you know, despite it getting broken or, or getting pulled or things out of your control variables. You can’t, you know, you try to create a loving home. There’s all these other external variables that come into play. How have you seen that families can ride those waves of emotions, still care, not, get too.

Travis (40:21.959)
Thank

Jason Salamun (40:41.129)
I guess, you know, overly guarded, but at the same time, not just have their heart shattered all the time. What, what do you, what’s your advice for them?

Travis (40:51.504)
man, that’s a great question. Courtney, here’s us ready for it. It’s great. No, is great. I love that you’re asking us some, it’s awesome.

Jason Salamun (40:54.252)
Sorry, I’m just interested.

Courtney (41:00.854)
Yeah, you kind of mentioned it, the more foster families and the more foster families, the bigger of our community we can have as foster parents. I love, mean, I have super close friends who aren’t foster families, right? But when I can sit down and connect with somebody who understands and they can help me through that because they’ve been through that, it’s kind of like you as the mayor to be able to say to somebody like, I’ve been through some of these things. They can respect you at a different way, right? Or understand. Same thing with me as a foster parent. When I can sit down with another foster parent and, Hey, I’m really struggling with this.

My other friends can listen. They’re great listeners. They can bring me coffee. could do, but to sit down and walk through those emotions with somebody else who understands that has been through it, it’s the most healing thing for me by far is to walk through with other people. Yeah. Hands down. Yeah.

Jason Salamun (41:37.58)
So that community is part of the strength of that. That makes sense.

Travis (41:42.398)
Well, and I think it’s also recognizing, I mean, it’s beyond the elephant in the room. I mean, we all get it. Like the idea of going into something that you’re going to give not only just yourself, but your family potentially to have to, you know, is you’re gonna have to say goodbye. You’re gonna have to say, you’re gonna pour. What other causes out there where you’re sort of meeting a social crisis within your own home? You know, there’s so much things we can go to, do our service day, feel good, leave, volunteer, whatever. This is something we’re actually

bringing this issue into our very homes and giving everything we have. So we get that that’s an extremely unique experience that is also at the outset, an absolute challenge. And people have to understand that on the flip side, we have to know and kind of it’s this mantra around like, you know, these kids, you know, when it’s sort of at well, my heart would, you know, I, couldn’t do this because you know, my heart would break too much, whatever. And it’s like, what

Okay, so what’s the flip side of that? What do they deserve? They deserve someone then that doesn’t give their all. I mean, the healing they need in their life is got to be for you to give everything you have. And as the adults, we have resources, we have communities to support us. We can grieve that loss. We can, and we should, and maybe we take breaks or maybe we even just did it for a season, but these kids don’t have, I mean, they’re the kids. Let’s step in as the adults and be there for them. And we know it’s going to be hard, but

You’ve said this all along, you mayor, it’s just like hard, hard things with the great things, the things that we need to, to jump in and, and, that’s what we need. So, yeah. But, yeah, those are great questions. And I, this has been such an awesome interview because one is you’ve been interviewing us as well, which is awesome. And two is that you represent, this is the first time I’ve ever been, we’ve done 65 episodes, somebody that’s probably the first episode I’ve ever done.

Courtney (43:17.217)
Yeah.

There.

Travis (43:36.286)
where we’re interviewing, you know, someone who’s formerly in foster care, sort of dealt with the kinship side of things, pastoral role, it’s faith community, government side now is the mayor. I mean, you, when you talk about the lenses of foster care, you were like a living embodiment of this, and I just love your heart. And so I would just close with saying, as far as like going from here after this episode, America’s Kids Belong has a tab on our homepage of how you can help.

You go to that, you can see whether it’s fostering, adopting, you know, as you know, mayor Solomon’s talked about, like how you can support businesses and faith communities. have all that information of how to get involved and the resources, like you said, not to recreate the wheel. We have a lot of great resources out there. Then also there’s another tab on becoming foster friendly. So if you’re a business that you, you know, we’d liken it to like, know, military discounts or.

things like that, where if you’re in one of our states that’s foster friendly, not all 50 are yet, hoping to expand that, there’s opportunities for businesses then to, whether it’s a product, a discount or whatever, to offer that. There’s a sign up on there if your state’s eligible. And then as a foster parent, if you’re in one of those states, download the app and find those discounts, find that connection. There’s also national offers as well, if that’s not available locally. So those are just some ways.

to kind of do this whole like village, ticks of village thing and do this together. I would love to hear Jason, if you know, close us out with any final words on this.

Jason Salamun (45:10.09)
Yeah. Well, first of all, I want to give a shout out to the South Dakota kids belong a team. they’ve done a great job advocating. I just want you to know that, that’s why I’m here today is because, our connection and, and they’ve done a lot of stuff statewide and still in the trenches. know every day. so if you’re considering foster care, I definitely think, pray about it. talk about it.

Courtney (45:14.35)
.

Jason Salamun (45:36.383)
If you feel that nudge, got to notice the nudges in life. And if you have that nudge, it’s something to pay attention to. If you are one of those folks that says, you know, I appreciate foster care, but don’t think I could do it directly. Whatever, maybe it’s a season. Maybe it’s just a no for now, but not a no forever. Or you’re just, you know, your limitations are, then go with the strengths that you have. If you have resources, you can give those resources. you.

Courtney (45:53.033)
or you just know what your limitations are, then go with the strengths that you have. If you have resources, give those resources.

Jason Salamun (46:02.988)
To Courtney’s point, it sounds like community is really needed. Just rallying around people and letting them know they’re not alone and maybe be a safe place for them to vent or provide meals or coffee or fun times, entertainment, you name it. All of those things I think are very important, but really promoting it, getting the word out. Everybody has a network. You have a sphere of influence. think you can…

really reach out and tell folks what it’s about, especially you pastors. think churches is really a prime opportunity and a really great way for our faith community to really show its action. know, putting our faith in action and foster care is a great way to do that. whatever the case may be, think everybody’s in different situations in life. But at the end of the day, these kids need love. They need a safe place. They need to be cared for and they need to belong.

And I think whatever their circumstances in life, we need people that can speak truth and speak light into their lives. And we need that now more than ever. So I encourage you to take up the challenge. It’s greatly needed. And I appreciate all of your work, all of you who are foster.

Travis (47:11.23)
This is true.

Jason Salamun (47:16.874)
families in the trenches, thank you. You are everyday heroic and not everybody sees it every day. Not everybody knows these emotions and struggles and you can tell I’m trying to understand. I know what it’s like on one angle of it, but not all angles. And so just want to say thank you. You’re appreciated. You’re noticed. You’re awesome. We encourage you. You’re probably the best recruiters because of how you’re living your lives and the impact it’s having on your life.

And I think that can spread to others that be contagious. So don’t be afraid to tell your story, get that word out as well. And so, yeah, thank you all for having me and very honored to be here, chat with you, especially those of you who are in this space. It’s very meaningful and pretty cool to see all the great things that are happening around the country.

Courtney (47:44.75)
So don’t be afraid to your story, put that word out as well. yeah, thank you all for having me. I’m very honored to be here to chat with you, especially those of you who are in the next phase. It’s very meaningful. It’s pretty cool to see all the great things that are happening around the world. Awesome. Yeah. Thanks for joining us today. Enjoyed this conversation. I know people will get a lot out of it.

Travis (48:02.622)
Well said.

Jason Salamun (48:11.937)
Me too.