From Fighting Fires to Changing Lives

For more than five years, Atheah and Brayton Erickson have answered calls to serve their Missouri community through their local volunteer fire department. They’ve practiced how to stay calm in a crisis, support people through some of their hardest moments — and, most of all, how to show up when they’re needed most.

Then, they answered a different kind of call.

The Ericksons became foster parents with KVC Missouri, opening their home to children and teens who needed a safe, stable place to land during times of crisis. Along the way, they discovered that many of the lessons they learned as emergency responders also helped them become the foster parents they wanted to be, lessons like compassion, teamwork, flexibility and simply showing up.

Their story is a powerful reminder that service to others doesn’t require flashing lights and sirens. Sometimes, it happens quietly, around the dinner table, at bedtime and especially by being there when a child needs someone to stay.

Meet Atheah and Brayton Erickson

Brayton and Atheah are high school sweethearts who immediately bonded over their shared passion for serving their community. Having served with the volunteer fire department since high school, Brayton says he got into firefighting to “be there for people on their worst days and serve and help the community.” 

Once they got married, Atheah joined Brayton at the fire department and now serves as the medical officer, filling in for emergency responders until an ambulance arrives. The Ericksons are also very involved in their church, and Atheah serves on the local school board.

“We’ve always had a heart for serving our community,” shares Atheah. “Being on the fire department has given us the opportunity to take it a step further. When we get the call, we’re going to people’s worst moments of their lives, and you don’t really know what you’re getting into until you get there.” 

This passion for service and familiarity with traumatic, high-stress situations laid the foundation for Brayton and Atheah to serve their community in a whole new way: through becoming Missouri foster parents.

Answering the Call to Foster Care

The Ericksons knew they wanted to become foster parents from the moment they got married. Atheah’s birth mother died when she was very young, leading to her being adopted by her aunt and uncle. The impact her adoptive parents made on her life instilled in Atheah a heart to do the same, a passion that Brayton instantly connected with.

Working in emergency response, the Ericksons are often the first ones people see in those times of crisis. The same has proven true of foster care. “As we started the foster process, we realized that we’re the first set of eyes for these youth coming into our home after something tragic has happened,” says Atheah. 

“Both serving the fire department and foster care interweave because we’re having to show those people that we serve in our community and the youth in our home that compassion and support.”

One of the biggest lessons the Ericksons have learned since becoming Missouri foster parents is that they don’t have to be perfect and that the little things are what make the biggest difference. “Before foster care, we thought of service as just responding when somebody needed help,” she says. 

Atheah Erickson

“Getting in our vehicle, flipping on our lights and sirens and getting to whoever needed help. Foster care taught us that sometimes, serving someone means making more room for them in your everyday life. It’s not always the important work we do in the fire department. It happens quietly. It’s around the dinner table; it’s during bedtime; it’s picking up from daycare and school; it’s sitting beside a child who simply needs someone to stay.”

Building a Safe Place for Youth in Need

Just like people in emergency situations need a calming, stable presence in moments of crisis, what children and youth in foster care need most is consistency and emotional support. Atheah and Brayton’s ability to stay calm and steady in a crisis has equipped them greatly to become foster parents. “There are so many children in our community who just need a safe, stable place to go,” says Atheah.

In just over a year as foster parents, the Ericksons have provided a home to children as young as three months old and teens as old as 16. No matter the age of a child or youth in their care, the Ericksons have learned the power of routines and giving children autonomy to make choices when possible for creating a sense of stability. They also have recognized that children aren’t going to trust them immediately, and that’s okay! In Brayton’s words, “Trust is something we have to earn from the children in our home.”

For the Ericksons, the most meaningful part of being foster parents isn’t in the major milestones, but in the small breakthroughs. “It’s the little moments where a child feels safe enough to just be a kid,” says Atheah. 

“Watching them laugh freely, seeing that they’re comfortable enough to ask us for what they need, seeing them experience something for the first time . . . you don’t have to be the ones to fix everything, but you can be the person that stays. And that’s what the youth in care need, along with the community we serve.”

How KVC Missouri Supports New Foster Parents

When the Ericksons decided the time was right to become foster parents, they immediately began researching foster care agencies in Missouri. They really liked KVC Missouri’s mission from the start, so they connected with other foster parents they already knew in their area. When most of them were licensed with KVC and had nothing but good things to say, the Ericksons knew KVC was the right support team for them.

“They understand foster care!” exclaims Atheah, who points out that this isn’t always true. For some, working for a foster care agency is just a typical 9-to-5 job, but not for KVC employees. Atheah continues, “The employees at KVC truly love what they do and understand. They are willing to help answer questions, provide guidance and recognize when we need support. You don’t get that everywhere.”

From their first call with a foster parent recruiter to the training instructors to every caseworker they’ve worked with, the Ericksons have always felt that KVC has their back. “Having those types of people in your corner helps you feel less alone through the hard situations,” says Atheah.

Lessons from a Family Built on Service

The Ericksons have learned a lot from working with the fire department, and many of those lessons have become powerful tools in their journey as foster parents. As Atheah puts it, “Both require you to show up when things are hard, even when you’re dead asleep.” 

When dealing with crises or providing a safe, stable home for a child in foster care, you have to stay calm, communicate and work as a team. The Ericksons have learned the value of communicating with and partnering with their support team at KVC Missouri, because everyone is working toward the same goal: helping children and families. “We went into this knowing that we don’t know everything,” says Atheah. “So having KVC in our corner has been wonderful.”

The other challenge the Ericksons experience in both firefighting and foster care is facing the unknown. As Atheah mentioned earlier, you don’t always know what exactly you’re getting into when you get that emergency call at the fire department. 

Similarly, caseworkers don’t always have all of the details when they contact foster parents. Sometimes the child just needs a home urgently, and the details come later.

“We can prepare and train all we want in firefighting and foster care,” says Atheah, “but every situation and every child is different. You have to be able to put someone ahead of yourself and just show up.” 

Showing up doesn’t mean being perfect. The Ericksons remember how, at the beginning, they felt that pressure to have everything perfect and always do the exact right thing. They have since learned that what matters most is loving the child and providing a safe place while letting go of the pressure and the need to control the outcome.

Every Child and Teen Deserves a Safe Place

There is a great need for Missouri foster parents like the Ericksons, and we don’t mean just emergency responders! We need foster parents who are compassionate, willing to learn and have a heart for helping children and families in our communities. 

“Children don’t need perfect foster parents,” says Atheah. “They just need safe, consistent adults who are willing to love on them, advocate for them and keep showing up.” Just one person can make all the difference for a family in crisis.

Learn more about what it looks like to become a Missouri foster parent with KVC and visit our resource library for even more information and tools.