Navigating through and past personal heartache led Rhonda Cass to fill a void.

After trying unsuccessfully to have children and suffering through a failed private   adoption, Cass devoted her life professionally and personally to Iowa’s foster children.

“The failed adoption broke our hearts, so we decided to open our hearts and home. There are a lot of children in Iowa who need homes,” Cass said.

She and her husband, Marvin, have fostered more than 30 children, many with special needs. They have adopted five of those children: Tessie, 10, Christopher, 9, Lexi, 5, and Nicholas, 3.

Their first child, David, lived with them for seven years. Suffering from lung and kidney disease, David died when he was 10. They adopted him posthumously.

“He had always wanted to be adopted by us, and we always wanted to adopt him. But we couldn’t afford (adoption when he was alive) because of the way funding laws were written,” Cass said of medical care bills, which could be subsidized for foster children. Cass was not legally allowed to adopt David after he died, but she worked with Congress to change Iowa law.

More than a year ago, Cass relinquished her foster care license. However, she didn’t give up her desire to help children in Iowa.

She was appointed to the Johnson County Foster Care Review Board, which makes recommendations on foster care cases.

Cass said she grew up wanting a family of her own. But now she said that void is filled.

“I think the reason I couldn’t have children was so I’d be able to take care of less fortunate people’s children and welcome them into my home,” she said.   

— Brian Morelli

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