Content Warning: Please note that this conversation includes discussions of domestic violence and child abuse. Take care of yourself while listening and see below for helpful support resources.
Every child deserves a foundation of unconditional love, a truth that Comfort Cases founder Rob Scheer learned firsthand after surviving a broken foster care system to build a beautiful family of his own. In this episode, Rob shares his deeply moving personal journey of entering the foster care system at age 12 and aging out at 18 with little more than a trash bag of belongings. He opens up about his childhood trauma, confronting severe parental and foster abuse, and how his path toward mental-health healing through therapy became the foundation for the compassionate, purpose-driven life he leads today.
Rob recounts how he and his husband, Reese, built their family by adopting five children through the same system. He details the sudden, overwhelming transition of bringing four young children under the age of four into their home within three months, navigating discrimination during the application process, and fighting an intense legal battle to finalize their adoptions. Rob also shares the story of welcoming their fifth son, Alex, who joined the family as an 18-year-old facing homelessness, embodying Rob’s drive to ensure there’s room for everyone at his table.
The discussion also explores the origin of Comfort Cases and how a simple family discussion about empathy led to a massive volunteer-led effort that replaces trash bags with dignified, essential-filled backpacks. Today, the 96% volunteer-run organization has delivered more than 360,000 backpacks and duffels filled with pajamas, toiletries, and comforting items to youth in care across all 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico. This episode is a powerful testament to resilience, the necessity of communal investment in the future of foster youth, and the truth that it is never too late to give a young person the unconditional support and love they deserve.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline
Rob Scheer is the Founder and CEO of Comfort Cases®, a national nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that children in foster care are welcomed with dignity and hope. After entering the foster care system at the age of 12 and aging out at 18 with little more than a trash bag of belongings, Rob spent years believing he needed to outrun the pain of his childhood. His journey toward mental-health healing—through therapy, self-reflection, and confronting long-buried trauma—became the foundation for the compassionate, purpose-driven life he leads today.
A veteran, father of five adopted children (all who came through the same shattered system), and author of the memoir “A Forever Family”, Rob has become one of the nation’s leading voices for foster-care reform. Through his advocacy, storytelling, and the transformative work of Comfort Cases—which has now delivered more than 360,000 backpacks and duffels to youth in care—Rob champions the belief that every child deserves to feel seen, valued, and supported.
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