Episode
Building a Bigger Table
- Podcast
- AllPaths Podcast
- Published
- Aug 25, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2780
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://allpathsfb.org
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Summary
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, Reece, 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…