In a world where the customer is no longer “King”, having a great user experience can be worth its weight in gold. No one knows that better than Jason and Lisa Spears who are foster parents with the Necco program in Albany, Georgia. And they couldn’t wait to share their story with us.
Jason Spears is the pastor of Providence Church in Albany, GA. He and his wife Lisa, had been considering becoming foster parents who would eventually adopt. Jason, himself, had been adopted. They learned about Necco while speaking with Program Director, Dana Oosterveen.
In 2013, they started the process to become foster parents. They didn’t know it, but while they were completing classroom training and paperwork, there was a child out there waiting to be loved, waiting to be adopted by their family. She was not an infant, or even a toddler or grade-schooler. No, the child meant for them, meant to be a Spears, was a teenager. This teenager would be the one who completed their family.
Her African American skin was dark in comparison to the Spears’ light, Caucasian skin. They received looks when they were together about the town. Many were puzzled about the dynamics of this family. But for the Spears, no amount of prejudice or judgment would deter them for doing the one thing they set out to do: adopt this deserving child.
Shortly before she was scheduled to be officially adopted, Precious came to Jason and Lisa with a request. “I want a name that ends in “en” like the other kids”. She was right, the Spears’ biological children all had first names that ended in “en”. But Precious had one more request: she wanted to keep the name Precious. After thinking long and hard, Jason came up with the perfect name. Keeping in line with the child’s favorite shoe brand (Air Jordan’s), he named his daughter Jorden Precious Spears. She swelled with pride.
On the day of her adoption, Jason humbly and thankfully posted on his Instagram, “She is God’s masterpiece, created for something good”.
Jason is quick to recall the struggles of the pre-adoption days. The people who were against this Caucasian family adopting an African American child. The people who worried that the Spears would not know how to fix Precious’ hair. The people who created barriers and stumbling blocks. But there is another thing that Jason is also quick to recall. And that is the support he and his wife received from Necco of Albany.
“We appreciate everything this team goes through to push things forward. They are devoted to making sure kids are placed in the proper homes and are living in the community and making a difference. The process can be very difficult but they are magnificent. They were advocates for us and for Precious. They were top shelf; five star, stellar.”
The Spears are one more family built by a team who understands what great customer service and building families is all about. And that, to us, is Precious.