About UsOur Journey of Impact
Love, Balance, and Bloom is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by a family with lived experience in foster care, military service, and community resilience.Transforming lives through authentic connection and support.
Rooted in Experience
We're parents, veterans, and advocates who recognized the incredible potential in every teenager. So, we created something different to help them thrive.
It Started with One Family's Vision
From a simple act of opening our home to transforming an entire system—this is how change begins.
We never set out to revolutionize foster care. We were a military family who simply opened our home to teens who needed it most. What we discovered changed everything.
Night after night, we welcomed teenagers into our home—young people with incredible potential who just needed the right environment to flourish. These were resilient youth who needed what every teenager deserves: a family, stability, and someone who believed in their dreams.
"We kept asking ourselves," Tonia recalls, "why aren't more families getting the support they need to welcome these amazing teens? There had to be a way to make this possible for more families."
The Moment of Truth
"Every teen who walked through our door had a story. Every story deserved a different ending."
— Jahnin Smith, Founder
of teens in foster care end up in group homes or institutions
The System Needed Innovation
The more we learned, the more inspired we became to create change. Teenagers—at the most crucial point in their development—deserved to be nurtured in homes where they could truly flourish.
The statistics revealed an opportunity, and behind every number was a face we recognized. A teenager with incredible potential. A young person whose talents could shine with the right support and environment.
"We realized we weren't just foster parents," Jahnin explains. "We were witnesses to an opportunity that demanded innovation."
So We Built Something Different
What started as our family's commitment became a movement. Love, Balance, and Bloom was born from a simple belief: every teenager deserves a home, not an institution.
Foster Home Hybrid
Instead of group homes, we place teens with families who get extra support and resources to succeed.
Thrive 360 Program
Life skills training that prepares teens not just to survive, but to thrive in adulthood.
System Reform
Working with agencies to change policies and create lasting systemic change.
Our Mission
To empower youth and transform foster care systems by offering family-based alternatives to group homes, holistic life skills training, and support services grounded in lived experience.
Our Vision
A future where foster care is defined by love, stability, and opportunity—not bureaucracy or trauma. Where youth belong in homes, not institutions.
What We Do
Foster Home Hybrid (FHH) Model
Our signature model provides an alternative to institutional group care by placing hard-to-place youth—especially teens—in well-supported, trauma-informed family homes.
Enhanced stipends to foster parents who accept teens
Wraparound mental health & behavioral support
Reduces group home dependency and costs
Aligns with the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA)
Thrive 360 Holistic Life Skills Program
Our five-bucket curriculum equips youth ages 12–18 with essential life, social, and emotional skills to break cycles and build resilience.
Personal & Emotional Development
Social Skills & Healthy Relationships
Personal Growth & Goal Setting
Independent Living & Financial Literacy
Career Readiness & Workforce Prep
Advocacy & System Reform
We collaborate with state and local agencies to create lasting change in foster care systems.
Present viable alternatives to group homes
Influence funding and policy decisions
Advocate for trauma-informed approaches
Champion lived-experience leadership
Why It Matters
More than 60% of teens in care are placed in group homes or institutions—not because it's best for them, but because the system lacks alternatives.
Our model closes that gap with family, funding, and frontline solutions. Teens don't need a facility—they need a home. And we're here to make that happen.
From One Home to A Movement
What started in 2020 as our family's response to an innovative opportunity has grown into something much bigger. Word spread quickly about our approach—not through marketing campaigns, but through the teenagers themselves.
"The kids started telling their social workers, 'Why can't I have what they have?'" Tonia remembers. "That's when we knew we had to scale this."
Today, we work with state agencies, partner with families across Maryland, and have served over 50 youth. But our goal was never just to grow—it was to prove that a better way was possible.
"Every success story validates what we knew from the beginning," Jahnin says. "These kids don't need fixing. They need families."
Our Impact Journey
Maryland Today, Nationwide Tomorrow
Headquartered in Maryland with an active pilot site, LBB is working directly with state agencies to expand the Foster Home Hybrid model, while offering virtual and in-person programs for youth across the region.
Ready to Make a Difference?
We'd love to hear from you—whether you're a partner, agency, donor, or caregiver. Together, we can transform foster care from the inside out.