About Jen
My name is Jen Mortenson. I hold the title of co-founder, but feel guilty in touting the title as Angela has worked tirelessly and selflessly for years building this project. I met Angela not too long after we began our fostering journey and was so impressed with her dedicated efforts. The crazy woman in me saw potential to make this big! So, I approached her and asked if I could help grow the closet to serve more foster families and maybe ease the burden of her doing this alone. She gladly accepted, and here we stand a few months later having just opened the doors to our retail location!
It’s truly been a team effort, and I’m so grateful to be part of it. I’m especially thankful to my old boss in commercial real estate, David Nicklies, Nicklies Development, for his generous donation of the storefront.
A little about me on a personal level:
I admit my heart is generally bigger than my brain. I’m a sucker for anything small and cute, which generally leads me to my “collection” of babies and pets. 😝. And I’m fortunate to have a husband who is willing to put up with my big heart even when it leads to chaos... and a garage overflowing with clothing donations.
My husband, Matt, and I met at BYU and were married in 1999. We moved to Louisville for him to attend dental school at U of L. Although, I am originally from NH, and he is from NV, we fell in love with KY and decided to call it home after graduation. I eventually graduated with my degree in psychology. We have five biological children, 15, 13, 10, 8, and 7. We also have an adopted daughter who is also 7, and five days older than our youngest bio son! They are quite the pair.
A couple of years ago, after deciding our family was complete with our six little monkeys, and after getting rid of every baby item we owned 🤦♀️, I felt the strong impression and pull to foster care. While we specifically told the workers we could only take one child, my heart got the better of me, again, and in Oct 2016 we welcomed two sisters, six weeks and 11 months old, into our home. They remain with us today, and we’ve completely fallen in love with them. I’m often approached by others and am told what a blessing we are to these girls, but I know, beyond a doubt, that they have been a greater blessing to us than us to them.
I’ve also become a strong advocate for foster care reform and have been given the opportunity to speak before legislators and share my thoughts and opinions in other platforms. We’ve got a long way to go in our state and country in improving this system, but there are great people fighting this fight. I have hope that the interest of the children will become a priority in the foster care system.
So, you’ll likely see a lot more of Angela in-person than you do me (it’s tough finding a babysitter for 8 kids!) but, I’m here! Behind the scenes doing what I can to help KY’s kids! I’m so grateful for the support of friends, family, and amazing neighbors who have reached out to support this cause. Thank you!