Meet the Families

We are a two-wife and two-cat home prepared to welcome a child or sibling pair. As middle school language teacher and former camp counselors, we have many years of experience working with children. Rachel teaches Spanish and Mariya teaches English and has also worked in special education.

We love crafting, theater, reading, and dancing. Our Cambridge home is full of books, games, and artwork. We love traveling, connecting with diverse cultures, and scrap-booking our trips. We love celebrating our Jewish heritage through food, holidays, community gatherings, and occasionally services. We want to teach our child valuable lessons about making the world a better place, curiosity, a love of learning, loving kindness and justice. We have a calm and consistent home environment and enjoy social activities with small groups of people, but we also appreciate some physical activity and frequent community involvement.

We understand that the child who enters our home will have experienced grief and loss, and we are prepared to help them process and manage their emotions in a healthy way while meeting them where they are in their development. Additionally, we both have knowledge and love for helping shy children come out of their shells and supporting those with learning disabilities in gaining skills and confidence in their academic abilities.

We have experience working with educational teams to develop IEPs and 504s, and we are ready to advocate for the child’s needs. As educators, we are patient and devoted to learning, especially when it comes to caring for a child! Both life experience and dedicated training have made us knowledgeable about what it means to be trauma-informed.

Training:

MAPP completed 3/11/2025

Licensed 12/31/2025

TBRI Training completed Fall 2025

Mariya: Master’s in Special Education

Rachel: Lesley University Institute for Trauma Sensitivity, Courses 1 & 2

Languages: English, Russian, Spanish