Francine (Annese) Apy ‘91 cannot remember a time when adoption did not play a central role in her life. Apy and her husband, Ray, grew their family through adoption, welcoming their sons Luke, Matthew and John to the world and immediately letting them know how cherished they were. In addition, two of Apy’s sisters are also loving adoptive parents. Adoption is a topic about which Apy has long been passionate. While she enjoyed a successful career in human resources, working in a variety of industries, she realized that what she was really called to do was to use her experience and training to give back to the adoption community. Now she is doing just that.
Apy is the founder of SoulFilling,LLC an organization whose aim is to raise awareness about adoption and to make conversation about it more accessible and mainstream by using tools such as coaching and storytelling. More than anything else, she views herself as a resource for adoptive parents, birth parents and children. Apy guides them, asks powerful questions and speaks from her own experience. Ultimately, though, it’s up to the people she serves to determine what is best for them, for example if they are trying to determine how to approach a birthday, holiday or adoption finalization day. She says that while in the past there has been a lot of secrecy and misunderstanding surrounding adoption, that has happily begun to change over the past 20 years, and she is eager to play a role in that transformation. Since its founding in mid-2023, SoulFilling has been featured in several media outlets, including The Times Union and Simply Saratoga Magazine, as well as New Channel 10 in Albany, an ABC affiliate.
The Le Moyne alumna’s plans for the future of SoulFilling are ambitious. In addition to continuing to share the stories of families that have been touched by adoption via print publications, digital outlets, social media and perhaps even a podcast, she would love to see adoption-themed books in every elementary school library in America, and is working on one herself. One day she hopes to expand SoulFilling beyond adoption to help people determine what fills their souls and where their purpose lies. In short, she hopes to help people become more reflective and rather than becoming tangled up in what she calls “What ifs?”, to reach out to others to better understand a situation they may never have thought they’d have to explore. She credits her time at Le Moyne, where she majored in English, in part for helping to prepare her for this work. She calls the College a place where she felt supported academically, personally, socially and spiritually. It helped her to grow in her faith, which is the heart of the work she does today. While pursuing this endeavor, she continues to offer her HR expertise in coaching, consulting or public speaking on the topics of HR and adoption. As an extra bonus, she has connected with another Le Moyne alumna, Christina (Nordquist) Jacobs ‘09, to assist her with her marketing and social media needs.
“Whether you’ve adopted your children or not, each life and each family comes with its own kind of joy, happiness, sadness and difficulty,” she says. “But I believe that with the right team, resilience, and desire to grow and to write our own best chapters, we can navigate our individual stories and thrive.”
To connect with Apy and join the adoption conversation, she encourages you, whether your story has adoption or not, go to www.SoulFillingAdoption.com and subscribe to the SoulFilling Newsletter The Beacon Newsletter by SoulFilling | Winter 2023 Edition (wix.com).
Above: Francine Apy shares a moment with her husband, Ray, their sons, Luke, Matthew and John, and the family's labs.