Content Note: This episode includes discussion of childhood abuse, foster care, and homelessness.

Rob Scheer was thrown out at 18 with a trash bag. He spent his senior year of high school homeless, sleeping in the bathroom of the taco restaurant where he worked and on library beanbag chairs after closing. He joined the Navy to have somewhere to go, and was medically discharged after years of childhood abuse caught up with his body.

He spent 28 years building mortgage companies before he looked at his four children in designer clothes and realized he had never taught them empathy. That realization became Comfort Cases, a nonprofit that has now delivered over 320,000 backpacks of essential supplies to children entering foster care.

On this episode of FINE is a 4-Letter Word, Rob tells Lori Saitz the full arc — the teacher who believed in him when no one else did, the fabricated resume that got him hired, and the five-year-old son whose idea about a blanket changed what every backpack now includes.

What You'll Take Away

• Why one teacher's quiet belief can outlast decades of a kid not knowing anyone noticed
• What Rob's five-year-old son understood about a blanket that no adult on the team had thought of
• Why empathy has to be taught deliberately — it doesn't develop on its own
• What leadership actually looks like without a title, according to Rob
• How to help close the gap between 40,000 cases delivered and roughly 168,000 children entering foster care each year

Guest Bio

Rob Scheer is the founder and CEO of Comfort Cases, a nonprofit on a mission to eliminate trash bags from the foster care system and replace them with dignity, one backpack at a time. A former foster youth who experienced homelessness in high school, Rob served in the U.S. Navy, built a career in banking, and turned his lived experience into national advocacy. He is a 2018 CNN Hero, author of A Forever Family, and delivered the commencement address at Lynn University, where he also received an honorary doctorate. He is a husband and father of five, all adopted from foster care.

Chapters & Key Timestamps

00:00How Rob's team pitched this episode

01:30The teachers who shaped him, and the book signing reunion with Mrs. Boley

05:00Aging out of foster care at 18: the trash bag at the door

07:30Senior year homeless: the taco bathroom, the library beanbags

09:30Joining the Navy to have somewhere to go

13:00Hitchhiking down Route 7, the Salvation Army suit, and the fabricated resume

17:00Looking at four children in designer clothes and realizing something had to change

18:00What five-year-old Grayson said about the blanket in the backpack

19:00320,000 cases delivered to all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, and the UK

23:00Derek Jeter published his memoir, and The Ellen Show followed

25:00How many children enter foster care every day in the US

28:00Leadership: not a title, not followers, not waiting for someone else to fix it

29:00How you can help: used books, hotel toiletries, yarn for a women's correctional facility

Resources Mentioned

• Comfort Cases: comfortcases.org
• Book: A Forever Family by Rob Scheer — signed copies available, all proceeds go directly to Comfort Cases
• Program: Give Back Box (UPS) — ship 70 lbs of books for $20, Comfort Cases packs and delivers backpacks locally
• Song: Simply the Best by Tina Turner — youtube.com/watch?v=GC5E8ie2pdM

Connect With Rob Scheer

Website: comfortcases.org

LinkedIn (Rob): linkedin.com/in/rob-scheer-27482653

LinkedIn (Comfort Cases): linkedin.com/company/comfort-cases-inc

Facebook: facebook.com/comfortcases

Instagram: @comfortcases

Email: info@comfortcases.org

Book: A Forever Family — signed copies benefit Comfort Cases directly

Continue With Lori

Website: zenrabbit.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorisaitz/

Email: Lori@ZenRabbit.com

Invitation From Lori

This episode is sponsored by Zen Rabbit. Trust is the foundation of all great workplaces, and in today's hybrid, fast-moving work culture, it's built through consistent, clear, human communication.

Quarterly town halls, Slack messages, or team-building events are rarely enough to create the connection employees need. That's why forward-thinking companies are hiring Lori to create internal and private podcasts that bring leaders and employees together through authentic stories and real conversations.

Think of it as the old-school company newsletter reinvented for the modern workplace.

If your company wants to strengthen communication, connection, community, and culture, connect with Lori at Lori@ZenRabbit.com or on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorisaitz/

Related Conversation

Episode 239: Cyndy Etler — on foster care, institutional environments, and what one adult's genuine interest can do for a kid's trajectory.

Research & Sources

• Rob cites approximately 740 children entering foster care in the US daily and roughly 380,000 in the system at any time. Current federal data (AFCARS, FY2024, Administration for Children and Families) shows approximately 329,000 children in care as of September 2024, with about 168,000 entering during the year (roughly 460-470 per day). Rob's figures reflect a commonly cited, somewhat higher estimate closer to the system's 2017-2018 peak of approximately 437,000; both figures point to the same underlying scale of need.

About FINE is a 4-Letter Word

FINE is a 4-Letter Word is the show for leaders who are tired of pretending everything is fine. We explore what it takes to lead with empathy, vulnerability, gratitude, and courage, especially during the seasons when life and leadership feel anything but fine. Listen for honest conversations about how human connection influences innovation, retention, leadership, and real impact. New episodes every week.

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