Meet our team.

Jessica Silvey is the Co-Founder and President of Care Package Inbound, where she helps lead the organization’s mission to provide dignity, comfort, and hope to youth entering foster care. She is also a full-time employee of CPI, dedicating her professional efforts entirely to advancing the organization’s work and impact. Through her years as a childcare professional, Jessica has worked closely with foster families, low-income families, and single mothers throughout the Kansas City area. Those relationships gave her a firsthand look at the challenges many families face and created a desire to find meaningful ways for her community to help. As Jessica began talking with local foster families, she became increasingly aware of the needs surrounding children entering the foster care system and how difficult those first hours and days can be. What began as a desire to help families around her eventually became part of the vision for Care Package Inbound. Jessica believes that when a community comes together around children and families in crisis, meaningful change is possible. Today, she continues to lead Care Package Inbound with a passion for bringing people, businesses, churches, and organizations together to ensure children entering foster care know they are seen, valued, and cared for. Jessica currently resides in Lenexa, Kansas, with her husband and two children. She enjoys reading, traveling, gardening, and spending time with her family.

Chris Youngdale is the Co-Founder and Chair of Care Package Inbound, where he helps guide the organization’s vision, build community partnerships, and expand its mission of bringing dignity, comfort, and hope to youth entering foster care. For Chris, the heart behind Care Package Inbound is deeply personal. He and his wife always dreamed of having children, but their journey to becoming parents was marked by both tremendous joy and significant loss. After experiencing multiple miscarriages and being told that adoption or foster care might be their best path to parenthood, conversations about foster care became more than an abstract idea,they became something that stayed with them. Ultimately, Chris and his wife were blessed with three sons, but the possibility of fostering or adopting never left their hearts. Knowing the timing wasn’t right for their family to foster, Chris began looking for another way to make a difference in the lives of children and families impacted by foster care. That opportunity became clear when he met Jessica Silvey. Jessica shared her vision for serving children entering foster care, and Chris immediately connected with the mission. Together, they began building what would become Care Package Inbound around a shared belief that a community can step into a child’s story during one of the most difficult moments of their life and remind them that they are seen, valued, and worth preparing for. Chris believes the impact of caring for a child can reach far beyond a single moment. It’s a belief reflected in a phrase that has helped shape the vision of Care Package Inbound: “Make a generational impact.” What began as a desire to simply do something has grown into a commitment to mobilize communities, build lasting partnerships, and change what the first moments of foster care can look and feel like for children.

Emily Linhardt is the CFO and Treasurer of Care Package Inbound, where she helps oversee the financial health of the organization and supports its continued growth and mission of serving youth entering foster care. Emily first became connected with Care Package Inbound several years ago when she attended a packing event with her family. After seeing the mission firsthand and learning more about the needs of children entering foster care, she felt an immediate connection to the work and knew she wanted to become more involved. Since then, Emily has continued to serve both at packing events and behind the scenes. In her role as CFO and Treasurer, she brings her experience and attention to detail to help manage the organization’s finances, provide financial oversight, and ensure Care Package Inbound is positioned to responsibly grow its impact in the community. Emily believes in the power of people coming together to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and families. Her heart for the mission, combined with her financial expertise, helps Care Package Inbound continue preparing for children during one of the most difficult transitions of their lives. Emily currently resides in Olathe, Kansas, with her husband and three children. When she’s not crunching numbers, she enjoys exploring local coffee shops, kayaking, and diving into her next learning adventure.

Heather Gilmore serves as Chief Operations Officer for Care Package Inbound, bringing more than 25 years of experience in operations, including production, quality, and transportation. After recently retiring from a career in fiberglass manufacturing, Heather is excited to bring her experience, leadership, and passion for serving others to a mission that is deeply personal to her. Heather’s connection to foster care began long before Care Package Inbound. Her parents operated a group home for 10 years, welcoming approximately 90 foster children during that time. Heather and her brother, Steve, always had 12 foster children in their home for varying periods of time per child. One thing has stayed with Heather throughout the years: she rarely remembers the children arriving with belongings of their own. That experience left a lasting impression and helped shape her desire to make sure children entering foster care know that they are seen, valued, and cared for. Today, Heather helps lead the operations of Care Package Inbound, using her extensive professional experience to help the organization serve children and families effectively and with excellence. Heather is married to her husband, Andy Gilmore. Together, they have a daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter, a stepson and stepdaughter, and one dog named Buster! Family is an important part of Heather’s life, and she treasures the opportunity to serve alongside others who share her heart for children and community. Heather and Andy are active members of Legacy Christian Church and share a deep devotion to their Father and Savior. Her faith is at the heart of how she approaches both life and service, and she believes that caring for others is one of the most meaningful ways we can reflect God’s love.