Paying It Forward

Jay Aldis has spent his career navigating the world of employment law, but his most profound journey began long before he entered a courtroom. Aldis was adopted when he was just a few days old, through Methodist Mission Home, a San Antonio-based child placement agency.

Forty-three years later, the Gray Reed partner would serve on the board of that same agency, now called Providence Place, helping the organization serve other children. For six years, he was the board’s HR legal consultant.

Though Aldis has earned a reputation for being stoic—he’s been asked to deliver eulogies for that very reason—tears fill his eyes as he recalls the opportunity to give back to the mission home.

“But for that organization, where would I have been?” he asks. 

His adoptive parents, Ronald and Elaine, never concealed his adoption. “I was not treated any differently from their biological son,” Aldis says.

But as he grew up, one thought gnawed at him.

“I wondered: Why wasn’t I good enough? Why did they give me up?” But he never sought out his birth parents, not even after his adoptive parents died, feeling it would be disloyal. Instead, he doubled down.

“I thought—by God, I’m going to prove that I am good enough,” he says. “It was a great motivator.”

Aldis followed the example set by his dad, a respected county official and a 33rd degree Freemason who taught him the importance of never losing the one thing you truly own—your reputation.

“People who work with me know: My word is my bond,” says Aldis, who has arbitrated and litigated hundreds of cases on behalf of employers facing workplace disputes. 

He has also helped the county sheriff’s department as a civil rights law instructor. And he has served on many boards, including Houston’s First United Methodist Church, which he also chaired for two years. 

Providence Place, still affiliated with the United Methodist Church, now helps disabled clients and victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking—in addition to handling adoptions. Aldis has a message for the children who are finding their forever homes:

“I hope they have the same thing the organization gave to me—a realization that you do have value, to the point that one or two parents would pick you from all the other children in the world. If that doesn’t make you feel special, I don’t know what else would.”

About Providence Place 

• Based in San Antonio
• Established in 1895 as home for unwed mothers/adoption agency 
• Launched program in 1974 to help those with hearing impairments build independent lives
• Current programs include:
  • My Mariposa Home—housing for victims of human trafficking, sexual assault and domestic violence
  • Parenting With a Purpose—coaching for parents
  • Private Adoption—services for those wishing to adopt
  • Supervised Independent Living Program—support for young adults who have aged out of foster care

Sources: Provplace.org; standingwithyou.org