Newsletter - October 2008

 

Congratulations to the Gilmartin family!

On Thursday, October 16, 2008 the Gilmartin Family legalized the adoption of their 16 year-old daughter Valentina. Pictured are Tom and Tracy Gilmartin, along with Valentina (middle) and her new sister Molli.

The Waiting Child Fund is proud of our role in helping to fund the adoption services provided to Valentina and the Gilmartins by Northeast Ohio Adoption Services - www.noas.com.

3rd Annual Golf Outing

The 3rd Annual WCF Golf Outing was an enormous success! The weather was amazing and the folks at St. Denis took great care of us again this year. The course was in perfect shape and the food was delicious.

We are pleased to announce that this year's event generated more than $9,700.00. The funds raised will support the efforts of the Waiting Child Fund to find adoptive families for school-age waiting children with special needs.

Thank you to each of the golfers, sponsors, donors, volunteers, and to everyone who donated raffle items for helping to make the outing so successful.

Click Here to View Photos

Thank you to Woven Together

We would like to thank Woven Together for inviting the Waiting Child Fund to speak at their September membership meeting. Woven Together is The Chapel’s adoption & foster care ministry and it exists to promote, educate, encourage, and support foster and adoptive families.

 

 

www.woventogether.org

Partner Spotlight

The success of the Waiting Child Fund is, in large part, dependent on the dedicated work of public and private adoption agency staff.  Our efforts are focused on building and funding sustainable partnerships on behalf of waiting children.  We rely on the tireless labor of adoption workers who understand the time, expertise, and passion it takes to connect the most challenging children with the families they deserve. 

We'd like to introduce you to one of the child-centered recruitment workers we know who has that passion - Katrina Yoder.  Katrina works for Christian Children's Home of Ohio and is part of the Summit Adoption Fund initiative.  Here's what Katrina recently told us about some of the challenges and rewards of her job.

How did you get started in the field of adoption?
After college, I began working at Christian Children's Home as part of the direct care staff in one of the residential cottages. The job was different than I expected as I didn't have a good understanding of what the children's needs would be. But it was during that time that I realized I really enjoy working with teenagers and found myself looking past their behaviors and getting to know them for who they were. A few months later I was offered a job in the adoption department at CCHO. My job was to work with waiting teenagers and recruit permanent homes for them. I think it was really beneficial to start in this field by having the opportunity to look at it from a waiting child's perspective. I currently work with families and younger children, which has given me the whole scope of practice, but I will always have a special place in my heart for these "waiting" children.

What do you find to be the most rewarding about working with our children?
There is nothing like being at a finalization at court. Everything becomes legal. Seeing a child go from having no one to having a family is an awesome thing. Those days get you through the other days. There are other rewards along the way too; like seeing a child trust someone again and the sense of humor some of the children have.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
There are so many more waiting children then there are waiting families for them. Also, adoption is a lifelong process and things don't change overnight. Sometimes it seems like a child will take two steps forward and three steps back. It can be hard to help everyone see the little rewards when they want the big transformation right away.

What is the one thing you wish everyone could understand about waiting children?
These children are so much more than their behaviors and diagnoses. They are beautiful, loving, funny and hopeful. They are just as scared about going into a new home as families are about adding them into their home. They are even more scared of reaching eighteen without a family, even if they're trying to display an "everything is cool" attitude.

Do you have a great success story you have experienced or heard through your agency?
I worked with a fifteen-year-old boy who was adopted by a great family a few months ago. This child had been through a ton and on paper, looked like a really "troubled" kid. This family is doing so well. It is so evident how much the family loves each other. The teenager, who a year ago was sitting in a group home, now speaks and encourages other waiting children and families. It is awesome to see how adoption is bringing healing in his life.

Family Blend

We are happy to announce the introduction of our new brand of coffee - Family Blend. Despite its new name, all of our coffee will continue to be expertly roasted by Solstice. A new coffee website is in the works and will launch soon!

A very big "thank you" to John & Melissa Barry of B2 Design and Marketing Communications - for all of their work in developing and designing the new look for our coffee! You can learn more about B2 at www.b2dm.com. The Waiting Child Fund will be offering our custom coffee gift baskets again this holiday season. Contact us with any questions, ideas, or early ordering.

Special Thanks

to Angela & Venay for their contribution made on behalf of the wedding guests at their September ceremony

to the Sisler McFawn Foundation and the Brennan Family Foundation for their recent grant award to the Summit Adoption Fund initiative

to the Key Bank Foundation for their recent board member and matching grant contributions

to the West Akron Kiwanis Club for their contribution to Jasmine's adoption fund

to the Akron Rotary Club for inviting us to speak at their June meeting

GAR Foundation

The Waiting Child Fund has been awarded a Planning Grant from the GAR Foundation. The award was granted to advance the study of the feasibility of a long-term collaborative adoption program in Summit County. The process will involve a great deal of work from Summit County Children Services, private adoption and foster care agencies, a task force comprised of key community leaders, and local and regional funding organizations. The Waiting Child Fund is honored to be facilitating this planning process as we believe it will ultimately aid in finding permanency for all of Summit County's waiting children.

Closing Thoughts

The Waiting Child Fund is evolving and our role is changing and growing.

It’s our belief that, to much of our society, waiting children are invisible—and that it is our responsibility to help the community understand their needs. With that said, once a child’s time in the permanent custody of a children’s services agency ends and they are placed with their forever family, we must have the utmost respect for their privacy.

Several of our children are involved in an adoptive placement, which means that we are distributing funding and formalizing relationships with our public and private adoption agency partners. In spite of our incredible excitement, we have learned that we cannot always send the “CONGRATULATIONS” message out right away. While it may be appropriate in some cases, it is important that we are sensitive to the fact that these children have waited a long time for a family. The first few months in an adoptive family can be filled with excitement—but also with anxiety and fear of the unknown. With the permission of both our children and their families, we look forward to sharing the successful placement stories of each of our kids in the future. For now though, you will notice that some of the features of our website have been removed and that some of the children in our program are no longer highlighted.

We are very excited about the transformations taking place and are fully embracing the growing role of the Waiting Child Fund in our community. Thank you for your understanding, flexibility, and continued support. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any ideas or questions about the specifics of our program.