What is the risk of loving???

This week the movie, “Like Dandelion Dust” came out in selected theaters. The movie is based on a novel by Karen Kingsbury, a well know writer of inspirational fiction.

Until last night, I had only heard just a few little snippets about the movie mentioned on K-LOVE radio. I missed the interview with the author and lead actress that was aired earlier in the week, so all I had to go on was the positive comments mentioned by the DJ’s on the radio. Several times I heard them mention is and make kind of a big deal about how great this movie is. Well, since the movie contains an adoption theme, naturally I was very interested. Last night I had a few minutes to kill so I checked out the movie trailer.

Man was I ever shocked! My very first thought was, “Great…this is all the adoption community needs is to see another portrayal of an adoption situation gone bad! This will only reinforce fears that so many people have about adoption…the fear that the biological family can come back into the child’s life and try to regain custody. Are you kidding me!?”

Then I read some reviews of the movie and I also listened to the K-LOVE podcast interview with Karen Kingsbury. While I am still not too sure what to think of the movie, (and I really cannot make any judgment anyway since I have not seen it) it was encouraging to hear the authors heart and thought process for writing the book that is now a movie. She is an adoptive parent herself of several children from Haiti. The one thing that I took away from the interview was her comment that when we choose to love, there is always a risk involved. There is always a risk, no matter what type of relationship…whether it is a parent-child relationship, romantic relationship, adoption related relationship, whatever…we are never guaranteed anything…there is always a risk that something bad might happen and we will be left heart-broken and grieving. From this vantage point, the author’s hope is that viewers will come away from this movie with a deeper appreciation of their personal relationships and make the most of the time that is given to them.

• What do you think?  
• Have you seen the movie? Please share your thoughts and feelings about it.
• If you have not seen the movie, do you think that you will try to see it? Why or Why not? 
• Do you think the saying, “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” is true? 
• Do you think people should avoid painful or potentially painful situations, or learn to embrace them? 

Make the most of every moment with the people you love,
Cherri

Does Adoption Really Cost Too Much??

Over the next few weeks I would like to address some common adoption myths. Many times these myths serve as road blocks for families wishing to pursue adoption. Let’s get started with the myth or concern that is probably at the top of most families’ list. It was certainly at the top of my list!

Here is an excerpt a Hope for Orphans publication....

* “Adoption costs too much”

Reality: Depending on the circumstances, the cost of adoption ranges from nothing to $30,000. But you may not know just how much assistance is available for parents who adopt. For example, you can take advantage of the $10,000 federal adoption tax credit.
 In addition, grants for thousands of dollars are often available to families pursuing adoption. Other options may include adoption funding programs at your place of employments, reductions in fees for special needs adoptions, and financial assistance from your church. All of these make adoption affordable for almost anyone willing to pursue the available options. In the end, if the Lord is calling you to adopt, He will provide the finances for your child.

* This information is excerpted from Welcome Home: Eight Steps to Adoption, Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006  FamilyLife. Used with permission. http://www.hopefororphans.org/

• What do you think? 
• Do you think it costs too much? 
• How do you think that the cost could be controlled or reduced? 
• Do you think that the costs involved make it seem like people are 'buying a child'?
• What would you like to tell goverments or adoption professionals regarding costs?

For more information on financing for adoptions, please visit http://www.resources4adoption.com/.

4 ways to keep this free resource FREE

My passion for orphans began when I was a 12-year-old girl. Missionaries from Africa visited our church and they had adopted a little girl from the region of Africa where they were ministering. Through all of the years since, my thoughts turn toward the plight of orphans. It just continues to haunt me that while many people are stepping up to help with this need, the task seems to never end. Not everyone is called to adopt, but everyone can do something!


My family and I have adopted three times internationally. People often ask if we are ever going to adopt again. At this point, I would have to say “no,” but I will try not to limit God’s work in our family. I feel we are done because my desire, dream and vision have shifted from adoption for our family to helping other families realize their dream of adoption.

We struggled financially through all three of our adoptions, yet God was faithful to provide. Each time I would say, “There could not possibly be a worse time, financially, to adopt.” And wouldn’t you know it… each time our finances were even tighter with more adoption expenses!

I became known to our adoption agency as the “Resource Queen” because of all my research and activity to turn up new sources of adoption funding—especially grants. We received several adoption grants over the course of nine years and three adoptions, so I know just how daunting and difficult this process can be. I know what it is to ache for a child that you know is out there. You know he or she is yours, but you can’t get to him or her. There is this giant stonewall with $$$$ written all over it standing in your way and you cannot see over it. I hope to help chip away at this wall so you can see the other side—so you can see hope for your vision.

Resources4Adoption.com is now my new “baby,” if you will, born out of my desire to help other adoptive families find the adoption funding they need to help make their dreams of adoption a reality. I have poured so much time, energy and money into this ministry that it is hard not to become discouraged. This process is so similar to the adoption process that it is not even funny!

You know that they (whoever that is) say, “What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger,” right? Well, this may be true, but you can get pretty beat up in the process.

Launching this website has taken a lot more time, energy and money than I ever dreamed it would. I am so thankful I did not know in the beginning how much work this would take because I doubt I would have even tried. And just like with the other adoptions, “This could not be a worse financial time for us to do this thing.” I took a huge risk and an enormous leap of faith to leave a profession with a regular income to follow this dream… putting my personal finances and credit on the line. My family is very supportive, but it has been a very humbling and stressful situation. If I did not believe so strongly that this is the ministry God has called me to do, I would have given up long ago.

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, there are a couple of reasons. No. 1: I just really needed to get this off of my chest. Secondly, I wanted to you know that there are a four things you can do to help this ministry continue:

1. PRAY: The primary thing I am asking of you right now is to pray. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, please pray for this ministry. Pray that I will be able to continue with joy and gladness and that God will lift some of the heavy burden I feel for keeping this ministry alive. Pray that God will provide financially for this ministry.

2. TELL YOUR ADOPTION AGENCY/PROFESSIONAL: Please consider contacting your adoption agency or adoption professional and tell them about Resources4Adoption.com. Ask them to put a link to us on their site and/or to consider sponsoring this site so it can remain a free resource for other adoptive families.

3. SPREAD THE WORD: Please share the news about this new free resource for adoptive families, as you are able on various forums, online groups or just in talking with other adoptive families you know personally.

4. DONATE: I was originally convinced I should charge a small fee for the resources chart, but I just could not keep it that way. The fact that the families who probably need this information the most are the least likely to be able to afford it is what kept me from attaching a price. I have committed this work for God’s glory and I trust him to fill in the financial gaps. If you feel that the resources chart has been of any help to you, a donation of any amount would be very appreciated.  Look for the Donation button in the right sidebare.  (Unfortunately, your donation will not be tax deductable at this time.)

Thank you for reading my ramblings and thank you for your prayers!

Not everyone is called to adopt, but everyone can do something!

Cherri ~ Founder of Resources4Adoption.com

What is up with all of the government grant ads???

Have you noticed all of the ads for government grants that are everywhere you look on the internet? If you do an ‘adoption grant’ internet search, tons of these ads pop up on the side bar. This really drives me crazy, because (someone please correct me if I am wrong) private individuals normally DO NOT RECEIVE GRANTS FROM THE GOVERNMENT! The only exception to this might be grants for education…like Pell grants…but the government does not give grants to private citizens for all kinds of other reasons.

I have close friends who are professional grant writers and I asked them about this several times. And the short answer is ‘NO’. The reason…most government grants are for public programs that are supposed to benefit communities or larger groups of people, not individuals.

These ads seem to say that…as a private citizen…you can get grants from the government. As far as I am concerned these ads are very misleading. Please do not waste your time OR MONEY on any of these resources. Legitimate sources exist to help organizations and grant writers find government grants, but again they are government grants for organizations…not individuals. Please be wary of companies who lead you to believe that you might somehow get an inside tract to adoption grants from the government.

Does anyone know who to contact to report truth in advertising issues? I am not sure if these ads qualify, but I have no idea how they can use ‘ADOPTION GRANTS’ as a key word or the leading words in the ads when they are clearly promoting government grants.

Again, if I am wrong…please someone let me know. As far as I know the only way to qualify for adoption grants is through private foundations, organizations and/or adoption agencies.

Why you need us...

Below is an example of one search for “affording adoption/adoption financing” information that tops search engine queries that returned outdated information. 

Out of the fourteen items listed below in this search, only one the adoption grants had the correct and current information and link that still works. When I was searching for adoption grants for my family, this used to drive me crazy! I would think that I had really found some great stuff only to run into a brick wall around every other corner. So frustrating and time consuming!  Out of this extreme frustration was born the idea for Resources4adoption.com!  It just made me mad enough to do something about it!  I believe that my calling now is to help provide up-to-date adoption financing options for other families who are pursing adoption...(and not for just a short list of adoption grants...but a comprehensive list).  I hope you find something on the main website that will help your family!   ~ Cherri, founder of Resources4adoption.com
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June 5, 2006 Notice this date is four years ago…this is fairly common. *Denotes outdated information or a broken link for this listing. If you would like more detailed information on how and why we keep our information updated, please contact us.

Category: Adoption Funding

*"National Adoption Foundation—This grant program is open to all legal adoptions including public or private agency adoptions, international, special needs or adoptions facilitated by an attorney. There is no income requirement. There is a simple one page application and the only requirement to apply is a home study, or one in progress. The Foundation’s board meets four times a year, during the last week of each quarter, to award grants in amounts ranging from $500 to $2,500.” Active foundation, but broken link.

*"Life International—This program gives ‘matching grants’ to families who are receiving grants or fundraising through their church.” This organization changed its name several years ago to LifeSong for Orphans (www.lifesongfororphans.org). The Life International link is broken.

*"Feng LiLi—While it definitely sounds like a Chinese adoption support group; This organization meets quarterly to review grant applications.”
Feng LiLi
180 Laural Ave.
Forest, IL 61145
(847) 482-0500

*"Ibsen Adoption Network—This is a Christian organization that provides grants in an average amount of $1,500. Families must live in Washington State and must be adopting a child that is “hard to place”, because of age, race, special needs, etc.” This link is also broken.

“Promise the Children—Promise the Children awards grants to adoptive families as part of its mission. Families must be with an agency/facilitator that is approved by PTC and must have their I-171H before they can send in their application and $15 processing fee.”

*“China Care—China Care provides financial aid to families who qualify by adopting special needs or older children from China. This is in the form of a grant, a low-interest loan, or a combination of both. The amount awarded is based on family finances and need, although it usually falls in the $1,000 to $3,000 range.”

*“A Child’s Desire—A Child’s Desire is a non-profit charity that provides grants for families seeking to adopt hard to place children, children with special needs and children over the age of eight.”

“Agency Grants—Many adoption agencies give grants (or reduce their fees) for special needs children, older children, sibling groups or children that are otherwise hard to place. Contact your agency and ask if they have such a program or if you are still choosing an agency you can look into WACAP, Holt International, Adoption Advocates International and many others.” Resources4adoption.com provides a comprehensive and current listing for adoptive families. This is a FREE resource for adoptive families that is made possible by generous sponsorship by several adoption agencies, organizations and donations from individuals.

“Special Needs—There are many organizations out there that give grants for children with specific special needs. For example, there are groups that give money to help families adopting children with Downs Syndrome, HIV+ children, children with cleft lip and/or palate, etc. If you are interested or planning on adopting a child with a diagnosed special need, I recommend you go to Yahoo or Google and search for the special need+adoption+grant and see what information you can find.” Please see statement above.

“Employer-Provided Adoption Grants—There are many companies that now offer their employees adoption benefits. Some companies offer grants in the range of $1,000 to $15,000, depending on the company. Other companies pay certain fees and others partially reimburse their employees for their adoption expenses. Ask your employer if they have any such benefits, and if they don’t’, you can check out this Web site for information on how to encourage your employer to offer adoption benefits.” Resources4adoption.com provides a comprehensive listing for many employers who offer adoption benefits to employees.

“Military Families—Military Families are entitled to up to $2,000 a year toward their adoptions. This Web site offers lots of information. Links from here take you to information from 2005 on military, federal and state benefits.” Resources4adoption also provides more detail on this resource for families.

*“Helping Kids Cope- Provides grants for adoptive parents who have a completed and approved homestudy and have not received any government assistance for at least five years. The child being adopted can be of any age, gender or race.”

*“The Boatner Family Foundation—This foundation provides grants from $1,000 up to $10,000. They require an agency approval, a financial statement, and a formal application. Contact: The Boatner Foundation, P.O. Box 132272 , The Woodlands, Texas 77393-2272.”

*“Shaohannah’s Hope—Grants are available to families using any licensed and accredited agency, but priority is given to those that are using one of the agencies listed on the Web site. Homestudy must be complete at time of application and the application is done online. This is a Christian organization.” They changed their name a few years ago.

 

Free Adoption Financial Resources Chart

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We are constantly researching to keep the information on adoption financial resources up-to-date and we want to share it with you! When you register to download our FREE Adoption Financial Resources Chart, you will receive periodic email updates on this information. 

Please Note: Resources4adoption.com will never sell, lease, rent, or exchange your personal and/or confidential information provided to us and will take every precaution to make sure that this information remains secure.

You can register and download a copy of the chart at http://www.resources4adoption.com/  You will receive a confirmation email that will tell you how to activate your account and then you can download the chart. 

••If you would like to make help keep this resource free for families who really need it, you can make a donation through our blog. There is a donation button on the right side bar of the Resources4adoption.com blog or on the main website.  Many orphans and their forever families will be blessed in return for your generosity. Thank You!!