2023
National Adoption Month
Creating Awareness and a Reason to Celebrate.
According to Adoption and Beyond, in 1984 President Reagan proclaimed the first National Adoption Week, but as states and cities began to celebrate and recognize the adoption, a week just wasn’t enough, which led to President Clinton establishing November as National Adoption Month.
National Adoption Month is an opportunity to raise awareness about adoption. Below is a list of ideas compiled from various sources on how we can not only raise awareness but also celebrate National Adoption Month.
- Share Your Story- If adoption has had an impact on your life in any way or you are a part of the adoption triad, sharing your story is vital and gives voice to the beautiful complexity of adoption.
- Read an Adoption Book- some of the Hope’s Promise staff favorites are:
- Adoption is Both – Elena Hall
- The Open Hearted Way to Open Adoption – Lori Holden
- The Connected Child and The Connected Parent – Dr. Karyn Purvis
- Raise Awareness on How to Adopt- If you know anyone interested in adoption, you can send them to the Hope’s Promise website to learn more.
- Support Foster Families- Some adoption stories begin with Foster Care. You can reach out to a foster family you know and provide a meal for them or offer your babysitting services.
- Hold a Drive- hold a gift card drive during the holiday season to give to Hope’s Promise Foster Families or donate new or slightly used items to the Foster Care Lending Closet at Hope’s Promise.
- Donate to an Adoption Charity: You can make a donation to Hope’s Promise to support our adoption program. At Hope’s Promise we do more than just provide adoption services to hopeful adoptive parents. We support birth parents through counseling services and provide monthly birth mom support groups as well as annual events to promote community. We also provide education and resources for adoptive parents. You can make a year-end gift to support Hope’s Promise by visiting HERE.
- Attend an Event: Every year Hope’s Promise holds exciting events to support its three life-changing programs: foster care, adoption, and orphan care. Learn more about our events HERE.
- Have a Get-together with Other Adoptive Parents: If you are an adoptive parent, one of the best things you can do is to surround yourself with other families that have shared experiences. We should never walk through life, or the experiences in it, alone.
- Share on social media- Sharing your heart for adoption makes a huge difference. If you don’t want to share your own adoptive story, or you don’t have one, follow Hope’s Promise on Facebook and Instagram and share our stories and posts.
- Share your adoption story at your church. Hope’s Promise has countless church partnerships, and they all begin with YOU sharing your heart for adoption and foster care with your pastor.
There are so many ways to celebrate the beauty of adoption. Together we can raise awareness!
2023
It’s time to make the Adoption Tax Credit refundable
We have good news from our friends at the National Council for Adoption! A bipartisan group of Senators and House Representatives have come together to re-introduce the Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act, which would provide critical financial resources to families who are willing to open their hearts and their homes to a child in need.
This bill would ensure many more families are eligible for the tax credit, including lower-income families; and, allow all families to receive all the credit that they are eligible for, in full, so they have the resources they need to meet their child’s needs, and help their family thrive.
How to support this bill in five minutes or less:
Use our quick and easy advocacy tool to directly contact your members of Congress and ask them to sponsor the bill, and support its inclusion in any year-end tax legislation. We’ve already created the messages for you and the system will automatically match you to your Senators and House Rep.
That’s it, you’re done! Thank you for speaking up on behalf of children and adoptive families. Your voice matters.
2022
What are respite providers and why should I consider being one?
As Hope’s Promise begins to certify foster families, we also have a great need for families willing to be certified as respite providers. We desire for Hope’s Promise to stand out as having outstanding support of our families and a record-breaking retention rate! It’s been said that about two-thirds of foster parents quit fostering within one to two years because of the hardships they face. We want to see that number be much less at Hope’s Promise! To do so, we know we need to go above and beyond in the support we have for families, and respite care is one of the most important!
Much like grandparents and family members often provide help and time away for parents to have time to breathe, respite providers offer foster parents and youth in foster care a break from their daily lives and a chance to get away and recharge. Sometimes it is a needed break to reset and care for their mental health, and sometimes it is for an already planned trip or vacation which the foster child cannot also take part in for a multitude of reasons. Many foster parents state is the number one thing that helps them maintain longevity in their calling as foster parents – it is that important!
Respite providers receive the same training and certification as foster parents and are often in high demand as there are many more foster parents than there are respite providers! Many respite families also get the opportunity to provide other supports for that youth and family as they build a relationship and become part of the foster family’s community long-term.
If you are interested in exploring what it would mean to be a respite family, please consider attending our free monthly virtual informational meetings – you can sign up here: https://www.hopespromise.com/events/ or email Tami Davidson at tami@hopespromise.com to set up an individual time to meet with her and learn more.
2020
I Am Happy
My father died when I was almost four years old, and my mom died when I was six. Sad, right? That is what I used to think. I even got angry sometimes and asked God why I had to be an orphan.
2020
Adoption in the Age of COVID-19
Walking into the hospital for my job in the last month has been a surreal experience. I imagined that it would be chaotic like the images on television. But instead everything was eerily quiet.
2019
Vietnam Connection Trip
I grew up during the Vietnam War. Certain graphic images and military words are etched into my memory: Mekong Delta, Ho Chi Minh, agent orange, napalm bomb, Viet Cong…and the image of a young American soldier sloshing through a muddy rice field in the relentless pouring rain.
2018
On Handling Adoptive Parent Guilt
It was only three weeks from the time we learned we’d been chosen by an expectant mother to the time our son entered the world. When we received the call that our son had arrived, we drove an hour to finally meet the little boy that would make us parents.
2018
Final Preparations: A Trip to Vietnam
I applied for the Hope’s Promise connection team trip to Vietnam in June, then I blinked, and here I am making final preparations. Emotions weigh heavy on me as I prepare to take an airplane to a country that is unfamiliar and uncharted territory for me.
2018
Vietnam Travel Diary
In the fall of 2014 Executive Director, Beth Woods visited Hope’s Promise homes in Vietnam for the first time. Moved, inspired and excited to go back again this fall, Beth shares some of her wonderful experiences with us.
2018
Daring Prayers for Adoptive Children
After many heartbreaking years of infertility, Leigh and Corrie adopted a healthy baby boy. They took him home from the hospital, and they all lived happily ever after.
But wait. There’s more. Because sometimes the happy endings we imagine just aren’t spectacular enough for God.