Something Cool

I noticed something cool today when I was looking at our blog stats. One of our families put a link to our blog on their blog and it lead 6 people over to our blog! Now, 6 doesn't sound like a huge amount, but can you imagine if each of you reading this put a link on your blog or facebook???? If each of those led another 5 or 6 people to us, we might find families for some more of our waiting kids! So can you help spread the link? We still need to find families for June, Colin, Hallie, Jenson and Dylan!

Dylan

Look at that sweet face! Isn't he adorable? Dylan is turning 9 years old this Fall. Can you imagine what he thinks of on his birthday? We have to prove to him that he is wanted and find his family! Dylan is good at sharing and always happy to help others. He lives with a foster family and gladly takes care of his younger siblings, helps sweep the floors and do the dishes. He gets along with his family members well. He is smart, competent and caring. Could Dylan be the missing piece to your family? Please pass on this link and help him find his family!

Change for Children

ASIA is taking part in Joint Council's Change for Children Campaign. The idea is to get kids thinking about and helping other kids. It's not always easy to introduce the concept of helping others to little ones, but this is an easy way to do so. It's literally collecting pocket change to help children around the world who need families. Your child/ren can do it for one night---while they go Trick or Treating they can ask for pocket change to help children around the world without families. We can send you a collection bag, or you can have your child make one out of a paper bag or an old milk jug (just about any sort of plastic container would work). If you have a business that is open to this sort of thing, you can put your Change for Children collection jug out at your business and collect pocket change until Halloween night (how easy is that?). ASIA has already collected $24 out of pocket change!  Or you can be like me, and hold a Change for Children Halloween Bash! It's fun, festive and the kids get to learn how to help others. We have all sorts of resources we can email to you to help with your party planning. Pattie will send you whatever you need: pattiec@asiadopt.org   What a clever campaign:-)

The funds ASIA raises will go towards our partner orphanage, Changsha #1 in Hunan Province, to help the kids who haven't found families yet. Your little one will be able to see the difference their efforts make! You can join our team with your kiddo, or for an easier way to take part, make a donation. Either way, check out our team page to learn more: http://goo.gl/jy7Eu

I know, you're tired of hearing this, but....SAVE THE ADOPTION TAX CREDIT!

We need YOUR help to save the adoption tax credit! I will make this super easy for you:-) I don't know how many times I hear from folks, we would like to adopt, but....fill in financial reason here... The adoption tax credit will help so many families to be able to afford to adopt and will help so many children find their forever families because of it. Every year it comes down to the wire. I'm the queen of putting off contacting my congressperson, but I've done both my senators and congressman now, so that will tell you the urgency of this:-) Please do the same! 

You can find links to your representatives here: 

http://www.house.gov/

http://1.usa.gov/3UAs 

Below is a letter you can use to explain the importance of the tax credit/refund. All you have to do is fill in the reason it's important to you in the 3rd paragraph and sign it: 

Do you know how many orphans there are in this country? According to the Joint Council on International Children’s Services, there are more than 111,000 children in the U.S. and an estimated 153 million orphans globally, all waiting for permanent loving families. Children without families are more susceptible to sex trafficking, child labor, and malnutrition. They are far less likely to finish school, succeed at work, & become good parents themselves.

I am writing to ask you to support the adoption tax credit, S 3616, which is set to expire on December 31, 2012. Since 1997, the adoption tax credit has helped tens of thousands of parents offset the high cost of adoption, making it possible for them to provide children with loving, permanent families.

The adoption tax credit is especially important to me because ______________________________

If Congress does not take action, the current adoption tax credit will expire at the end of 2012. The credit will be reduced to $6,000, and will only benefit the few families that adopt children with special needs and have qualified adoption expenses. Most families adopting children from foster care, intercountry adoption, and domestic infant adoption will not receive any benefit. Without the adoption tax credit, many parents hoping to adopt will be unable to do so, and others will face great financial hardship. The adoption tax credit is essential to ensuring that as many children as possible find the forever families they deserve and ensuring that those families are in a more stable financial position to provide an environment where children can thrive.

The adoption tax credit must be extended to help as many children as possible find the permanent, loving family they need and deserve and to get those kids out of government sponsored care. And for 2012 it should be made refundable again so that most adoptive families will benefit from it. The best adoption tax credit would be permanent, refundable, inclusive of all types of adoption, and remain a “flat” tax for children with special needs.

On behalf of the countless children waiting to be adopted, and the many thousands of families that stand to benefit from the adoption tax credit, thank you for your attention to this important issue.

Sincerely,

click the "cool" button below if you plan to make a difference!

The Good and the Bad

The good news is that we have families for Whitney, Cade and Brett!!!! The bad news is that we still have no interest in adorable Colin who seems to have a very minor special need. Go take a look at our website and check out Mr. Adorable!

The other sad news is that many of our Hope Journey Children went back to the shared list today, although we still have the files of Jenna, Jensen, Dylan and Hallie. We also still have the files of our Changsha kiddos, June and Leeann from another orphanage. We have some hope for Jenna, but nothing confirmed yet, so do whatever it is you do--pray, cross your fingers, hope, whatever that we are able to place Jenna with an awesome family! Thank you for all that you do! Stay tuned...

Grant For Jenna

We have up to a $10,000 grant (based on need) available for Jenna. Contact me for more information: marcisk@asiadopt.org

Popular Jenna

ASIA sent out a flyer recently, attempting to advocate for some of the older children we have on our waiting child lists. LOTS of people seem to have a heart for Jenna and want to advocate for her, so thank you! We even had a family with such a big heart for Jenna that they donated $5000 to help her get adopted! So now we have up to a $10,000 grant for Jenna (based on need). Jenna ages out in less than 7 months so we have little time to find her family. We hope in this time to find the right family for Jenna. The family that is prepared for the emotional journey that the challenges of older child adoption can encompass. The family that has parented teenagers before and is familiar with the challenges, but sees the beauty and fun in them as well. A family that is open to learning more and is willing to work hard to develop attachment with a child that is developmentally supposed to separate. Tall order, right? Do you know anyone like that? Send them my way! Have them view the adorable videos of Jenna that we have on our password protected waiting child list. Please don't let them delay! Jenna doesn't have much time left. We are not looking for the family that wants to adopt her only because they have a heart for her they don't want her to age out. We appreciate those families so much because they are excellent advocates! But those placements can be too difficult for families like that. A family needs to really want her for who she is right now because she already has a personality.

Jenna is: Easy going, nice and sweet, thorough and hard-working. She likes to help others and is devastated that she does not have a family yet. She has seen her friends get adopted and the nannies wonder why she doesn't have a family yet. Jenna would love to have a mother, father and sibling. She is older and knows the importance of family and says she would care for her family if one is found for her.

A Poem For Those Who Wait

This was written by one of our adoptive parents, Barbara, quite a while ago and I just came across it again. It is always inspirational:

Things I wish I'd Known About Adopting A Waiting Child....

I had wanted to adopt a "healthy" infant, but I fell in love with a "waiting child":
I wish I'd known that she would teach me the true meaning of perfection.

I had wanted to adopt a baby but my waiting child was almost three,
I wish I'd known that "toddlerland" would become my favorite destination.

I knew that I would love my child with my whole heart;
I wish I'd known that she would love me the same, without reservation.

I knew that I would move heaven and earth to help my child with her special need;
I wish I'd known that my child would teach me about strength and determination.

I knew that I would do my best to help my child deal with stares and comments;
I wish I'd known that family, love, and self-acceptance would be her consolation.

I wish I'd known all of these things and more;
but I couldn't have known, these blessings were beyond my imagination!

Itchin' To Know?

So for those of you who are itching to know some updates on the status of our waiting children, here you go: of the kids in our Brighter Futures Program, Whitney has a family pursuing her! Congratulations to Whitney and her new family! Cade and Brett have families reviewing their files. It knocks my socks off that no one is considering Colin!!!!!!  I wish I could feature this boy, but alas he is Non Special Focus so I cannot. He has a very minor special need, though, and is quite a little character in a good way:-) He has the most beautiful features, his smile just melts your heart. So if you have a completed dossier, and you're open to an adorable, sweet, mechanical and smart boy, contact me for details right away!!
 Sweet June and Leeann also do not have anyone considering them! I haven't met Leeann, but June was one of those kids that I met that drew me in and I don't know why. I just knew there was more to her than we were seeing. It was the same way that little Jason drew me in when I met him last year. I could just tell there was more inside him than he was able to show me then. Look at him now! He's ordering everyone around and has made tremendous strides just in the few months he has been home. Yesterday we even saw him do a little jig for us! It's amazing to see these kids just blossom right before your eyes. There's just nothing better! If you haven't seen the video on our website of June singing and dancing, please take the time to view it. You can't see her light up in the pictures we took, but you can see it in that video!

I also want to take a minute to tell you about Greer and Lidia. These were two older kids that participated in our camp in June and they were both very spunky in different ways.

Lidia is a bit shy about sharing her smile. She may be a little self conscious. At her age, that is not surprising. Lidia is almost 11 years old. Just this year she has been selected to go to a school that only accepts two children from the institute each year. Lidia has finally become one of the older ones at the orphanage, so it is her turn to go. It is sad that she has been there that long. Lidia is so kind and gentle with the other kids. She is also a bit of a tomboy--her best friends are boys. She likes to run and play with the boys, but that's probably a good thing since boys are in the majority there. I think Lidia could do well in a family with either boys or girls, but she would probably feel more at home with boys. However, I do think that she needs a Mom to share with her some of the special parts of a mother-daughter relationship. My guess is that she would naturally be a bit of a daddy's girl. Lidia has been waiting way too long for her family to find her.

Greer is a very sweet, spirited boy who likes to be where the action is. Greer is almost the opposite of Lidia, in that he loves to stick his face in the camera, where Lidia likes to hide from it. Greer wants a family with a mom, dad and sisters, surprisingly! He is willing to learn English and knows a few basic words that he was able to speak when we asked. He likes to play hide and seek and basketball. Most of all, Greer is an extremely happy boy! He often has a smile on his face and is very good-natured. If you live near Ohio, you're right next to the best facility for the treatment of his special need! 

Do any of these kids sound like they could be a fit for your family? Don't make them wait any longer--contact me if you're interested. If they aren't the right fit for your family, you can still help them. Share this blog and encourage others to take a peek to see if any of these kids could be the missing piece to their family: marcisk@asiadopt.org 

Children's Files Going Back

Towards the end of the week we have several files of our Hope Journey kiddos that will be going back to the shared list if we don't get any interest in them. Those poor kiddos include: Judy, Bradley, Dustin, Gideon, Phillip, Layla, Carter, Curt, Casey, Karly and Mike. Is there anyone out there who wants to take a look at these adorable kiddos?

Mike
Could you be the family to adopt Mike before he ages out?

Curt

Judy
Could you be the family to help Judy see the whole world through brighter eyes?

Bradley
Could you be the one to help Bradley break the barriers and become the next Oscar Pistorius?

Dustin
Could your family be the very first place where Dustin feels like he truly belongs?

Gideon

Phillip

Layla

Karly

Casey









Share this post and help find their families to make their dreams come true.  Thank you for being a waiting child advocate!

ASIA Happenings and Good Reads

If you haven't seen ASIA's most recent newsletter, have a looksy--it has some great stories! If you remember Lucy and Jason, two kiddos with severe heart conditions that ASIA advocated for on this blog, and placed with families, then you will want to read this! There are updates on each in here:

A Focus On Special Needs Newsletter from ASIA

Doesn't Anyone Want This Cute Boy?

Every time I look at this boy's pictures or videos, he just melts my heart. He is so cute and sweet and gentle! Check out his video and request his file if you have any interest! No one is considering him!!!!