Adopt-us-kids is a website devoted entirely to foster children, giving them a voice, a face and a biography, occasionally a video, something that separates them from the term that has become a black mark on national adoption.
Foster Kids get a bad rap, it's true, and sometimes it's warranted, all children, including those with two parents and a stable home make mistakes and have behavioral problems. You must evaluate child by child, not make a sweeping statement about every foster child in the USA today.
In case you were wondering on September 30, 2008, there were an estimated 463,000 children in foster care. That is 463,000 children who have no permanent home, possibly no emotional support and a lot of questions as to how they ended up where they are.
Every month I try to visit the site and "pick" a child in my state to pray for. I pray until they are permanently adopted, then I pray for their happiness and choose a new child.
Most recently I've been praying for a little girl that I would have taken in a heartbeat if I were not in College and unmarried. She is a musical prodigy and a freckle-faced red-head. Not a statistic, not unlovable. Her name is Ashley.
For this mini-challenge I ask you all visit the Adopt-Us-Kids site, spend a few minutes looking around and then search for foster kids in your area. You can do this by clicking the "Meet the Kids" tab at the top of the page. Then choose your state and scroll through, reading the little bios until you find a child who shares your interests.
Come back and comment with the name of your child and something that you have in common. For privacy reasons please do not include your state.
5 comments:
I love that you're doing this.
I've looked at all of the children waiting to be adopted (thankfully there were few) and they're all deserving of good homes. The one that touched me the most was a little boy named Jose. He's deaf and although he's in the 4th grade, he functions developmentally at the age of a 5 or 6 year old. Like me, he has epilepsy.
Although I don't pray, I will for this child. He needs a family that is able to take care of him.
mcrs_venin(at)hotmail(dot)com
I looked at all the children and I have decided on Mirada,she is so cute and she is energetic, like me. All the children deserve to be adopted though. I will pray for all the chilfren.
korra_950(at)hotmail(dot)com
It breaks my heart seeing so many kids in need of families. I wish I were in a place in life that I were financially able to take in a child in need of a loving home. We had been sponsoring two children for the past four five years, but I lost my job and we had to stop sponsoring them, I hated having to do that. As soon as we are able, we are going to do it again.
Thankfully there were only three children in my state, one of which was Aaron. He is a young teen who loves animals and reads for pleasure, just like me. I wish I were able to take him in. I hope he finds a loving home.
jaidahsmommy(at)comcast(dot)net
This post is awesome. My parents were emergency foster parents for many children and we loved being able to share our home with kids who needed to be loved. My husband and I might adopt after we have our own kids. It is hard to pick a child, but Toby looks like he is a kid with goals! Education is big priority in my home and I love that he has already chosen his college at a young age. Go him!
seescootread[at]gmail[dot]com
Oh, Gabrielle, I am overwhelmed by this post. I already know what kid I want. Her name is "Hamster Girl" and she's not on the site because she's in a pre-adopt home.
My best friend/roomie Sarah is a social worker with the county and she works on the adoption unit...so placing foster kids in homes is her job. And, oh, some of the kids have heartbreaking stories. For confidentiality reasons, they all get names like "Glee Boy" and "Hamster Girl" and "Weed Pulling Boy." But I pray for all the kids on her caseload.
A kind Christian lady I know has been praying over bookmarks with the kids' info on it (the county makes up fliers/bookmarks to give out at adoption matching events.) She prayed for some very difficult cases AND...the kids found homes. What you are doing by praying for these kids, Gabrielle, is more important that you can ever know.
You should read the book THREE LITTLE WORDS. It's about a teen who went through the foster care system and eventually got adopted. I'm going to see her speak at a conference in July. Very excited.
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