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The turkey, pumpkin pie and holiday sales are all fun and good, but today is an equally important day. It’s Giving Tuesday! A day dedicated to giving, in any way you can, worldwide. There are so many great ways to do that, like donating to your local food bank, an arts organization or volunteering for your favorite charity. I thought I’d take a little time to talk about something that’s obviously very important to our family – adoption. I’ve put together a short list of five different places you can put your money and resources today that benefit adoption, adoptive families, first families and children. If adoption is something important to you as well, consider checking some of these out.
- Adoption help – Did you know that domestic infant adoptions can cost upwards of $35,000-40,000 . International adoptions can cost $10,000-15,000 more than that? Foster-to-adopt situations are much less expensive, but there are still extra costs associated that aren’t covered by the foster care system. In addition to giving to someone monetarily, consider asking if they have any tangible needs like diapers, formula, travel expenses or items for the nursery. We were so grateful to have some generous friends and family help us financially as saved up money for our adoption expenses. But there are lots of ways you can help that aren’t financial too. As I’ve mentioned before, we had to be out of state for a couple of weeks. While we were away, not only did someone generously offer us a place to stay, but we were gifted or were able to borrow a lot of the baby essentials we needed those first few weeks. What may have seemed fairly insignificant by the giver really meant a lot to our family.
- The Dave Thomas Foundation – The Dave Thomas Foundation is located in Columbus, Ohio. With more than 100,000 children currently waiting in foster care, this organization helps find forever homes for these kids. The Dave Thomas Foundation awards grants to adoption organizations, raises awareness about children waiting to be adopted and the foster-to-adopt process, and offers resources to professionals and adoptive parents.
- Show Hope – Show Hope helps with adoption financial aid; care centers, which take care of orphans with acute medical and special needs; pre- and post-adoption support; and student initiatives. Founded by Steven Curtis and Marybeth Chapman, Show Hope focuses on children all over the world. So if your heart is for children on a global level, this is a great philanthropic option to consider.
- Adoption agencies – Many adoption agencies do more than just finalize adoptions. Expectant parents can receive counseling services, assistance finding housing or work, and other resources. Our agency, Choice Network, offers tangible and emotional support to expectant parents and their families, whether or not they choose to make an adoption plan. Contact an adoption agency near you to find out what items the might need donated, like clothing or diapers.
- Give Her Hope Campaign – I’m going to go more in depth into this next week, but I didn’t want to miss out on including it here. The Give Her Hope Campaign is a fundraising campaign put on by the YMCA of Central Ohio. Right now, on an average night, 250 women (30 of them expectant mothers) are spending the night at YMCA’s Van Buren Center. The money raised from this campaign goes towards purchasing bus tickets, security deposits or rental assistance. All of which are important first steps to get women and their children experiencing homelessness back on their feet. Why is this adoption related? There are a lot of reasons why an expectant mother might choose to create an adoption plan for their child. Experiencing homelessness or financial hardships doesn’t have to be one of them. Guys, I love adoption and what it’s done for my family so much. But I also think it’s important for us to support expectant mothers however we can, even if adoption isn’t ultimately the final choice. I love that the Give Her Hope Campaign is helping keep families together.
Please consider taking the time today to give to someone or something. Even if it has nothing to do with adoption. Don’t let the busyness of this holiday season keep you from putting some good back in the world.
Leave me a note below and let me know if you participated in Giving Tuesday today!
I never would have though to give someone that is going through the adoption process, infant items (besides a baby shower or adoption shower, if they had one, gift). I have had 4 babies, and had a LOT of baby items. I sold some at yard sales, but baby items are a dime a dozen. I wonder if my area has a donation center where baby items could be donated for adopting families? If not, that would be a great non profit for someone to start. Not just baby items, but items for older children as well.
That’s actually a really great idea! We’ve had friends who are licensed foster parents and it’s always hard for them to get everything they need to be prepared for any type of situation, like car seats, the need for beds plus possibly a crib, etc. I bet churches are a great resource for finding adoptive families in need of tangible items, but also local parenting groups. I know that my local moms Facebook group has always been generous when there is a need within our tribe.
these are excellent charities to give to this time of year!
Yes! Adoption is so expensive, but so worth it! Thanks to grants from similar organizations and gifts from friends, we were able to adopt two girls in 2016. Thanks for sharing!
I came across your blog and thought that it was awesome! One day I may adopt and this is something that I would love to learn more about and just to understand the nuances and joys that come with it. THanks so much!
I’m happy to chat if you ever have questions!
ITs so crazy to me that people need to pay for adoption – like your paying for a product. These children need homes, why cant people just help ?
Cost is definitely a hindrance to many families. There are grants and some financial assistance programs available, but not everyone is eligible or can access that help. Adopting through an agency or an adoption consultant is definitely more expensive because there are more people involved in the process (of course, hypothetically, that also means that there are a little more checks and balances). We’ve had friends self-match through word-of-mouth. This allowed them to spend much less, like to pay for lawyer fees and their home study. Adopting through the foster care system is much more affordable in a financial sense, but it can be a lengthy process, since the first goal is reunification. We may actually go that route in the future as we would love to adopt again, but aren’t sure if we’d be able to afford an agency adoption again.
what an interesting post. We hope to adopt one day but it’s just so expensive and we don’t have the finances.
It definitely can be very expensive. We went through an agency, which is a little more expensive, but I’ve had friends adopt privately, which typically only requires a home study and lawyer fees. It just typically takes longer. And adoption through the state is virtually free, financially-speaking. It’s definitely something to consider, especially if cost is the hindrance. I’m happy to chat about it if you ever have questions!