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A Family for Every Child February 2011
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Our
family started searching for a child to adopt in November of 2007. We
already had 2 boys and 1 girl, but our family did not seem complete -
so began our search for another child. We "put our name in the
pot" (as we began calling it) for several children, and suffered
through committee without getting selected. In November of 2009, I
found Shyannah on the Heart of Lane County website and contacted my
caseworker to look into her story. Although we were looking for a
younger child, this girl tugged at my heart strings.
I read
her paperwork over and over and decided to take it to "family
committee". So our family (after much prayer) decided to go
ahead with the process and see where it takes us. Each time we
received some new tidbit of news regarding Shyannah, we would
consider it and always decided - let's keep going. The further we got
into the process, the more we were in love with her. In March of
2010, we found out that we were selected to be her forever family.
How excited we were! It was almost unbelievable that after all this
time we were being selected.
When we
went to see her the first time it was a whirlwind weekend trying to
get to know her and having her get comfortable with us. The
caseworker at first thought it would be a long transition, but on
April 29th our girl came to live with us. It was great right from the
start. Our caseworkers were so helpful and informative. We had a 6
month waiting period before we could start the adoption process but
when that period ended the caseworkers were prepared to send in the
paperwork right away. Of course, then we had to wait for the lawyers
and the state to get their paperwork all prepared, but I am so
excited to announce that on December 20, 2010 the paperwork finally
caught up with our hearts and the adoption was finalized!
Shyannah
has an older sister and two older brothers that we stay in contact
with and it only adds to our family to have those contacts. They are
great relationships for Shyannah and we wanted her to stay in touch
with them so that when she gets older she will not have to wonder
about her family - she will know. Shyannah has settled in well and we
are making progress every day. People tell us that adoptions don't
always go this well, but I believe that our faith had a lot to do
with it because we trusted God through this whole process to send us
the child we were supposed to have. I believe He did that.
We are so happy that we decided to adopt and
for anyone out there considering adoption, please keep your heart
open to an older child. I know there are "risks" involved -
but my motto has always been: Everybody deserves the love of a
family. Please share your love with a child that needs a family and
they will love you back.
Thank you Heart Gallery of Lane County for
all you do.
Sincerely,
Mike and Nancy Carr
Along with their children, Isaac, Josh,
Shyannah, and Clara
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A Family For Every Child presents
the 3rd Annual Princess for a Day event on Sunday, March 6th,
from 10am to 5pm at the Valley River Inn. Girls ages
2-18 are invited to come and be transformed into beautiful
princesses!
Every Girl Deserves to be a Princess!
(If not just for a day)
Event is FREE for Girls in Foster Care
Non-Foster Girls $50.00. Your ticket price will help
support the cost of a foster "Princess" in
the community!
Have a royal day with your favorite Princess!
As girls arrive to the event,
they are ushered into the makeshift salon, sponsored by local
beauty experts, for pampering and makeovers. Next stop is wardrobe,
where each child receives a princess dress, slippers, a feather
boa, a tiara, and accessories. A professional photographer takes a
picture of each girl before she is escorted by a teen volunteer to
the ballroom for tea and refreshments. Every child leaves the event
with a keepsake professional-quality photograph of herself, her
princess outfit, and a goody bag.
If you are interested in helping
and/or donating dresses or accessories, contact Christy: christy@afamilyforeverychild.org or jenelle@afamilyforeverychild.org
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Every girl needs to feel
beautiful, and have her time to shine.
Black Beauty is for the girl who rarely gets the chance, and aren't
always able to have their hair done. It can be a challenge to
learn to do African America hair. This is an opportunity for girls
who are in foster care to get their hair braided/done for free. All
you have to do is buy thehair (or needed supplies), and set up an
appointment to get it done, and the rest is taken care of for you!
Every girl needs there time to
shine, and this is yours!
Contact: for those that can come to the Eugene /
Springfield area only
Bailey Barrett- 541-653-1471 or A Family For Every Child 541-343-2856
Or by e-mail: Baileysbeauty@yahoo.com or Christy@afamilyforeverychild.org
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Family
Finding Volunteers Needed
We are starting a new Family
Finding program in Coos/Curry Counties, and will need some
volunteers for this task. As always, we are looking for volunteers
in any location (Family Finding work is not limited to the county
or state, we can work with volunteers all over the country). Any
little bit helps!
These are ways you can help us:
- Join
a search team
- Work
closely with caseworkers
- Make
phone calls
- Build
family trees
- Search
the Internet for lost relatives
- Create
positive supportive family connections for isolated foster
children
We urgently need volunteers! You work around your own
schedule!
Our next Family Finding training will take place
February 26th, 9:00 am to noon at the main office. Please contact
Laura Follett with questions or to make reservations.
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The Family Finding model offers
methods and strategies to locate and engage relatives of children
living in out-of-home care. The goal of family finding is to
provide each child with the lifelong connections that only a family
can offer. Core beliefs inherent in this approach are:
· every child has a family
· loneliness can be devastating and particularly felt by foster
children
· meaningful connections to family help a child develop a sense of
belonging
· and the single most identified factor contributing to positive
outcomes for children involves meaningful connections and lifelong
relationships with family
Family Finding Steps:
Step 1 - Discovery, 2 - Engagement, 3 - Planning, 4 - Decision
Making, 5 - Evaluation, 6 - Follow Up Support
Volunteers Needed!
Family Finding runs exclusively through volunteers and we need YOUR
help!
We urgently need volunteers willing to make phone calls, doable
from your own home, on your own schedule.
Want to get involved?
For more information on how you can help in the following ways,
click the link below.
Benefits of Family Finding -
Lifelong connections: Children will potentially make a connection
that could last a lifetime.
Emotional improvement: Children gain increased and improved
family connections, decreased loneliness and a greater sense of
belonging.
Decreased use of out-of-home care placements: Whenever possible,
children may be placed with biological family members.
More successful placements: Children placed with biological family
members have more opportunity to grow and develop in a healthy
manner. Research demonstrates that biological families show more
willingness to emotionally invest the time and energy to work with
children who may have medical or emotional challenges.
More involved fathers: Fathers and their families can become more
involved.
Compliance with the Adoption and Safe Families Act, Chapter 48, and
the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act
of 2008.
Everyone who volunteers in the Family Finding program must complete
an AFFEC application, a background check, and training. Volunteers
may do one or all of the steps in the process.
To find out more about the A Family For Every Child - Family
Finding Program go to www.afamilyforeverychild.org
"Being a volunteer is a powerful thing," Often times we
hear, 'I trust you because you're not getting paid.'" We
really are there just for the child.
To
Volunteer:
Please follow this link and click on the online application and
follow the directions. On the application, under the title
"INTERESTS" is a subheading of "volunteer
interests". Please select "FAMILY FINDING/
CONNECTIONS".
I'll also need you to fill out the confidentiality form that you'll
find on the link and either fax it to me or scan and email it to
me. I'll forward more documents to get you cleared by DHS after
this has been completed.
Click Here
Thank you so much.
Laura L Follett
Family Finding Local Director
A Family For Every Child
880 Beltline Road - Springfield, OR 97477
(541) 343-2856 | FAX (541) 343-2866
Laura.Follett@afamilyforeverychild.org
www.afamilyforeverychild.org
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How
can you contact A Family For Every Child?
Call, email, or visit us online or in person!
 880 Beltline Rd.
Springfield Oregon 97477
office
- 541-343-2856
toll
free - 877-343-2856
fax -
541-343-2866
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Upcoming Sessions:
When: 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month
Time: 5:30-7:30pm
Where: Boys and Girls Club of Emerald Valley
1545 W 22nd Ave
Eugene, OR 97405
Activities for Children available
Please RSVP to: lisa@afamilyforeverychild.org
Click below for a great webinar
on adoption!
Check out our resource page:
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AFFEC Media
AFFEC is
on Facebook, Myspace, and more. Click on the links!
AFFEC Blog: Please contribute your thoughts!
Our Mentor
Program now has a discussion group:
Perhaps
you are addicted to Social Media. Perhaps you would like to get
involved. We could use you!
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Donate to AFFEC
Would you like to contribute to AFFEC's cause for
helping children? Any amount can have a lasting impact on a child.
Click below:
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