Eugene, Oregon, Nov. 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In celebration of National Adoption Month, Holt International and Gift of Adoption today announced a partnership to reduce financial barriers to adoption for qualified families yearning to adopt vulnerable children by making up to $500,000 in adoption philanthropy grants available. The partnership celebrates each organization’s child-centered beliefs that every child deserves a permanent and loving home.
Through its Families Not Finances campaign, Holt will provide grants of $10,000 towards the fees for adopting children they’ve identified as needing special support to be matched with a qualified family regardless of the family’s financial status. Holt’s $10,000 grant will go toward eliminating Holt’s agency costs for the adoption of children who have been identified as needing special support.
Gift of Adoption will provide up to $15,000 to complete the adoption of any Holt family who has been matched with a child and needs financial assistance to bring their waiting child home.
“For 25 years Gift of Adoption volunteers and donors have made adoption a philanthropic priority", added Pam Devereux, CEO of Gift of Adoption. "Reminding us that you don’t have to adopt to give a child a loving permanent family.”.
International adoption has changed over the decades. Today, most children placed with families through international adoption are older than 3 years old, members of sibling groups and have emotional or physical challenges. The fees for international adoption are high – as the cost of providing these services continue to rise. The timeline to complete international adoptions has also extended, adding to rising costs. In addition, the number of children who need homes has remained constant while the number of qualified families able to care for these children has declined.
In response, Holt International has continued to grow and evolve its in-country family strengthening, orphan care and in-country adoption services around the world. Yet, for many of the world’s hardest to serve children, those with special needs, children over the age of 9 and sibling groups, international adoption remains not just a viable, but in many cases the only, option for a permanent and loving home. A goal of this program is to increase the number of qualified families who can step forward to adopt these children, knowing the upfront cost to adoption will not be a barrier.
“The one constant in the international adoption part of our work is the need for families here in the United States to step forward with the means, understanding and heart to become parents to a child with a special need,” said Phil Littleton, president and CEO of Holt International. “We’re delighted to partner with Gift of Adoption who is the national’s leader in providing adoption assistance grants to complete the adoption of vulnerable children on a nondiscriminatory basis. “
Gift of Adoption assisted Holt families in the past, but this is the first time the organizations have formalized the partnership.
"Gift of Adoption helped us get our kids home!,” said Becca Harrison, a Holt parent who has received multiple GOA adoption grants. “Literally at the end of our process, in the excitement of planning our travels, GOA helped pay the final expenses of travel. GOA was more than just financial assistance. The board members came to the airport to greet us when we arrived home with our son.”
Holt and Gift of Adoption will work collaboratively in supporting one another through shared communications, media and content development throughout the partnership.
About Holt International
Holt International, https://www.holtinternational.org, seeks a world where every child has a loving and secure home. Since Holt’s founding in 1956, the organization has worked towards its vision through programs that strengthen and preserve families that are at risk of separation; by providing critical care and support to orphaned and vulnerable children; and by leading the global community in finding families for children who need them and providing the pre-and post-adoption support and resources they need to thrive. Always, Holt focuses on each child’s unique needs —keeping the child’s best interest at the forefront of every decision.
About Gift of Adoption
Gift of Adoption, https://giftofadoption.org, is a national charity that provides grants of up to $15,000 to complete the adoptions of vulnerable children from the U.S. and around the world. Priority is placed on helping children facing what is possibly their only chance at adoption, including those at-risk of separation from siblings, entering foster care, aging-out of an orphanage, or with special needs. Gift of Adoption is the largest provider of adoption assistance grants on a nondiscriminatory basis (without regard to age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or marital status) and our grants are paid directly to adoption agencies and attorneys working on the child’s behalf. Since inception in 1996, Gift of Adoption has awarded $12.1 million to give 4,097 children permanent families and the chance to thrive. Gift of Adoption is recognized by Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. Visit www.giftofadoption.org to learn more.
Interviews with adoptive families can be coordinated on request.
