In 2012, CMomA launched our Adoption Grant Gifting Program. We put the word out to partnering agencies and organizations to let them know, “WE HAVE MONEY TO GIVE” to worthy and wonderful childless women, men and couples adopting special needs and older orphaned children. So far, we have chosen six special “new” families who have met our eligibility requirements, and we’ve shared the stories of Antonia, Aleja and Torelingo.
Now, we are thrilled to share GREAT NEWS about CMomA’s fourth Grant Recipients—Kellie and Jordan Strawn from Albany, Oregon. They are lovingly united with their now ten-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son from Ethiopia. We were again moved and motivated to support the adoption of this sibling pair of older children with some special needs.
Our Gifting Program (more about CMomA Adoption Grants at the bottom of this post) has eligibility requirements that take into consideration the story of both the currently childless want-to-be parents and the orphaned children awaiting the time to go home with them. We are excited to share part of the Strawn family story, including what we heard from them directly and the images they shared.
September 12, 2013
Thank you for the opportunity to apply for one of your adoption grants. While we knew the adoption journey would be challenging and costly, both emotionally and financially, we could not have prepared ourselves for all of the twists and turns our lives have taken since we officially began the adoption process 18 months ago.
Our case manager at All God’s Children International made us aware of this grant and your support of adopting families. Programs like yours make this difficult road a little easier for families by alleviating some of the financial burden. Your work helps more families successfully provide loving, forever homes to children in need around the world. Regardless of whether we are chosen to receive one of your grants, we thank you for being part of the story for worthy families and their children who are orphans no more.
We met in college in 2001 and have now been married eight years. We do hope to have biological kids, but we are excited to be growing our family through adoption first. We officially began the adoption process about a year and a half ago.
In early June 2013, our adoption agency, All God’s Children International, contacted us about two siblings in their Ethiopia program who were being placed on the waiting child list: a nine-year-old girl, and a six-year-old boy. Tirhas and Kiflom are from the northern region of Ethiopia. Tirhas is a beautiful, social nine-year-old girl, and her brother Kiflom is a funny, playful six-year-old. With some nervousness but much resolve, we accepted this referral, and we have not looked back since. As we now finish preparing our Ethiopian dossier, we are looking ahead to traveling and bringing our sweet children home.
We began saving for our adoption more than a year before we applied to All God’s Children. We then felt prompted to indicate we were open to adopting siblings, which would double the cost. This $5,000 grant would provide the travel funds to bring them home. This will help us be in a more financially ideal situation as we budget for providing needed long-term care for our children’s special needs, in addition to the regular cost of caring for children.
Though we can imagine there are many, many adopting families who are worthy of receiving this grant, we hope you will consider our family worthy as well. We are ready to call these two sweet children our daughter and son, and we would be forever grateful for your assistance in making that a reality.
April 17, 2014
This picture was taken on March 30th—literally 7 minutes after laying eyes on them (in person) for the very first time.
May 20, 2014
Thanks so much!! We can’t believe this is really happening!!! We hope that our story will inspire people to keep giving to CMomA. What an amazing blessing this grant has been.
Jun 25, 2014
September 7, 2014
This letter seems a small token of our appreciation for your huge impact on our lives. After a long and trying journey through the adoption process, which included many unexpected and difficult turns, you joined our community of supporters and helped lift us up and carry us through to the finish line. As many of you know, adoption is a wonderful and also difficult thing. The process itself is full of paperwork, signatures, notaries, hopes, fears, dreams and of course financial burdens.
And then there you were. Strangers who knew us only from a few pictures and our story. We rejoiced when we received the news that you had selected us for one of your $5,000 grants! The day we received that call felt like a HUGE weight was lifted. Here we were, just a few months (though we thought maybe weeks) from traveling to meet our children, and you eliminated one of the biggest stressors and allowed us to focus entirely on preparing our hearts and home for Tirhas and Kiflom’s arrival. It is expensive to travel around the world twice… The CMomA grant funded almost our entire second trip to Ethiopia. WOW! The children we have had in our hearts for many years and who we had been praying for and laboring to bring home for so long. YOU brought these precious kids home. We hope you feel the weight of what you have done for our family. It’s really, really big. And we love you for it. Thank you.
After three months home, we wanted to also provide you with an update on how our family is doing. In a word: Great! There have been huge ups and downs, as we all adjust to being in a new family—we as new parents, and Tirhas and Kiflom as kids who have left everything and everyone they know on another continent. We imagine parenting is hard no matter the circumstances. For us, learning to parent kids with broken hearts and life experiences that kids shouldn’t have to have has been the hardest thing we’ve done. But these kids are strong and resilient. They love life. They love to talk, learn, play and laugh.
Tirhas, our 10-year-old daughter (you know, it still feels strange to say we have a daughter and a son!), is curious and intelligent. She loves to learn. She is inquisitive; she asks a lot of questions about culture, family, English words, and history. She likes to read and has THE MOST INFECTIOUS, ADORABLE LAUGH. She is spunky and sometimes sassy, and she likes to tell and hear jokes. She draws, colors, rides her bike, plays soccer, runs, and is extremely helpful around the house (without being asked!). She is happiest with us, when we are all four together as a family, talking and laughing and telling stories about Ethiopia and America. She is beautiful, absolutely stunning.
Kiflom, our 7-year-old son, is a character. Jordan describes him as a little cartoon character. We’re not sure which one yet. He is FULL of personality. He’s got swagger, and he loves to make us laugh. He comes out of his room in the morning wide-eyed, often dancing, ready to tackle the day, always with a sweet smile on his face. He is active and likes to ride his bike (with no hands!), his scooter and our pony. He is tender and sweet. He is hilariously funny, and we are getting new glimpses into him every day, as his English skills develop rapidly. He likes to play games and help with the horses. He is happiest when we are playing together as a family—baseball, badminton, football or soccer.
It is really amazing how much progress we have all made in three short months. As we continue to get to know each other and learn how to love each other well, we are enjoying many sweet moments amid the tough ones. Our hearts are full. Thank you for being a part of our adoption story, CMomA. We are forever grateful.
Learn More About Our Adoption Grant Program!
Click here to:
Watch our CMomA Gifting Program video (see and hear Kellie and Jordan Strawn)!
Apply for a CMomA Adoption Grant!
Become a CMomA Grant Sponsor!
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