When you are in the throes of exploring all the ways you can connect with children, there is a countless plethora of information out there.
That is both a blessing and can feel quite overwhelming, as well.
So we compiled some links for you to be able to investigate… one at a time… hoping to take some of the research off your plate. We will update periodically, as we discover new resources that we want to introduce to our community. Please also feel free to share on our on-line member forum what you may find along the way in your research that you think may be of help and interest to others.
VOLUNTEER AND/OR DONATE:
These are some of our Non-Profit Friends, contributing extraordinary value in their exquisite support and service to families and children in need.
- City of Lights International – City of Lights International builds baby orphanages all over the world. With support from the community, we provide the proper care, education, nutrition and love that these children need.
- Creative Visions Foundation
- Children’s Action Network – Mission: “Dedicated to finding homes for the more than 114,000 children in the United States who are waiting for an adoptive family and improving outcomes for the more than 500,000 children in foster care.”
- Enough Project – Mission: The Enough Project fights to end genocide and crimes against humanity, focused on areas where some of the world’s worst atrocities occur.
- KidSave – “Mission is to create change – so forgotten orphanage and foster kids grow up in families and connected to caring adults.”
- LifeSet Network – An online social network and mentoring program that aims to connect every youth aging out of foster care with the critical resources, opportunities, and support they need to thrive in adulthood.
- Strongheart Fellowship – Mission: “A groundbreaking healing and learning guidance program, in Liberia West Africa, designed to help bright, resilient young people from extremely challenging circumstances around the globe develop into compassionate, innovative problem-solvers and leaders that can affect significant social change.”
- The Teen Project – Mission: “To provide teens aging out of the foster care system with all of the resources and support of an intact family. To allow the greatest opportunity for a successful transition to adulthood.”
- World Wide Orphans Foundation – Mission: “To Transform the lives of orphaned children and help them to become healthy, independent, productive members of their communities and the world.”
HOST:
- KidSave – Our mission is to create change – so forgotten orphanage and foster kids grow up in families and connected to caring adults.
- Loving Stork – Loving Storks goal is bringing children overseas and families in the United States together.
MENTOR:
- LifeSet Network – An online social network and mentoring program that aims to connect every youth aging out of foster care with the critical resources, opportunities, and support they need to thrive in adulthood.
- Mentor – National Mentoring Partnership. Expanding the world of quality mentoring.
- Big Brothers, Big Sisters: – Big Brothers Big Sisters is not your typical organization. We help children realize their potential and build their futures. We nurture children and strengthen communities. And we couldn’t do any of it without you.
SPONSOR:
- City of Lights International – Your donation will go towards formula, diapers, clothes, medical and other necessities needed to run a Baby Home.
- Orphan’s Heroes – Mission: “Seeks to address the underlying causes of children becoming orphaned or trafficked through preventative measures while also providing aid to those children who are already orphaned or vulnerable.” Opportunities for sponsorship and live meeting with your sponsored child in Ghana
FOSTER
More than 100,000 children in the United States are in foster care waiting for permanent families. If you are interested and so inspired, here are many resources for you to learn from and connect with.
Nationwide:
- AdoptUSKids – Their mission is two-fold: to raise public awareness about the need for foster and adoptive families for children in the public child welfare system; and to assist U.S. States, Territories and Tribes to recruit and retain foster and adoptive families and connect them with children throughout the United States.
- KidsPeace (become a foster parent) – KidsPeace is a private charity dedicated to serving the behavioral and mental health needs of children, families and communities.
- FCAC (Foster Care & Adoptive Community) – Online training courses for working with at risk children.
- Foster Care Counts – Matches volunteers with foster families who need their support, and raises funds to support Los Angeles non-profits doing important work for foster youth and families.
- Los Angeles County Foster Family Agencies – Over 50,000 children await the hope and dream of being adopted or cared for in a safe place and loving arms.
- Children’s Bureau of South California – Mission: “To significantly change the lives of at-risk children by providing state-of-the-art child abuse prevention and treatment services”
- Kinship Center – Mission: “Builds adoptive and other families where children can heal from past abuse, neglect or abandonment and grow to healthy adulthood. We help 2,000 children each year, mostly those whom many others consider too difficult: severely traumatized children, older teenagers, children with disabilities, large sibling groups, and drug affected infants.”
- Optimist Youth Homes and Family Services – Over 100 years of caring for children
- PennyLane – An Array of Children’s Social Services in Southern California
- Vista Del Mar – Mission: provide comprehensive, family-centered social, educational and behavioral health services that encourage children, adolescents and their families to lead self reliant, stable and productive lives.
- Westside Children’s Center – Mission: supports underserved, vulnerable children and their families in West Los Angeles by providing a full range of crucial, multi-disciplinary services.
ADOPT:
If you are a childless single woman or couple our non-profit “Childless Mothers Adopt” 501-C3 (Aka: CMoMA) may be the perfect fit for you. We organize and fund yearly group trips to places on this planet where the children have the least amount of resources. If interested in learning more click on the “Journey” link on the Childless Mothers Adopt website or call 1-855-462-6662 (GoCMomA) to learn more.
National Adoption Agencies:
- Adoption.Com Very comprehensive.
- AdoptUSKids – Their mission is two-fold: to raise public awareness about the need for foster and adoptive families for children in the public child welfare system; and to assist U.S. States, Territories and Tribes to recruit and retain foster and adoptive families and connect them with children throughout the United States.
- National Adoption Day – Celebrating a family for every child
- Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption – Finding forever families for children in foster care
- National Adoption Foundation – Because every child deserves a loving family
- North American Council on Adoptable Children – Because every child deserves a permanent, loving and culturally competent family
- Adopting.com – Resources for prospective adoptive parents: How to get started, links to agencies, facilitators and attorneys, letters from birthparents, support groups and legal information. Also includes a photolisting of waiting children.
- Adopting.org – Contains a wide variety of adoption topics and resources.
- Adoption Council of Canada – Primary resource for Canadian residents interested in adopting in Canada.
Domestic:
- Adoption Network Law Center – States that they are “a leader in U.S. newborn adoptions.”
- AdoptUSKids – Offers an array of services to both families and child welfare professionals, from tips and resources to an extensive database of children in U.S. foster care available for adoption and families who are home studied and approved to adopt them.
- American Adoptions – American Adoptions is currently one of the largest domestic adoption agencies of its kind in the United States. According to their website, “fully licensed, not-for-profit domestic adoption agency that works across the nation.”
- Independent Adoption Center – “The mission of the Independent Adoption Center (IAC) is to provide open adoption placement and counseling to birth and adoptive families to ensure that every child grows up feeling loved and supported.”
- KidSave – Our mission is to create change – so forgotten orphanage and foster kids grow up in families and connected to caring adults.
International:
- International Adoption Guides – Includes links to articles, a wiki, message boards, and more
- Children’s House International – To provide children worldwide with loving homes and to provide families with the support they need to adopt and parent their children. Our humanitarian efforts also extend to the children who are not adopted; to place them back with their birth families or to provide options for them to remain in a positive and healthy environment in their own countries.
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There is so much information on this top for women on the web. Here are a handful of links to get you started!
- resolve.org – The National Fertility Association
- fertilityties.com – Great Resource to find Dr. Near you and information
- doctoroz.com – Dr. Oz’s page has a ton of related articles
- drweil.com – Dr. Andrew Weil’s article on Infertility
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We’ve Compiled Some Books & Articles On Adoption For You
- Just Cut … Paste … Click And See What You Learn~
Feel Free To Recommend A Book Or Forward A Great Article By Sharing It On Our Member Forum & Blog!On Adoption:
BOOKS
The Complete Book of International Adoption: A Step by Step Guide to Finding Your Child by Dawn Davenport (Kindle)
Single By Chance, Mothers By Choice: How Women Are Choosing Parenthood Without Marriage And Creating The New American Family
By Rosanna Hertz
Choosing Single Motherhood: The Thinking Woman’s Guide
By Mikki Morrissette
Adopting On Your Own: The Complete Guide To Adoption For Single Parents
By Lee Varon
ARTICLES:
- www.adoption.com – Advantages of Adopting an Older Child
- International Adoption Guides – Includes links to articles, a wiki, message boards, and more
- skyward journey – Orphan Statistics