New Website for Blog

Due to laws in our new host child's country, we've moved our blog to a Wordpress site which allows greater privacy controls.  The new site is www.homesforhearts.us.  Some posts there are password protected, if you'd like to follow along just email orphans@teamyoo.com and we'll send you the password.

Chaperone Hosting

The summer hosting season is about to start and we're expecting around 200 children to arrive in the United States.  In order to do this, P143 relies on chaperones to escort the children here and then be available for translation and any other issues that may arise while they're here.  The chaperones are adult volunteers with some experience in the orphanage.  Some are orphanage directors, others are full time employees and others just volunteer in the orphanage.

While they're here, we need families to volunteer to host them.  There is no cost for this, we just ask you provide a place for them to sleep (even a couch can work) and treat them like a visiting relative.  They don't need to be catered to, but we do want to make their time here as enjoyable as possible.  It's a wonderful opportunity for you to experience a bit of a different culture, and help these children find homes.

If you're interested in hosting a chaperone, we ask families to commit to a minimum of one week, and are looking for hosts from June 12th - August 6th.

Children Still Need Families for Summer!

Where are the swimming families with a heart for orphans and/or Ukraine? U622 MAK is only 12 yrs old who told us he loves to swim and would love to try competing in a swimming contest this summer! We still have a space reserved for him on the plane to arrive June 15th, but we are clearly running out of time since he is still UNCHOSEN and will be forced to cancel his reservation soon.

PLEASE help us SHARE with any swimming families who might consider hosting a child from Ukraine this summer with Project 143! http://www.projectonefortythree.org/pre-registration
There are many other children as well. Please preregister on the site to take a look at all the waiting children!

A New Chapter

Things just keep changing. We were intending to host another Ukrainian child but fell in love with a girl from a different country in Eastern Europe instead.  "E" is an adorable 12 yr old girl who's story is heartbreaking. She's been hosted 4 times before (since 10 yrs old) and never been invited back or adopted. In her interview for summer she asked why no one picked her for winter hosting and why no one ever wanted her.  She said that she liked all her host families and told the interviewer that she really wants to be adopted and someone came to adopt her once but she was sick and couldn't go (not true, but this is the story she tells because the real story "no one wants her" is too painful).

There's nothing bad about her. I spoke to her last host mom and the mom said she's a wonderful girl with a heart full of love who desperately wants someone to want her.  She is described as "strong-willed, independent and active".  That's code for - argues a lot, wants to do things her way, needs to be kept busy.  But those are all things I'm okay with. She's been in an orphanage or group home since she was a year old, those are survival skills.  And sometimes those "tough" kids are some of the most resilient if you take the time to work through some difficulties.

Here's the other things about her though - she loves little kids and is incredibly nurturing. She loves animals, especially horses (which finally gives me an excuse to get a horse someday). She's a hard worker and loves to be helpful, she's smart, caring.  She can be a "super girly-girl" but also a bit of a tomboy and is very athletic.  She really seems like a girl who would fit in wonderfully around here and we can't wait to meet her!

We were initially intending to wait and commit a little later down the road, but "E" just seems like an incredible kid but also a kid who can't emotionally handle another rejection and we want to protect her from that if possible. She's absolutely adorable, but that often means people who aren't prepared for "tougher" kids fall in love with the cute one and then are overwhelmed later.  There's no guarantee that we're right for her, but we do have a lot of experience parenting children which other people rejected so we feel that we may be "E"'s best shot.

Of course, that does bring us to the one difficult part of hosting - finances.  The organization just changed their deposit policy to require a lot more up front - we owe $1500 within a week!  I understand their reasoning, some people were backing out at the last minute, but that's still quite a bit to come up with in a short time.  So my continual plea - if you're considering hosting then please do, that's top priority!  But if you can't host yet would like to help an orphan, we'd greatly appreciate your tax-deductible donation.  You can go here to donate and it's applied directly to our hosting account:

https://www.razoo.com/story/Homesforhearts?referral_code=share

Thank you!

Could You Host?

Could you host a child for a month? Most people have never considered the question, but I'd like to ask you to take just a minute and contemplate it.  One month of your time can completely change a child's life!  Perhaps you're interested in adoption - this is a great way to see if your family is a good match for a particular child.  Or maybe adoption isn't an option for you, that's okay too - you can advocate and help the child find a forever family.  Or you can take a child who is unable to be adopted and show them what life is like in a family for a little while.  Or perhaps you can't host at all but could help fund a grant for a family who is willing but unable to afford it. Or you could share this post with everyone you know and help to spread the word.  No matter where you are in life, there's something you can do to help an orphan.  And I can promise you that your life will be changed for the better.

The requirements are pretty simple. You must have 1 parent able to be with the child most of the time, they need a bed and a loving home. They can share a bedroom with another child. You can be single or married. There are no age limitations. You can have other children in the home or the host child could be your only one. There is a cost of roughly $2750 to host a child but that cost is fully tax-deductible and many families are able to fundraise for that amount.  Additionally, some children have grants available to partially offset the cost.

The children range from 6 years to 16 years old. There are boys and girls, single children and sibling groups of up to five.  You can look at pictures and information about the children, then discuss your family with a volunteer prior to committing.

The summer photo listing is now available. Go to http://www.projectonefortythree.org/pre-registration/ and register to see the children.  It's free, there's no commitment or obligation. But just maybe you can help to save one child.

Thank You

Before

A wise man once said that it takes a village to raise a child. These words were very much apropos regarding hosting our Natasha.  This is our thank you for everyone who opened their hearts to Natasha and made her stay such a success.

The world works in very odd and mysterious ways. I am fairly involved in the adoption and foster care community, yet had never heard of orphan hosting. Then a friend of mine shared a post on Facebook about it, she herself had never hosted but had heard of the program from a different friend of hers who had, and she helped to spread the word.  Without that one Facebook share, Natasha would never have found her future family.

Project 143 is an amazing organization run primarily by volunteers. Two of these volunteers spent several hours on the phone with me learning about my family and trying to find a great match.  Obviously, the results speak for themselves. Once matched with Natasha, the volunteers were always available to talk and discuss what to expect and how to deal with issues.

The other initial hurdle was, and always will be, money. We have not regretted a thin. The money spent to bring Natasha over to us was worth it. It was not inexpensive and it felt odd asking for help funding this endeavor, but the generosity shown by all was so touching.

We were also able to make new friends and reconnect with past clients of all things. We were introduced to another homeschooling family who had actually adopted a daughter from Ukraine four years ago and they opened their home to us. That day was especially memorable because Natasha finally felt a bit more comfortable and tried to speak English for the first time.  How can you top memories like that?

We also had not one, but three past real estate clients who were Ukrainian! When Marine spoke with them about Natasha, he said it was one of the most fulfilling conversations he’s ever had. They were all eager to talk, give advice, cook Ukrainian meals and shop for Natasha. How wonderful it is to be able to just relax for a bit and speak your native language with someone and know that they understand your culture! It was also helpful to us that they could tell us more about Natasha and break down some of the cultural barriers that existed to that point.

After

The ways that others helped her are incredible. Children’s Dental Center donated a free exam and cleaning (no cavities!), Wendy Schutt donated her excellent photography services (those awesome professional photos on FB are from her). Friends took her shopping for clothes, gave us discount coupons for bowling and donated a gift certificate for a manicure (teen girl heaven).

The most wonderful aspect of this is all the awareness that has been generated. We’ve been contacted by strangers, past friends and acquaintances who want to know more and are interested in helping. Not all can host or adopt a child, not all can afford to donate, but all can help in some way and are united by their caring, compassion and innate ability to care for children they have never met.

Because of this experience, I’ve now joined P143 as a volunteer coordinator and will assist in recruiting and matching families for future hosting sessions, and will of course be bringing back another child this summer to hopefully help find a family. As I look at the amazing difference between when Natasha arrived and when she left, and then contemplate her future with a family who loves her I cannot wait to see how many more children we can help experience that same joy.

Good News!

Well, Natasha is back to Ukraine and we’ve had time to reflect on our experience.  Our goal in hosting was to bring a child here for Christmas to provide them the experience of life in a family and offer them some hope. We had said from the beginning that our primary goal was to connect that child with a potential forever family.  We were open to that family being us, but truthfully the logistics right now would have made that difficult (finances + travel with 3 small children + foster child in school).  So we kept the door open, but said in an ideal world we would be the conduit for Natasha to meet a family who was right for her. 

We did the best we could to introduce Natasha to potential families, but being the first time we’d done this, we weren’t quite sure what we were doing.  When we were about 3 days away from her return I became incredibly stressed wondering what was going to happen.  And then something amazing did.  Our friend Clio Bushland told me that she was really drawn to Natasha and were contemplating if she would be a good fit with their family!  It truly is amazing how things work out.

   

So Natasha will be returning to spend the summer with Clio.  We will still get to see her, but I think Clio’s family will be a much better fit than ours.  Natasha did well here, but she’s definitely more of a city child than country, and I think would prefer not having preschool age children begging for her attention all day.  She kept talking about how much she loved to dance so Clio already has found a dance studio for her to attend!  It’ll also be nice for her to have a chance to be the oldest child, I think she’ll really have a chance to shine.

We were able to meet up with Clio’s family one last time before Natasha left and on the way to meet them I told her they’d be hosting her for the summer.  They helped us pick out some new shoes and a backpack for her return.  It was wonderful to be able to pack knowing that she was returning and that we would still see her.

We will be hosting a different child for the summer – more on that to come!