WHY DOES ADOPTION OPTIONS NEED TO FUNDRAISE?
by Jane Reid
I am often asked by my own family members, friends and people who have adopted through our agency why we fundraise. I think it is sometimes hard for people to understand why we need to do this because they assume that the fees we charge our adoptive parents are sufficient to cover all of our working costs. Unfortunately, they are not. Recently I went to my doctor and was talking to him about why he won?t renew a prescription over the phone. He said, ?You don?t work for free, do you?? Well, as a matter of fact, I and the other social workers at Adoption Options do a lot of work that is not funded and I would classify that as working for free. Let me tell you about some of it and perhaps you will have a better understanding of why we fundraise.
COMMITTEE WORK
I was part of the working group recommending changes to the Commissioner for Children and Families on the way in which adoption is practiced in Alberta. We met for over one year and drafted several reports to the Commissioner. The only people at these meetings who did not receive government funding were the two licensed agency representatives. Our Edmonton staff have also participated on a number of similar commmittees in the last few years. This is work for free.
INTERAGENCY LIAISON
I served as chairperson for the Calgary Regional Adoption Council and Edmonton staff attended the Edmonton Regional Adoption Council meetings. These councils involved government and all the agencies and groups who do any work in the area of adoption. At these meetings we discussed issues that affect adoptive families and anyone whose lives have been touched by adoption, plan annual adoption week activities, etc. This is work for free.
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATIONS
We are often asked to give talks to other groups such as churches, schools, university classes, medical practitioners, infertility support groups or international adoption support groups. We organize conferences and do public speaking. We believe we have an obligation to provide ongoing education about adoption to our families and the community. We also feel an obligation to our profession and thus we accept social work placement students from time to time. Several of us have also served on the boards of other adoption-related organizations and presented at adoption conferences. This is all work for free.
BIRTHPARENT WORK
We all see many birthparents who do not choose adoption for their children. Although we charge a fee to prospective adoptive parents for birthparent counseling, this does not begin to cover the cost of the hours we often put in on an individual case. Obviously we don?t work with people only if they are going to place their child, as part of the process is coming to a decision. Let me give you a few examples from a recent six-month period. I met once with a 15 year old and her mother who had different views as to what they should do. I met with a woman expecting twins, who told me she was moving to the United States the next day. She had come in with her boyfriend because she wanted him to get counseling. I met with another couple a number of times, providing them with counseling while they explored their options. They decided to marry. I met with a young woman, providing her with counseling over several sessions. She decided to raise her baby. Of course, I also met with many clients who chose adoption for their child. But when situations involve older children, which is happening more often, they are always very time consuming whether or not they result in a placement.
REDUCED FEES IN SIBLING ADOPTIONS
It seems that once or twice every year a birthmother comes along needing to place a second baby with the family she placed with previously. Usually the family is not yet back on the waiting list and may not be ready financially to look at doing another adoption. Because of our strong commitment to siblings remaining together, we greatly reduce our fees in these situations.
WHY DO WE WORK FOR FREE?
Part of our dilemma is that we struggle between being viewed as a business versus acting and performing like a social service agency. If we were strictly a business, we would significantly raise our fees to cover all the costs of the work we do. But this might make adoption unaffordable for some families. So we continue to offer services to the community which don?t appear on any fee schedule, services for which there is no funding. And we continue to do what we can do with the staff we have, always stretching ourselves to do more and dreaming of the day we can do it all!
WHAT ELSE WOULD WE LIKE TO DO THAT WE ARE NOT CURRENTLY DOING?
Lots of things! We would like to be able to work with even more groups to educate them about open adoption and adoption in general. We would like to help professionals who come into contact with adoptive families to have a better understanding of the issues of adoption so that they can positively interact with those whose lives are touched by adoption. We need to develop a comprehensive communications package to assist us with this goal. You can help us to do this by contributing to our fundraising requests.
WHAT ABOUT THE ONGOING THINGS WE WANT TO GO ON DOING?
There are other concrete things you could help us with. We give every birthparent a package consisting of the book, Dear Birthmother, a decision-making questionnaire and other handouts. We also give our birthmothers small mementos like journals and candles. We try to keep our lending libraries stocked with current adoption literature for children, birthparents, adoptive parents, search clients and professionals. We need current video material for use in seminars and support groups. We continue to publish Adoption Matters which benefits the whole Alberta adoption community. We offer support groups to all categories of clients. We often compile educational packages for clients on topics like cross-cultural adoption, adoption and the school system, infertility, or drugs and alcohol during pregnancy.
So please consider our request and ask your friends and families to consider us as well. Did you know that you could designate your United Way contribution to come to Adoption Options as we are a Registered Charity? Many families are now doing so annually. Another way to donate is to send us a cheque, post-dated cheques, or all us with your Visa or Mastercard number to cover your donation. If you wish, specify how you want your donation used. Income Tax Receipts will be issued.
In closing I would like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read this. We always appreciate your commitment to the agency no matter what form it comes in, whether a small donation, a gift of your time or just those special words of thanks for the work we do.
To make a donation please call Darlene at 1-800-770-3023
Or send us a cheque made payable to: Adoption Options
304, 10109 106 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 3L7
by Jane Reid
I am often asked by my own family members, friends and people who have adopted through our agency why we fundraise. I think it is sometimes hard for people to understand why we need to do this because they assume that the fees we charge our adoptive parents are sufficient to cover all of our working costs. Unfortunately, they are not. Recently I went to my doctor and was talking to him about why he won?t renew a prescription over the phone. He said, ?You don?t work for free, do you?? Well, as a matter of fact, I and the other social workers at Adoption Options do a lot of work that is not funded and I would classify that as working for free. Let me tell you about some of it and perhaps you will have a better understanding of why we fundraise.
COMMITTEE WORK
I was part of the working group recommending changes to the Commissioner for Children and Families on the way in which adoption is practiced in Alberta. We met for over one year and drafted several reports to the Commissioner. The only people at these meetings who did not receive government funding were the two licensed agency representatives. Our Edmonton staff have also participated on a number of similar commmittees in the last few years. This is work for free.
INTERAGENCY LIAISON
I served as chairperson for the Calgary Regional Adoption Council and Edmonton staff attended the Edmonton Regional Adoption Council meetings. These councils involved government and all the agencies and groups who do any work in the area of adoption. At these meetings we discussed issues that affect adoptive families and anyone whose lives have been touched by adoption, plan annual adoption week activities, etc. This is work for free.
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATIONS
We are often asked to give talks to other groups such as churches, schools, university classes, medical practitioners, infertility support groups or international adoption support groups. We organize conferences and do public speaking. We believe we have an obligation to provide ongoing education about adoption to our families and the community. We also feel an obligation to our profession and thus we accept social work placement students from time to time. Several of us have also served on the boards of other adoption-related organizations and presented at adoption conferences. This is all work for free.
BIRTHPARENT WORK
We all see many birthparents who do not choose adoption for their children. Although we charge a fee to prospective adoptive parents for birthparent counseling, this does not begin to cover the cost of the hours we often put in on an individual case. Obviously we don?t work with people only if they are going to place their child, as part of the process is coming to a decision. Let me give you a few examples from a recent six-month period. I met once with a 15 year old and her mother who had different views as to what they should do. I met with a woman expecting twins, who told me she was moving to the United States the next day. She had come in with her boyfriend because she wanted him to get counseling. I met with another couple a number of times, providing them with counseling while they explored their options. They decided to marry. I met with a young woman, providing her with counseling over several sessions. She decided to raise her baby. Of course, I also met with many clients who chose adoption for their child. But when situations involve older children, which is happening more often, they are always very time consuming whether or not they result in a placement.
REDUCED FEES IN SIBLING ADOPTIONS
It seems that once or twice every year a birthmother comes along needing to place a second baby with the family she placed with previously. Usually the family is not yet back on the waiting list and may not be ready financially to look at doing another adoption. Because of our strong commitment to siblings remaining together, we greatly reduce our fees in these situations.
WHY DO WE WORK FOR FREE?
Part of our dilemma is that we struggle between being viewed as a business versus acting and performing like a social service agency. If we were strictly a business, we would significantly raise our fees to cover all the costs of the work we do. But this might make adoption unaffordable for some families. So we continue to offer services to the community which don?t appear on any fee schedule, services for which there is no funding. And we continue to do what we can do with the staff we have, always stretching ourselves to do more and dreaming of the day we can do it all!
WHAT ELSE WOULD WE LIKE TO DO THAT WE ARE NOT CURRENTLY DOING?
Lots of things! We would like to be able to work with even more groups to educate them about open adoption and adoption in general. We would like to help professionals who come into contact with adoptive families to have a better understanding of the issues of adoption so that they can positively interact with those whose lives are touched by adoption. We need to develop a comprehensive communications package to assist us with this goal. You can help us to do this by contributing to our fundraising requests.
WHAT ABOUT THE ONGOING THINGS WE WANT TO GO ON DOING?
There are other concrete things you could help us with. We give every birthparent a package consisting of the book, Dear Birthmother, a decision-making questionnaire and other handouts. We also give our birthmothers small mementos like journals and candles. We try to keep our lending libraries stocked with current adoption literature for children, birthparents, adoptive parents, search clients and professionals. We need current video material for use in seminars and support groups. We continue to publish Adoption Matters which benefits the whole Alberta adoption community. We offer support groups to all categories of clients. We often compile educational packages for clients on topics like cross-cultural adoption, adoption and the school system, infertility, or drugs and alcohol during pregnancy.
So please consider our request and ask your friends and families to consider us as well. Did you know that you could designate your United Way contribution to come to Adoption Options as we are a Registered Charity? Many families are now doing so annually. Another way to donate is to send us a cheque, post-dated cheques, or all us with your Visa or Mastercard number to cover your donation. If you wish, specify how you want your donation used. Income Tax Receipts will be issued.
In closing I would like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read this. We always appreciate your commitment to the agency no matter what form it comes in, whether a small donation, a gift of your time or just those special words of thanks for the work we do.
To make a donation please call Darlene at 1-800-770-3023
Or send us a cheque made payable to: Adoption Options
304, 10109 106 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 3L7