In July I invited my neighbor Courtney over to swim. While our kids swam, I was able to catch up with her and we talked about what we’ve been doing. She’s always been so encouraging of us adopting our kids. I think it’s important to surround yourself with good people and she’s one of them. I mentioned that I was starting my own private practice as a financial coach preparing couples financially for adoption and fertility.
Anyway, we were talking about our jobs, kids, and family history. (Her maiden name and my great great grandma that I’m named after have the same last name, I’m just certain we are related.) She tells me about her friend that she grew up with that just started a fostering and adoption ministry. So, I looked them up online, (I love Google). I’m so grateful for lazy summer afternoons where I was able to connect with a friend and find out about this great non-profit. I hope you talk a few minutes of your time to listen to Lauren’s story on my podcast.
Hope4One Ministries has a clothing store where new foster placements can receive a weeks worth of clothes and a meal to help them out. My first thought was, “Man I’m so excited about this! I wish I had this support group when we first fostered our boys.” Two weeks later I saw that they were having the ribbon cutting for the closet. I wanted to go meet them because this was a ministry that has my heart. (If you click on the link, you’ll see the Cleveland Daily Banner article about the ribbon cutting, my face is right in the middle)
I met Lauren Haun and Camill Howard, co-founders of the Hope4One Ministry and many of their board. They mentioned a Get One Save One campaign that is kicking off Nov. 4th. Do you want to get on board and help raise money for this Adoption Grant, then look for more information starting November 4th? Anyone can apply for the Adoption Grant, you don’t have to be a local Tennessean. I was psyched to hear that these Adoptive Mom’s are wanting to help others be Adoptive Moms by helping them financially. Just donate $1. That’s it. If your church wants to get involved, then contact Lauren or Camill to get started.
Listen to this podcast episode where Lauren talks about her adoption journey to adopt 3 girls from China and her inspiration to start the Hope4One ministry. She talks about adoption as a calling, something she and her husband both felt strongly about. I love that they were a team right at the start about their desire to bring more children into their family.
They adopted their first daughter through Lifeline Children’s services.
Lauren’s family of 8 spends their money on activities such as dance and sports. They love to be active, but they never do more than one activity at a time per child. Instead of spending money on nice clothes, she’ll go to consignment shops and Goodwill, so they can spend their money on activities. They value DOING instead of getting THINGS.
For Christmas they asked Grandparents to give a membership or a season pass. They enjoyed going to Dollywood as a family, which provided them more fulfillment and joy than a few toys at Christmas time. I loved this idea because I feel the same way. Things and stuff don’t bring kids joy. They won’t remember them when they are older, but they will remember spending time together as a family.
Lauren talked about a friend that helped them raise funds online using Square.
You can also look at GivingGrid as another way to raise funds online. This peer-to-peer fundraiser has a zero fees policy. Donations can be as little as $5.
Square1Art is a great way to incorporate your child’s art into the adoption journey. If you have older children that want to feel a part of the adoption process, encourage them to draw a picture and submit it to Square1Art and start a fundraiser. You keep 38% of the funds raised.
To listen to the entire Podcast, find it here:
To make sure you learn more about others on their journey, be sure to subscribe and Follow Family Money Coaching’s blog. Next weeks Podcast will be about an Adoptive mom that adopted 4 kids through foster care. She will discuss how she lost 2 brothers, but was later blessed with 3 brothers. Be sure to subscribe, so you don’t miss out on that Podcast and future interviews.