Gladney Blog

We are honored to partner with Fort Worth Mayor Parker and these other fine organizations to help provide real solutions and support for maternal and infant health.  Together we can make a difference!

The excitement builds as you anticipate that special day … the day you meet your child. 

After years of discussion, my wife and I decided to adopt. Because I work for Gladney, the seed was already planted, but it took us a while to take that next step. Our daughters were a little older, so we thought introducing a new child, a son, into the mix probably wouldn’t be too distressing. We completed all the trainings that parents go through when adopting from foster care, and we sat through many discussions with other parents sharing how rewarding and how challenging adoption can be. My wife and I smiled at each other thinking, “Of course, there will be challenging days, but we’re super parents … just look at our two perfect daughters.” 

Lessons Learned & New Implementations

Within 24 hours of Texas’ governor’s order to stay at home in March 2020, Gladney was able to ensure that 95% of our employees who could work remotely were set up to do so in their homes. Microsoft Teams (which Gladney had had in place for over a year, though not used consistently) and other platforms, such as Zoom, quickly became commonplace and allowed us to maintain connection with our staff and teams somewhat seamlessly during the stay-at-home order. Gladney has had a business continuity plan on the shelf for some time, but this was the first real test of how it worked in practice. 

Hopeland, an organization that finds better ways to keep children in families, and the Gladney Center for Adoption, which has been creating bright futures through adoption for more than 130 years, are excited to be partnering together to celebrate National Adoption Month. In this year of all years, we are faced with a crucial moment to highlight everyone who works to ensure every child has a safe, loving home.

Sitting in church this past Sunday our associate pastor was delivering a message taken from the movie Frozen 2.  I’ll admit that it took me about two years to see the first Frozen and I have yet to see the second, however I did YouTube what she was talking about.  In the movie there is a song that Anna (Kristin Bell) sings called The Next Right Thing. Even though I haven't seen the movie, this resonated with me because the message seemed to be about overcoming adversity or tackling big problems by doing The Next Right Thing. 

“There’s no place like home for the holidays,” the classic line by Perry Como that sets the tone for the holiday season (I bet you just sang it in your head). Home means fun holiday memories, I’m sure a few laughs, and maybe even a few tears. We all have our home for the holiday traditions. Who is hosting the festivities at their house? What will we bring? Who will be there? All of these make the season great! 

I joined Gladney on April 1, 2008 (April Fool’s Day–appropriate!) as the Chief Development Officer. The agency was in transition at that time, as the development team had just been relocated from the Gladney Fund to the Gladney Center. I later began working with different departments throughout the organization and eventually became the Chief Operating Officer. Eighteen months ago, I took the reins as President and CEO. I have worked in the nonprofit world for the past 24 years, and I’m continually amazed by the generosity of our society. I have learned over the years that people are motivated to make a real impact. It has been my job to tell the story and show how a person’s support can change lives. At Gladney, we have the privilege of doing that every day.

Although it’s still cold outside (depending on the day here in Texas!), IT’S SUMMER CAMP REGISTRATION TIME!!  This year’s Gladney Camp Forge will be held July 28^th – August 3^rd in Granbury, Texas.  This week-long overnight camp for Gladney kids age 7--16 will be a blast.  My 10 year old son is going this year and he is so excited!  Parents if you are looking for a great way for your Gladney baby to connect with others and have a super fun time, Camp Forge is it! Registration is now open:  https://iamgladney.org/campforge

Dear Gladney Family,

For 132 years, Gladney’s mission has been Creating Bright Futures Through Adoption. During the last few decades, we have seen many changes in the adoption world: international adoption reaching a peak of placements into the U.S. in 2004 and then on a steady decline to this day; domestic infant adoption continuing to be the backbone of our organization, but every day providing new challenges as to how we introduce the option of adoption to an expectant mother; and the need for raising awareness for placing children from foster care continues to grow at a rapid rate. At the core, our mission has remained the same and is reflected in every aspect of our organization, from programming to our wonderful campus; a setting that has provided memories of comfort and joy to so many of our families and children over the years and will continue to do so for generations to come.

However, as our world evolves, we must evolve, too! A few weeks ago, we hosted the Gladney Center board on campus. We concluded our Monday meeting with a deep discussion on the use of our residential home. Over the last decade, the need for the residential home for expectant mothers has declined, and we have been able to serve these clients in their home communities in an equally effective way. Over the past 6 months, we have been evaluating different opportunities for the home and ultimately determined the greatest need in our community is housing for teen and pre-teen girls who are currently living in foster care. Beginning in April, we will open our doors to meet this need in conjunction with Our Community Our Kids (OCOK), the foster placement contract holder in this region of Texas. During this year-long pilot project, we will house up to 15 female youth who are currently in foster care, available for adoption, basic to moderate level of care, and actively seeking adoption. Our success will be measured in many ways, but a primary one will be adoptive placement for the youth. Following the first year, we will evaluate the potential to grow the program to 30 youth (the max capacity of the home). Let me stress that adoption is the ultimate goal, but in the event we can’t find a forever family for each youth, providing teenage normalcy, preparation for life after foster care, and support for healing from their past trauma will be key areas of focus. As more details are finalized, we will share them, but for now, please know a tremendous amount of work has gone into making this decision. I’m confident we will be successful in year one and for many years to come.

This move does not diminish our focus on domestic infant or international adoptions; however, this is a big step for Gladney and a departure from our recent history. For the past 70+ years, we have operated a maternity home on our campus – this is the end of an era. It’s also a return to our roots. We began our story 132 years ago by bringing vulnerable, neglected, and abandoned youth into our home. This step will widen the impact Gladney will have on children and families across Texas and beyond because every child deserves a loving and caring family, and every means every.

Sincerely,

Mark Melson
Gladney Dad, President, & CEO
Gladney Center for Adoption