Gladney Blog

Trevor

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Val

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Zach

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How does this work?

Second only to being matched with a child for adoption, the most exciting part of the international adoption process is traveling to bring your child home! It is important to be prepared for this step. And, just like all parts of the adoption journey, Gladney Center staff will be here to guide and help you as you travel to China.

It’s hard to believe the school year is about to wrap up and students will soon be turning in their books in favor of flip flops and sunscreen! As the school year winds down, I want to share with you some exciting updates about Gladney’s AdoptED school-based education program. Since AdoptED’s inception in 2012, Gladney has reached more than 45,000 students with compelling information about all aspects of the adoption process, programs, and careers!

AdoptED was born through collaborative efforts of community leaders and Gladney, who all believe education empowers students to be able to navigate their futures, goals, and dreams. This ground-breaking program works with educators to provide interactive presentations in the classroom setting. AdoptED gives students parameters for goal setting, decision-making, and healthy life choices. Gladney’s goal is to introduce solutions to the problems students are facing today and to empower them with information that can inspire them to make positive life choices.

AdoptED continues to grow and create exciting content for use in schools across the country.  This year marked an important milestone, as we entered classrooms in 36 states and hosted 15 field trips to Gladney’s campus! We are already booking for next semester, and we will soon be bringing new AdoptED tools to your community. AdoptED’s app is coming this summer, and we will be unveiling a new website with an innovative built-in learning module for students to access three new adoption lessons. This new digital learning module is important to AdoptED’s long-term growth and accessibility for students and teachers who need Gladney the most.  

To learn more about AdoptED please follow us on Facebook or check us out on Instagram.  AdoptED Inspires!

Having five episodes of the reFRAMED podcast published, we are thrilled that the subject reflects that this is a parenting podcast and yet so much more. Clinicians, educators, therapists, CPS workers, social workers, and other professionals can gain needed insight on how we need to lean in to the children in our lives in order to meet their needs.

If you have been following superkids for very long you have heard me say this before, and if you continue following I'm sure I will say it again, but I cannot get over the difference that meeting a child in person makes! I wrote bout Autumn here. I totally fell for her. Her little pictures, videos, everything. Then I met her in person, and y'all... she is the cutest, most fun, darling little 4 year old girl!

Deprive our darling child of his nap and stick him on a plane for 2.5 hours and he’s not so darling. He howled like a banshee nearly all the way to Guangzhou. He wet himself and peed on me. He threw a toy, a cup of water, a pickle covered in mayonnaise, and my phone. The toy beaned the nice man across the aisle. He screamed because he couldn’t go into business class. He screamed because he wanted a Coke. He screamed because he was being held. He screamed because he wasn’t being held. He screamed because the window shades were open. He screamed because he had a seat belt on. He screamed because a nice blanket was placed upon him. He stopped screaming long enough for deplaning and baggage claim. Then in the van to the hotel he lunged forward to grab the stick shift, so I had to hold him again, so he started screaming again. After about thirty minutes, he finally, finally fell asleep. It was 6pm.

Ronan is a darling 20 month old baby boy. He is currently in the Butterfly Home and is well loved and cared for by his caregivers there. His best friend is Hailey and they spend a lot of time playing together.

Like most people I love to peruse social media for news of the day or for interesting insights on subjects I care about.  Recently I read a very compelling and honest article titled, “Pipeline to Homelessness: Aging out of the Foster Care System.”   The article details the challenges teens face as they age out of the foster care system. 

Because of my work at Gladney, I was familiar with the very bleak outcomes associated with teens aging of foster care.  Outcomes including, homelessness, trauma and mental illness, unplanned pregnancy and criminal activity, but what I liked about the article was the call to action for hope.  And this is where I see Gladney.  We can work together and be the hope for these kids.  Because there is a surprisingly simple answer.  Find homes for children who need them.  Gladney believes every child deserves a loving and caring home.  I am very proud and excited about the focus Gladney is giving this issue.  New initiatives include: