Thursday, September 11, 2014

Taiwan Waiting Children



Did you know that there are many children, of all ages, in Taiwan waiting for their forever families?  There are many boys and girls, ranging in age from toddlers to young teens.  There are also many sibling groups of two or more children waiting to be matched with a family.  Some of the children waiting for families have special needs, but many of the school aged children are healthy.  Some of the most common special needs we see are children with ADHD, Hepatitis B, exposure to drug or alcohol abuse in utero, a family history of mental illness or disabilities, or children with a difficult social history.

Gladney learns about waiting children through our two partner organizations in Taiwan, Cathwel Services and Chung Yi Social Welfare Foundation.  We get thorough files on each child, including social history and medical reports, developmental checklists, photos, and very often, videos.  Once families are matched with a child or children, not only will you get updated reports on their health and development, but you'll also get to have Skype sessions with your child while waiting to bring them home.

If you would like to learn more about the waiting children in Taiwan, please be in touch with Taiwan Program Caseworker, Mary Chapman at mary.chapman@gladney.org.  Let's find these precious children the forever family they deserve!

Friday, January 10, 2014

Join Us for Our Chinese New Year Party!

Year of the Horse

Gladney Center for Adoption invites all families and friends of adoption to join us for our
Chinese New Year Party!
 
Sunday, Feb. 9th, 2014
11am - 2pm
 
Jing Fong Restaurant
20 Elizabeth Street
New York, NY 10013
 
Click here for full details and registration.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Gladney Asia Program 2014 Calendar!


 
 This year with your help we put together a 2014 calendar! This calendar features beautiful photos of children that have been adopted through Gladney's Asia Program. We wanted to say a special thank you to families that sent in photos. Unfortunately, we could not use all of the photos we received due to size and pixel restraints on the calendar software. We also decided to use "kid-only" photos for all of the months. However, we still wish to use all of the photos we received in future monthly newsletters.
Calendars will be on sale for $12, and all additional donations will help support Superkids Charity. We are so excited about this, and hope that you are too! If you are interested, please download the order form, and mail it back to me at Gladney's New York office. If you have any additional questions regarding the 2014 calendar, please contact wendy.stanley@gladney.org.
Click on this link to download the calendar order form: 2014 Calendar Order Form

Monday, December 2, 2013

Gladney 2014 Chinese New Year Parties- Save the date!


  Februrary 8th, 2014 in Fort Worth, Texas
February 9th, 2014 in New York, NY
  
The upcoming year is the Year of the Horse!
 
 

Monday, November 25, 2013

Gladney Staff Celebrates Boys

 
"I am in love with my little boy, Toby! As a brand new mom I can't get enough of my baby boy's snuggles, squeaks and funny faces. I am getting to know his sweet personality more and more each day and watching him grow and learn is such a joy. I am already imagining the future with our little guy as he grows up - I hope he loves soccer as much as his daddy! Life has changed so much, but I can't imagine our family without our cuddly, beautiful boy!"     
 -April Uduhiri, Asia Programs Caseworker   
 
 
"One of the most important "boys" in my life is my big brother Jym. Jym is three years older than me and my only older sibling. While he picked on me relentlessly at times growing up (and sometimes still does), I'm pretty grateful that I grew up with a big brother. I knew, and still know, that he would always have my back. I've always felt proud being able to tell people that Jym is my brother. I learned so much from Jym - how to be an individual, how to stand up for myself, and how to be a genuinely good person. I love my sisters too, but there's something special about having a big brother!"
-Mary Chapman, Asia Programs Caseworker
 

Monday, November 18, 2013

Superkids

 
 
30 Boys in 30 Days Campaign
 
Each week Gladney Staff gets together for our Waiting Child Staffing Meeting.  This is probably our most important meeting of the week.  It is at these meetings that we get to step away from our computers and phones and bring our staff together to give our attention to the Waiting Children.  We know we owe it to these kids to give them the attention they deserve without the distractions of other obligations and To-Do lists.  Each meeting comes to life in its own way - with good news about recent matches, stories from our staff about families who have recently arrived home, and brainstorming to find new ways to advocate for some of the children who have not yet been matched with a family. Since November is Adoption Awareness Month - we really wanted to focus hard on helping some of our children find a family.  As our meeting progressed, we all knew what we wanted to do - put our extra efforts and attentions this month toward the many boys who need a family, thus was born our 30 Boys in 30 Days Campaign.
 
In a family these boys can do anything -- learn about volcanoes, trains, go camping, do rainbow loom(!), dress up as a power rangers for Halloween, and, of course, get into their fair share of mischief - as all healthy and happy boys (and girls) do from time to time!
  
During the month of November we will feature a unique child, who happens to be a boy, on our Asia Waiting Child Blog.  Please visit often and send your best wishes and prayers throughout the month to help each little guy find his family.  Many of these boys were seen by our Superkids Team this summer in China -- Stories can be found on the Superkids Blog.
 
Featured Today, Addison
 

Friday, November 15, 2013

Taiwan Update

We are excited to welcome families from Families and Children's Agency (FCA) into our Taiwan Cathwel program!  With the assistance of Cathwel's staff, Gladney was able to smoothly transition families without disrupting their adoption process with Cathwel.  It was wonderful having a chance to meet many of the FCA families at Gladney's October Pathways training! 
 
More good news from Cathwel! - In October, one of our long waiting families in the Cathwel program was presented with a referral of a 17 month old boy!  Congratulations to the family!
 
In Gladney's Taiwan adoption program, we currently have 6 families with accepted referrals at various stages of the dossier prep/PAIR and court processes.  One of the families will be travelling in December -- and the remaining five families should all be home with their children throughout the spring and summer months!
 
 

Tanner, adopted through the Cathwel program this summer,
 
celebrates his brother Tyler's wedding!
 
In October we were notified by Cathwel and Chung Yi about several waiting children who are in need of forever families.  The children vary in age and needs.  We feel this is an indication that the agencies in Taiwan have had time to adjust to the new system that has evolved with the introduction of child welfare and adoption legislation put in place over the past 2 years. We are expecting to see more children becoming available for international adoption within the coming months.