November is National Adoptions Month! As Brevard Family Partnership’s adoption agency partner, IMPOWER will celebrate by continuing our mission to facilitate adoptions to help kids find their forever families. As of the end of September, 8 adoptions have been finalized and 9 more are scheduled for October. With a goal of 75 for this fiscal year, staff have been very busy working with families, case managers and children to complete this complex process which includes recruiting, training, home studies, home visits, court appearances, and staffings. However, they never lose sight of their number one goal: to ensure each child is placed in a safe and loving home.
IMPOWER’s Adoptions Team has identified teens as being in need of special attention for adoption services. In order to target this population, our September Match Event (a gathering for potential adoptive families and kids available for adoption) brought Games2U out to provide entertainment and activities. Kids and families played laser tag and video games together. The event was a huge success, despite the rain, as every child in attendance had at least one family that expressed interest in adopting them.
Continuing to address the needs of our teens, IMPOWER is the recipient of a grant from the Community Foundation for Brevard for the Road to Home Project. These funds will be utilized to hold a series of Teen Workshops that will encourage and educate teens on the benefits of adoption and the realities of life on their own. The goal of the workshop is to increase adoption rates of dependent teenagers in Brevard County.
And, as always, we look forward to the upcoming Celebration of Adoptions that will take place November 25th at the Brevard County court house.
