How does this adoption grant thing work?

So, you may be wondering, how does this whole adoption grant thing work?

From the donor side, the funds are going directly to Reece's Rainbow, which is a 501(c)(3) corporation. RR holds the funds for Martin's adoption grant, and when a family commits to adopt Martin, the funds will be available to help offset the costs of Martin's adoption.

Does this mean that the money goes directly to Martin's prospective family? Nope, it does not. Does this mean the grant is available to cover all the costs of his adoption? No to that one too.

First of all, there are initial costs that the family must cover themselves, such as those for obtaining a home study and paying initial agency fees. The grant money is not available for those costs. In order to adopt internationally a family needs to meet certain income requirements and needs to have the financial ability to support another child, including having private health insurance. They do not need to be rich, but cannot be so financially precarious that they cannot afford at least some of the costs of adoption.

Second, adoption grant funds do not go directly to the family. The funds are disbursed to the family's adoption agency, and only after the dossier (huge amounts of paperwork required for international adoption) has been submitted to Martin's birth country and Martin's adoptive family has received a travel date.

Grants are placed on the CHILD, not on the family. This means that, if a family initially commits to a child, but is not able to complete the adoption process, the funds remain with the child.

What happens to the money, if the child is not adopted? I cannot even think of this as a possibility for Martin (it would make me cry), but if a child cannot be adopted, if the child is sent to a closed institution or dies, then RR applies those funds to an adoption grant for another child or children.

For more information visit the New Family and Family Sponsorship pages at http://reecesrainbow.org/

Christmas Tree Angel Project

Reece's Rainbow's annual Christmas Angel Tree Project begins today. It is RR's biggest and most important fundraiser of the year. All the younger orphans with Down syndrome (ages 0-5) that RR has identified and is trying to find families for are posted on one page so that people can sponsor and donate to the children's adoption grants.

The Christmas Angel Tree runs from November 1- December 31, 2010. When you donate $35 or more for a child, before December 15, you receive a beautiful photo ornament of your sponsored child to hang on your tree! These ornaments make fabulous gifts for friends, family, teachers, advocates, etc while providing a life-saving gift for the child who is in desperate need of a “forever family” of their own.

This is a very special way to “share Christmas” with an orphaned child, and to make it possible for other families to afford the high cost of rescuing them from orphanages and mental institutions around the world!

I am going to get a special "Christmas Warrior" button for the blog that will let you donate directly from here, but for now you can donate through paypay through the RR Christmas Tree Angel page here http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorship/angeltree2010 .

Just scroll down to find Martin's handsome face, click on the donate link, and remember to put Martin in the message area. If your heart is drawn to another child waiting for a family, feel free to put your money and prayers toward that child too.

Better yet, you can save the paypal fees and send a check directly to Reece's Rainbow at
Reece's Rainbow
P.O. Box 4024
Gaithersburg, MD 20885