November is National Adoption Month, a month set aside for a national effort to raise awareness of more than 100,000 children in foster care in the U.S. who are waiting for a safe and loving family to adopt them.
Mission West Virginia has been helping families with foster care and adoption for nearly 25 years. With over 7,000 children in foster care in West Virginia, and many teens aging out each year, Mission WV continues to work tirelessly in our mission to find every child a loving family. While the primary goal of foster care is to reunify families, permanency and adoption is almost always the secondary goal for children and teens who cannot safely return to their families.
“There are a lot of great kids in West Virginia who are waiting for a family of their own,” said Kelly Thompson, executive director of Mission West Virginia. “Adoption provides children with a permanent family, love, and the support they need as they grow up and become adults. The purpose of this month is to celebrate the joys of adoption and to encourage more families and individuals to give children permanent families.”
Traditionally, foster care and adoption agencies observe Adoption Month through in-person celebrations. Taking the pandemic into consideration, we are observing virtually this year but with optimism for community messaging. One of the best ways to recruit foster and adoptive families is through word of mouth and public messaging.
Mission West Virginia will be mailing packages with recruitment posters and stickers to community agencies and churches. If you are interested in hanging posters or spreading the word in your community, you can request your own mailer at: missionwv.org/poster-request.
We are also coordinating a push for increased foster and adoptive parent inquiries during the month of November. Our own staff have been challenged to recruit through personal networks and we hope to reach a record number of families who want to receive more information about fostering or adoption. Information may be requested at: missionwv.org/request-information.
Many children are still awaiting adoption in West Virginia. You could be the one to open your life and adopt a waiting teen in care. If you would like to learn more and receive information about foster care and/or adoption, please contact Mission West Virginia at 304-512-0555, email fosteradopt@missionwv.org or visit www.missionwv.org.
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