<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Gift for a Child - Adoption Knowledge Center]]></title><description><![CDATA[Pages]]></description><link>http://www.giftforachild.org/</link><copyright><![CDATA[Copyright Gift for a Child - Adoption Knowledge Center]]></copyright><generator>sNews CMS</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Donation]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Gift for a Child is committed to creating broad, sustainable change in support, education and health and well-being for youth in and out of foster care.   460,000&nbsp; children are removed from abusive homes each year needing help from a caring community. When you donate to Gift for a Child, you will provide foster youth with:  
  
  Educational Support and Opportunities   
  Birthday, College and Transition Care Packages   
  High School and College Graduation Recognition   
  Real Life Preparation and Adventures   
  Connections to Caring Adults      
  Gift for a Child is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations to Gift for a Child are&nbsp;deductible to the fullest extent of the law.     ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 06 Dec 2010 11:36:14 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.giftforachild.org/home/donation/</link><guid>http://www.giftforachild.org/home/donation/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Our Heros]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Businesses    
    Honoring Best Buy:   Gift for a Child works closely with many businesses both locally and nationally to help support youth in foster care and those transitioning out with needed real life preparation.&nbsp; Last year when we launched our Real Life Preparation Program.&nbsp; Best Buy Corporation stepped in to education foster youth graduating from high school about how to make the best purchasing decisions.&nbsp;  
    Honoring RIM (Research in Motion):   When we needed help to support youth graduating from high school Research in Motion was quietly there to provide support.      
  Individuals    
    Honoring Beth Blaisdell  : It takes extraordinary people to give their time and talents to help meet the needs of children in foster care. When a senior executive from a fortune 500 company donates her time to help foster youth, the impact is more than incredible. It is life saving and changing. Beth Blaisdell pulled together a team of senior leaders from the business community to raise money and support to help foster youth.&nbsp; Beth mobilized&nbsp; individuals and businesses into action and her efforts provided Gift for a Child with funding and resources to support over 1,500 children in foster care the last three years. This year we honor Beth as one of our Chief Gift Givers.      
  Organizations      
    Honoring the State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers:   Over the last few years Gift for a Child has worked side by side with an incredible group of attorneys that volunteer their time to help organize and host the annual Celebration of Excellence graduation event for foster youth. Every year with other partners this group works tireless behind the scenes never seeking credit for themselves.       
  Celebrities    
    Honoring Ne Yo:   He's a Grammy award winning singer, a songwriter, composer, and producer and yet many may not know about the number of hours he donates quietly to help children in foster care.&nbsp; He took time out of his day during Real Life Preparation to talk to 250 graduating youth about their lives and their future.    
  Photographers    
    Honoring Kathy Nesbit:   She was one of the original photographers to donate her time to spend a day with youth in care to paint a memory through her beautiful photographs of children in care. The first time she joined our cause, Kathy photographed more than 26 youth. Since that time more than 100 youth were professionally photographed by Kathy and many now are with their forever family.      
  Foster Authors        Honoring Regina Lousie:&nbsp;   She is the au  thor of the bestselling Memoir "Somebody's Someone" and she is raising her voice and using her writing to advocate for foster care.&nbsp;       Living in well over 30 foster homes, group homes and psychiatric facilities, and over coming dangerous withdrawals from inaccurately prescribed drugs, Regina took charge of her life. After missing many years of formal education and labeled â€œbelow-average or marginal at best,â€ Reginaâ€™s optimism and perseverance helped her become a clear definition of resilience. She is a now successful business woman and author.&nbsp; 
  Regina devotes her life to helping others. She tours the nation speaking on behalf of children, resilience, and being your best. She not only touches, motivates and inspires her listeners to want to stand and shoutâ€”but she leaves them with the sheer hope of possibility.  &nbsp;     ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 06 Dec 2010 10:56:57 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.giftforachild.org/home/our-heros/</link><guid>http://www.giftforachild.org/home/our-heros/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Our People]]></title><description><![CDATA[]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 10 Oct 2010 09:30:47 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.giftforachild.org/home/our-people/</link><guid>http://www.giftforachild.org/home/our-people/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Community Partners]]></title><description><![CDATA[  To accomplish our goals, Gift for a Child works closely with numerous community organizations and government agencies to supplement their programs while serving as an advocate, mentor and lifeline for children in need. These organizations include:   
  Social Service Agencies   
  Gift for a Child partners with child welfare organizations to develop awareness programs focused on the needs of abandoned and neglected children. We also fill gaps between childrenâ€™s needs and agency support. These partners include state and federal child welfare agencies, private adoption agencies, community development groups, parent groups, group homes and scores of others.   
  If you are a state social services agency, private agency or association looking for support with your adoption/foster care community education or recruitment efforts, please contact us at   childwelfare@giftforachild.org     
  Community Outreach Programs   
  Entire communities working together can make a difference in the lives of 132 million abandoned and neglected children. Across the country, individuals are needed to build brighter futures for needy youth by supporting Gift for a Childâ€™s advocacy and outreach programs. Learn more about what you can do.   
  Corporations and Other Businesses   
  Gift for a Child relies on the support of volunteers to help make a difference in the lives of children. We work with Community Affairs and Human Resource offices of corporations and local businesses to help implement adoption education and benefits programs.   
  Volunteerism is a key component of many companies' philanthropic and community affairs programs.&nbsp;Corporate volunteerism can be a triple win when you support Gift for a Child programs: helping children in the foster care system while giving employees a chance to shine and benefiting the company in numerous ways as they watch the lives of the children improve.&nbsp;   
  If you are a business or corporation looking to support one of Gift for a Childâ€™s programs or related adoption awareness efforts, please email us at   corporatesupport@giftforachild.org  .   
  Faith-based Organizations   
  Gift for a Child works with the faith-based community to help educate and get members involved in foster care and adoption. We develop programs to educate church members regarding the great need to support abandoned and neglected children. Whenever possible, presentations are made during regularly scheduled weekend services. Additionally, depending upon availability, a Picture Adoption, Picture Charity, Picture Day or Heart Gallery Exhibit featuring pictures and stories of children in need can be placed on display. If your religious organization would like to become involved or work with Gift for a Child, please contact us at   congregations@giftforachild.org  . &nbsp;  
  Photographers   
  Gift for a Child is supported by a number of nationally recognized photographers. Local photographers, members of national photographic associations and other photojournalists volunteer their time and talent by taking pictures of children and producing professional, artistic portraits of children available for adoption, as well as homeless and impoverished youth.&nbsp;The portraits become part of awareness and education exhibits called Picture Adoption, Picture Charity, Picture Day and the Heart Gallery Southeast, and are designed to recruit prospective adoptive families. Weâ€™ve even created a site to recognize photographers that are making a difference for children.   
    Click here   to view the list of photographers currently supporting Gift for a Child programs. If you are a photographer, film processor, printer or picture framer and want to help, please contact us at   photographers@giftforachild.org  . Learn more about the Heart Gallery Southeast here.  ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:05:27 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.giftforachild.org/home/community-partners/</link><guid>http://www.giftforachild.org/home/community-partners/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Gifts You Can Give]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Ways You Can Help Prepare Foster Youth for the Future and Beyond:  
  Gift Your Home  
  Spending the holidays without a family and with nowhere to go is a significant issue cited by young people who have transitioned out of foster care. Extending an invitation to holiday celebrations or birthdays can help a youth fend off the depression that usually sets in around these important times of year.   
  Gift Laundry Service   
  Many adults can look back at the times they returned home as a youth with bags loaded with dirty clothes to wash. The offer to use laundry facilities can be a great way to keep a regular connection with a youth and provide them with a way to maintain pride in their appearance, regardless of an unstable housing situation.   
  Gift an Emergency Place to Stay  
  30% of young persons will be homeless within one year of leaving foster care. The offer of an emergency couch to sleep on or a guest bedroom to stay in can reduce anxiety and keep young people safe during hardships.   
  Gift Food or an Occasional Meal   
  A friendly, family-style meal every Thursday evening or an invitation to Sunday brunch or a monthly lunch can provide a youth with a healthy alternative to the fast food that often composes a youthâ€™s diet. It also provides a chance to connect and to role-model family life. An open invite to â€œraid the pantryâ€ can be very comforting to young students or those on a limited budget and will help to ensure that the youthâ€™s health isnâ€™t jeopardized when funds are low.   
  Gift a College Care Package   
  Students regularly receive boxes of homemade cookies, a phone card or photos from their parents when away at college. A regular package to a foster youth who has transitioned from care reminds them of connections â€œback homeâ€ and allows them to ï¬t in with their peers.   
  Gift a Job  
  An employer or person in a position to hire can help by providing special consideration when hiring for a new position. A phone call to the youth inviting them to apply, help with a written application, coaching for a job interview are all ways to help. Supportive adults can offer a youth the chance to help with yard work, housecleaning, babysitting, etc. in order to earn extra money and to establish a work reference.  
  Gift Job Hunting Support  
  Finding a job can be a daunting task for anyone. Advice, help completing applications or creating a resumÃ©, rehearsal of interview questions, transportation to interviews, preparation of appropriate clothing, discussion of workplace behavior and just plain cheering on can help a youth successfully land a job.   
  Gift Career Counseling  
  An adult working in the youthâ€™s ï¬eld of interest can offer advice which could launch a youthâ€™s career. Youth particularly beneï¬t from connections and introductions that lead to apprenticeships, job shadowing or other real-world experience. Supportive adults can help the transitioning youth make these contacts.   
  Gift Housing Guidance  
  Securing a ï¬rst apartment is a rite of passage to adulthood. But without guidance, ï¬nding housing can turn into an overwhelming experience. Youth leaving care often lack references or a co-signer which a supportive adult may be able to offer. Former foster youth may have opportunities for ï¬nancial assistance, but may need help locating it or applying for it. Also, supportive adults can utilize apartment hunting as an opportunity to discuss other daily living challenges, like roommates, utilities, selecting a neighborhood, transportation to job and needed services.   
  Gift Fun with You  
  Extending an invitation to a youth to go bike riding, bowling, shoot some hoops or to simply take a walk can promote health, relieve anxiety and provide a comfortable way to connect. Recreational activities like cooking, woodworking, painting or playing guitar can provide an outlet for youth and help to develop skills. Other activities include going to a movie, playing cards or chess or Monopoly, taking photographs, going shopping or taking a short trip.   
  Gift Your Time  
  Mentors have proven to be an effective inï¬‚uence on youth. Whether a formal or informal mentor to a youth in care, the supportive adult can be a role model, a coach and a friend.   
  Gift Transportation  
  Youth often need help with transportation and may have no one to turn to. A supportive adult can be a transportation resource, specifying the limits of the offer, i.e. for school, to ï¬nd employment, for medical appointments, to visit relatives, etc. You can often help the youth ï¬gure out how to use public transportation.  
  Gift Education Assistance  
  According to statistics, only 50% of foster youth will graduate from high school. These shocking statistics show that many youth in care struggle through school against terrible odds including multiple moves, learning disabilities, lack of parental support and missed time in class. A supportive adult can help by becoming a tutor or educational advocate, or by simply providing advice when needed. Youth planning to attend college can use help with college applications, fnding ï¬nancial aid, and visits to prospective college campuses.   
  Gift Marriage or Family Counseling  
  Youth coming out of foster care often lack the skill to cultivate and maintain lasting personal relationships. In many cases, role-modeled relationships for the youth have included biological parents with dysfunctional relationships and paid caretakers from group homes or facilities. Supportive adults can provide frank discussions about relationships, marriage, the role of a spouse and how to be a good parent when the time comes.   
  Gift Your Time  
  It can be scary attending a medical appointment all alone. A supportive adult can accompany a youth to a medical appointment or rehearse what questions to ask, interpret a doctorâ€™s instructions, or provide advice about obtaining a second opinion.   
  Gift Storage  
  Sometimes the life of a youth can be transient, moving from location to location before getting settled. The supportive adult can provide a safe place to store valuables and help ensure that the youth doesnâ€™t lose track of valuables, including photo albums, family keepsakes and records.   
  Gift Encouragement  
  Everyone does better with a personal cheering section. The supportive adult may be the only one to offer encouraging words to a youth.   
  Gift Talk Time  
  When a youth transitions out of care, there are often moments of insecurity, loneliness and anxiety. The supportive adult can provide a listening ear for a youth to vent, offer advice and wisdom, or be a sounding board for ideas. It may be wise to establish â€œcalling hoursâ€ to avoid late night or early morning calls if that is a concern.  
  Gift Phone Use  
  Sometimes a phone is simply not an affordable luxury for a youth starting out on their own. A supportive adult could provide use of their phone as a message phone for the youthâ€™s prospective employers or landlords. Use of the phone can be helpful to keep in touch with caseworkers, siblings, parents and former foster parents, or to access resources in the community.   
  Gift Computer Use  
  Access to a computer is a valuable tool for a youth for school work, employment or housing search, or contact with siblings and friends.  
  Gift Clothing  
  A youth may need assistance and/or advice in purchasing or preparing clothing for events like a job interview, weddings or special occasions, or graduation. Sometimes special opportunities need special gear, like a school ski trip, a costume party, etc. A supportive adult can assist with laundry, ironing, mending, shopping for new clothes, or occasionally purchasing a new item. Improving a youthâ€™s personal appearance can boost self conï¬dence.   
  Gift Spiritual Support  
  Youth often develop the same spiritual beliefs as their parents. Youth coming from care may have lacked this spiritual guidance. A supportive adult can invite a youth to join them as they search for their own spiritual path. The adult can offer to explore religion with the youth and invite them to participate in church or other spiritual activities.   
  Gift Legal Counsel  
  A youth emerging from care who gets into legal trouble usually cannot afford legal advice. When youth have a tangle with the law, they often land in deeper trouble because of their lack of experience and resources in navigating the legal system. A supportive adult can assist by connecting youth to needed legal services. The supporter may also wish to provide preventative advice to the youth who may be headed for legal entanglement.   
  Gift a Cultural Experience  
  Supportive adults who share a cultural background with a youth may wish to engage them in cultural activities. Even if the cultural backgrounds are different, the youth can be motivated to participate in cultural events. Support can be given to examine cultural traditions and beliefs and encouragement given to take pride in their cultural identity.   
  Gift Moving Help  
  Moving is so much easier with the support of friends, from packing, to manpower, a truck to move, to help setting up the new apartment. The supportive adult can also invite the youth to scout through their garage or storage area for extra furniture or household items that might be useful.   
  Gift Cooking Lessons  
  Many times youth coming out of care have not had the opportunity to practice cooking on their own. Meal preparation is often a natural way to engage in meaningful conversation and build a relationship. The supportive adult may decide to take a youth grocery shopping, or help stock the youthÊ¼s ï¬rst kitchen with a starter supply of utensils, spices, cleaning supplies and food.   
  Gift Connections  
  Simply knowing that someone will be aware that you are missing, hurt or in trouble is important. A supportive adult can instigate regular check-ins with a youth transitioning out of care, easing feelings of anxiety and building conï¬dence that someone is concerned about their safety.   
  Gift Money Management  
  Sorting through bills and balancing a checkbook can be a particularly daunting task for a youth with a learning disability, deï¬cient math skills or lack of experience. Understanding how to maintain and obtain credit, deciphering loan applications and budgeting are some of the items where a supportive adult can lend help.   
  Gift Addiction Help  
  A high percentage of youth in care have parents who had drug or alcohol dependency problems. Working with young people transitioning out of care to avoid these dangerous pitfalls and offering support if a problem should develop could help break a familial cycle of addiction.   
  Gift Mental Help Support  
  Some youth in care suffer from mental health challenges. Depression, attention-deï¬cit disorder, eating disorders and other illness may afflict the youth. It is suggested that the supportive adult educate themself about any mental health disorders that are at issue.   
  Gift Help with a Disability  
  Many youth in care have learning disabilities which may make complicated reading assignments more difï¬cult. The supportive adult can make arrangements for a youth to collect materials for review on a weekly basis or to give a call on an as-needed basis.   
  Gift Car and Home Repair Skills  
  Youth may need help keeping an automobile in good repair. Teaching a youth about the care of their car can help them build self-conï¬dence and skills that can last a lifetime. Helping a youth ï¬x up their apartment or a rented home, or asking for their assistance in projects around your home, can teach new skills which may be put to use throughout life.   
  Gift Housekeeping Skills  
  Some youth, particularly those who have lived in a residential facility or restrictive environment, may not have had real-life experience in keeping a home clean. The supportive adult can discuss cleaning supplies to use for particular household chores, how to avoid disease and organization of clutter once a youth has transitioned to their own home.   
  Gift Home Decorating  
  Helping a youth decorate their home can be a fun and rewarding way to contribute to the youthâ€™s sense of pride and self esteem.   
  Gift Help Voting  
  Youth in our society often form their ï¬rst political impressions based on their parentsâ€™ political beliefs. Youth in care often do not receive this role modeling. A supportive adult may wish to discuss current local, state and national issues, help a youth register to vote or take a youth to the polling location to vote.   
  Gift Help with Community Service  
  Volunteering to help others or for a worthy cause is an excellent way to build self-esteem. Supporters can offer to engage a youth in their own good work or embark on a new volunteer effort together.   
  Gift Community Resources  
  Navigating through the maze of government agencies and myriad of social service programs is difï¬cult at best even for a resourceful adult. The supportive adult can help the youth make a list of useful resources in the community and offer to visit them together.   
  Gift Safety and Personal Security   
  The youth transitioning from care needs to take charge of their own personal safety. The supportive adult can encourage them to take a self-defense class, get CPR certiï¬ed, and get current on health and safety issues. The adult can take a tour of the youthâ€™s apartment and make suggestions regarding home safety, can help develop an evacuation plan, and make plans with the youth on what to do in an emergency situation. The supportive adult can offer to be called when something goes wrong, and offer to be listed as â€œperson to contact in an emergencyâ€ on business forms.   
    
    
    Sharde from Indiana, FosterClub All-Star     
  â€œPermanency is important because if you spend your entire life moving around it doesnâ€™t give you a chance to get close to anyone, and you donâ€™t learn how to build those essential relationships you will need later in life. Moving around also influences you to run away from your problems.â€   
    
  Gift Babysitting  
  If the youth is a parent, babysitting services can be the relief that is needed to keep a young family intact. In addition to providing a time-out, the offer to watch a child while the young parent gets other chores around the house accomplished (laundry, cleaning, etc.), provides an excellent opportunity to role-model good parenting skills.   
  Gift Emergency Cash  
  Most of us have experienced a cash shortage at one time or another as a youth. Youth coming from care usually lack this important â€œsafety netâ€. The supportive adult may wish to discuss upfront their comfort level in supplying ï¬nancial assistance. They would discuss what constitutes an emergency (not enough to cover rent? a medical emergency? cash for a date? gas money?).   
  Gift References  
  Many applications, including those for college, housing and jobs, require a list of references be provided by the applicant. If the supportive adult is able to give a positive reference for a youth, they should make sure a youth has their current contact information so that the supporter can be included on their list of references.   
  Gift Advocacy   
  Sometimes youth have a difï¬cult time speaking up for themselves in court, at school, with government systems, etc. Supportive adults can help a youth organize their thoughts, speak on their behalf, or assist in writing letters.   
  Gift Inclusion   
  Often youth in care have difï¬culty forming new friendships and relationships when they leave care. A supportive adult can extend regular invitations to the youth to attend social and community gatherings as an opportunity to form new friendships and make connections with people. Good opportunities to make new friends include family weddings, hiking trips, garden clubs, community service projects and volunteer opportunities, dances, sporting events, debate groups, community college classes, etc.   
  Gift Adoption   
  Even for many older youth, including those over the age of 18, adoption remains a dream. An adult who is able to offer this ultimate permanent connection for a youth may make an initial offer to adopt through a Permanency Pact. Often youth may have fears about adoption, interpreting adoption to mean loss of contact with biological parents or siblings (this should be taken into consideration when discussing this option). Youth who once declined to be adopted often change their minds, so an adult may want to renew the offer from time to time.   
    
    
    JJ from Michigan,     FosterClub All-Star     
  â€œPermanency is a feeling that is different for everyone, it is not bound by time nor can it be measured. It has to be discovered and often times it has to be tested, and rejected more than once before permanency can be established. ermanency is so hard to understand because it is a conceptual idea of an emotion and is received on both ends very differently for every person. There is no straight â€˜by the bookâ€™ definition of permanency because the emotions I feel cannot be felt by anyone else, and thatâ€™s the great thing about it.â€   ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:48:45 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.giftforachild.org/home/gifts-you-can-give/</link><guid>http://www.giftforachild.org/home/gifts-you-can-give/</guid></item></channel></rss>