“Exponential change.” “Exponential growth.” They’re phrases that frequent our daily headlines, newscasts, and blogs. The concepts have the power to motivate public action and inaction alike.

At WACAP, we know the unparalleled difference that our supporters and adoptive families have made in the lives of thousands of children. And as hundreds of thousands of children continue to wait without families, we also recognize the urgency …

The idea that, together, we can participate in an effort that sparks exponential change stirs us in spirit and in action. We invite you to support this 8-day campaign, Everyone Gives, of which WACAP is a part.

Here’s how it works:

• Minute one: Beginning February 22, sign in to Everyone Gives, and give a one-time gift to WACAP here.
• Minute two: With a click, tell two or more people via social networking, email, or word of mouth; ask them to give with you.
• Minute three: Watch your impact grow. You can visually see the branches of the “WACAP Impact” giving tree at www.EveryoneGives.org. 
• Minute four: It’s for you. Thank you for the lasting difference you’ve made in a child’s life.

You can learn more about the Everyone Gives campaign here:

Zia Freeman, who leads WACAP's Parent Support and Solutions Group

“Parents give others the support they need — at the moment they need it most,” says Zia Freeman, WACAP social worker who facilitates the organization’s Parent Support and Solutions group. “And then someone says the magic words. ‘Hey, we also went through that!’” which makes all the difference.

Last year, WACAP helped nearly 250 children in need of a family come home. About 30 percent of these kids were age 5 or above. As more and more children waiting for a family grow out of their toddler years and into their teens, more and more families who adopt children within this age group have asked for a place to talk about their needs as parents. The Parent Support and Solutions group led by Zia Freeman is just one of the ways WACAP has responded to that need.

If you drop by one of the monthly support meetings, you’ll find adoptive parents of toddlers to teens as well as families in the process of adopting, all taking turns listening and sharing. The room buzzes with energy as families offer the depth of their experience, provide resources, consider fresh solutions, and discover the invaluable support of their peers.

Here are just a few reasons why the group draws over 100 people on average each year, according to Zia:

• In addition to the clinical perspective WACAP offers at the meetings, families uniquely help each other with their varied experience and rich ability to understand what others are going through.
• Through the support they give to each other, parents get what they need, including education, emotional awareness and release.
• Laughter, tears, honesty, relief, transformation, company, perspective, celebration — it’s all there for the taking.

Like the conversation, the group’s attendees vary each month. Some parents come regularly, some when they need it, some once. As for the facilitator, Zia comes to each meeting knowing she’ll leave inspired and that “at the end of the day, participants go home with a renewed perspective that they’re not alone … not alone in adopting a child who is older, and not alone in their experiences and feelings.”

Zia stands amazed at how families help each other appreciate all over again what makes each child so special while participants do their own growing, too. One week’s conversations may yield a family saying, “We’ve accepted that we might need to let go sometimes”— an insight that moves parents to a new level. Another evening, a different voice may ring, “I felt like I was ready to give up … but I came to the class today.”

 And on the other side of all these conversations, families are stronger.

 To learn more about WACAP’s Parent Support and Solutions group, contact Zia Freeman at ZiaF@wacap.org or visit our website. 

So, since we’ve recently received the news that we’re the recipient of the 2012 Evergreen Award, we’re thrilled to share the news with you, our community, and to all those who have helped us in this achievement! The award, given by the Alliance for Nonprofits Washington, annually recognizes one organization for helping cultivating Washington state’s nonprofit sector and building community within it.

The partnerships we’ve worked to build through programs such as A Family For Me prompted the Alliance to recognize WACAP’s cooperative approach and dedication to reaching children who need families. Through A Family For Me, we’ve engaged an array of community businesses, private and public partners, volunteers, and media who all share our goal of finding permanent homes for the 2,000 children living in Washington state foster care.

Yuen Lui portrait of Anna and Alex, 2006 participants in A Family For Me

Just ask Alex and Anna. Brother and sister, they lived in a series of homes before they moved back in together in 2006. Through A Family For Me, WACAP was able to give them a “dream day,” which included a professional photo shoot courtesy of Yuen Lui Studios and a day of activities, professionally recorded and edited for the air and online.

Today, Anna and Alex can tell you firsthand about the difference a family makes. In 2007, at age 7 and 10, they learned about a family interested in adopting them (read more here, page 4). Now, Alex is nearing age 16, and Anna is 12. Both are at home with their parents Michelle and Jaime; together, they all found the family for them.

Thank you again to all those who have helped us find homes for 72 percent of the children featured on A Family for Me since 2006, including our partners the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), KING 5 Television, Yuen Lui Portrait Studio, the Northwest Adoption Exchange (NWAE), and the Tacoma office of the Children’s Home Society (CHS) of Washington.

Our thanks to the Alliance for Nonprofits Washington for the honor of this award.

Elmer Wagner, one of our celebrated WACAP volunteers

This fall, Elmer Wagner — retired college instructor of 35 years – will have given 13 years to WACAP’s mission. No, he’s not on the payroll, but staff have become happily accustomed to his jovial voice each week. WACAP’s been serving children in need of families for 36 years; Elmer’s been serving as a volunteer at WACAP for over one third of them.

WACAP depends on volunteers like Elmer. Last year, 107 volunteers donated 1,712 hours to helping WACAP reach children who continue to wait for families worldwide. Over his tenure, Elmer has donated well over 3,000 hours. He invests much of his time in the office supporting WACAP’s child assistance and sponsorship program, where he helps families stay connected to children they’re sponsoring and supports related recordkeeping.

Elmer reached out to WACAP in 1999 after reading an article in the Seattle times that detailed WACAP’s Peony Project, an effort funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help children in China. After learning more about WACAP’s firm commitment to children and the passion of its donors, Elmer asked to volunteer in what was then a much smaller office.

Staff appreciate Elmer’s multifaceted personality and the wonderful stories he brings from his travels and experiences. In addition to travelling and leading tour groups to various countries — which includes 10 trips to China — he still makes time to read the classics, most recently “War and Peace” in Russian … on his smartphone. As a former Russian language instructor, he has also supported WACAP with translation. 

In over a decade, Elmer’s watched WACAP expand to new countries, grow a larger staff, and help thousands of children find homes. He makes the one to two hour drive into the office every week because, he says, “I think a lot of WACAP; it’s a wonderful place. And the people — they’re so dedicated, and they do a fantastic job. They’re a stimulus to the volunteers who come in every week.”

Elmer, we’d like to echo your words. Your dedication makes WACAP what it is. Our volunteers motivate our work and extend our reach every day. Thank you, Elmer, for 13 years … and counting.

To learn more WACAP’s volunteer opportunities, contact Lisa Yeager at LisaY@wacap.org.

• A family will soon begin their court proceedings with Taiwan and become parents to a group of three siblings.
• Our China program will see the homecoming of the first children placed through our Shandong Partnership.
• An eight year old girl in Ethiopia will travel home to Illinois with her parents. Five other Ethiopian children, all of whom are age 8 and older, will meet their families for the first time.
• An eleven year old boy in Thailand for whom WACAP began advocating in 2006 will join his family this year.
• Our US Kids program looks forward to continuing our partnership with KING 5 Television and finding families for kids in Washington state.
• Our first group of families will be entering our new program in Bulgaria this month. We’re so excited to be reaching out to Bulgarian children who are waiting for families.
• With end of the year delays now past, families will soon travel to Korea and bring their children home after a long wait.
• In India, we’re looking forward to seeing new guidelines implemented so that we can continue our work of identifying and advocating for Indian children who are waiting for families.
• In Russia, we’ve just reopened our program in the Republic of Tartarstan, and two families will be registered there soon! The process in this region has been so swift that we look forward to seeing these kids (and more!) come home this year.

In addition to what’s on the horizon, new families are coming our way every day (and some are returning to adopt a second or even a third child through WACAP!). We’ve also begun planning for our favorite annual events, and we look forward to seeing our families, donors, and friends at the annual Mother’s Day Brunch, WACAP Family Camp, WACAP Kids Day, and our 2012 Children’s Hope Gala and Auction.

Inspired by our vision of a family for every child, we look forward to what this year will bring, and we will keep you posted throughout the year on all of our progress.

Hanging on the door was a sign: “Kids Who Came Home in 2011 – Thanks to You.” Next to the sign, a printout extending the length of the doorframe. On the list, the name of every child WACAP helped bring home this year.

One boy, adopted a week before his 14th birthday, was home in time for this holiday season. A 2-year old with Down syndrome and his sibling have found their family. Three siblings from state foster care will ring in the new year together. A 10-year-old boy who is HIV positive is finally home. A 2-year-old girl with spina bifida will rest in her parents’ arms.

The sheets of paper taped to the door reflect the hard work of WACAP staff, the thousands of hours our volunteers give, the generous support of our community, and of course, the dedication of families who have reached out to bring home their son or daughter.

Here, at the close of 2011, we at WACAP would like to remember the lives that have been changed, thanks to you.

Wan Ying decorating with new Chinese ornament

Last year, Wan Ying was living in China, waiting for her family. This month, now age 3, she decorated a tree with her three brothers and sisters and mom and dad.

Wan Ying was born with Amniotic Banding Syndrome (ABS), a condition that caused the fingers on both hands and the toes on her right foot to be fused together. She was one of the thousands of orphaned children living in China that WACAP seeks to bring home to their families. Because of her medical need, Wan Ying waited longer to come home than many children, but one evening last October, WACAP found the family to whom she brings so much joy.

Steve and Jamie Morningstar made the decision to adopt a child through WACAP when Wan Ying was 2 years old. But before the Morningstar family grew to six, Steve and Jamie helped their kids Sam, Ben, and Sasha (who was adopted from Kazakhstan) understand more about what it would mean to have a sister with limb-related needs:

“No, it doesn’t hurt. These were just the hands that she was born with because they couldn’t grow quite the way other people’s do in her birth mother’s tummy. Yes, we’re really lucky…. Yes, she can do anything any kid can do!”

With the confidence that as a family, they could support Wan Ying’s needs, they welcomed her into their family with open arms. “And then we shared our joy with the whole world,” they recall.

Wan Ying, Sam, Sasha, and Ben

In May, Wan Ying had a successful surgery on her right hand, separating her thumb and the other three fused fingers. Her family loves her affectionate spirit and her infectious smile. She adds a cheerful (and very regular) chatter to the house, a merry addition during any season.

Warm holiday wishes to your family from WACAP.

Isaiah gives his smile center stage

Just last week, viewers around the Seattle, Washington area met Isaiah as part of a morning news broadcast. Here’s what they saw: A video of an endearing boy filled with creativity and imagination. A child with a great sense of humor that others delighted to be near.

His favorite activities included bicycling, camping, playing basketball or soccer, and helping around the house. He liked working with his hands, and he smiled at the prospect of building and repairing things. With his passion for music, Isaiah loved playing the guitar and the electric piano. He was making good progress in his special education classroom, and he also enjoyed attending church school.

Isaiah is one of the children participating in WACAP’s nationally-recognized A Family for Me project, a project we’re excited to have teamed up with KING 5 Television on this year. With their support spotlighting kids like Isaiah each week on the air and online, we continue to seek families for children who live in Washington state foster care. For Isaiah, we can help find an affectionate family, proud to call him their son.

To learn more about Isaiah, watch his video clip.

If you live near the South King County area, please bring new or gently used developmental toys to the BECU branch located at 17615 108th Ave. S.E. in Renton (just 2 miles up the hill from the Renton WACAP office). Your gift will go to a child who needs it this season. Please no stuffed or battery operated toys. (Read more about our community effort in this Renton Reporter article.)  

If you don’t live in the area, you can still help! Hundreds of children around the world wait for families to bring them home. A gift to our Promise Fund reduces financial barriers to adoption and helps make a child’s homecoming possible!  Click here to help.

Magic truly does happen, and on November 19, WACAP celebrated with our Children’s Hope Gala and Auction. More than 330 friends of WACAP gathered at the lovely Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Seattle for an evening of food and fun. We shared stories of children who have come home to loving families while we remembered those who are still waiting with renewed commitment.  

Thanks to our generous supporters, WACAP raised over a quarter of a million dollars! These funds will help us bring hundreds of children home in the coming year. Thank you to all of you who participated!

It was a joy to share the magic that happens at WACAP!