Yes, it does cost a lot. But, given what Americans spend on life, it's a drop in the bucket and will change your life and the life of a child forever (way more than that new, posh minivan you've been eyeing)!!
That being said, I have a couple of friends who are in the beginning stages of adoption right now and realized how much work we have done in researching, submitting application, and finding ways of financial support. Some of these may not be applicable to everyone who reads this blog and this cannot possibly be an exhaustive list but I do hope it helps at least get someone started in helping offset the financial burden when adopting.
One I will say as a preface, every single grant or loan I have ever seen on adoption requires that have a completed and approved home study before you can even apply. So if you're looking for home study financial support, it's time to pinch pennies, cut off your cable, get a second job, sell something you love, or ask for every birthday and Christmas and whatever else gift be money toward your home study. You may have to do all this stuff anyway as part of raising this 15-40k it will cost you so may as well start now!!
Ok, now to the good stuff...
Grants and Loans
- A Child Waits (low interest loan)
- Abba Fund (Interest Free) Loan
- Gift of Adoption Grant
Let me wrap up here on a personal note.
My recommendation...apply for EVERYTHING. Yes, it is a lot of paperwork to fill out but honestly, most of it is the same and the majority is stuff you already had to have for your agency or your home study so while it may be a bit time consuming it will be well worth it! The other thing is, some people (us) just make too much money on paper to be eligible for these grants. But we applied anyway. And we are re-applying for some of them. And yet to be honest, we have not had a problem thus far. God has provided every step of the way and we know He will continue to do so!
Feel free to ask if you have any questions!! I can only answer based on our own experience and those that I know personally but I'll do my best!
That being said, I have a couple of friends who are in the beginning stages of adoption right now and realized how much work we have done in researching, submitting application, and finding ways of financial support. Some of these may not be applicable to everyone who reads this blog and this cannot possibly be an exhaustive list but I do hope it helps at least get someone started in helping offset the financial burden when adopting.
One I will say as a preface, every single grant or loan I have ever seen on adoption requires that have a completed and approved home study before you can even apply. So if you're looking for home study financial support, it's time to pinch pennies, cut off your cable, get a second job, sell something you love, or ask for every birthday and Christmas and whatever else gift be money toward your home study. You may have to do all this stuff anyway as part of raising this 15-40k it will cost you so may as well start now!!
Ok, now to the good stuff...
Grants and Loans
- A Child Waits (low interest loan)
- Abba Fund (Interest Free) Loan
- Gift of Adoption Grant
- Help Us Adopt Grant
- Hand In Hand Grant
- Katelyns Fund Grant
- National Adoption Foundation Grant
- Orphan Impact Grant (I think they have suspended applications at the moment but state they plan to reopen this summer so keep checking)
- Oxford Adoption Loan (no and low interest loan)
- Parenthood For Me Grant
- Sea of Faces Foundation Grant
- Show Hope Grant
I listed Lifesong as a separate entity because while they do have grants and loans, they also provide what they call "fundraising support." This has been the best thing for us because we don't qualify for many of the grants and loans above. What they do is provide an account for you to be able to receive tax deductible donations which they then pay to your agency as you need funds (or reimburse you when you make adoption related purchases i.e. plane tickets, file immigration paperwork, etc.). This also allowed us to work with local business who wanted to support us but needed a non-profit to work through...see support raising ideas below. I am sure there are many other ways to establish a 503(b) account (some churches have their own adoption funds) but for us we go straight through Lifesong and they are VERY easy to work with.
Support Raising Ideas
- Have a Cashola - Some people don't know this as this term but that's what we call it in these parts :) Basically, a restaurant does community support raising assistance by offering a percentage of their sales for a given evening to your organization. We have a great relationship with a local pizza place called Shorebreak (www.shorebreakvb.com) and they are willing to let us advertise for our event. It gets people in their door and helps us too! Check with local restaurants in your area to see if they'd be willing to work with you on this. As far as the donation goes, most of them will have to give it to a 503(b) (tax deductible) account which is where, for us, our Lifesong account was very helpful.
- Other restaurants that I KNOW do different fundraising community support:
- Chick-fil-a - http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Kids/Local
- Moe's - http://www.moes.com/about/#fundraising
- Applebee's - http://applebees.com/about-us/responsibility#supporting
- I am sure there are many more but I'm only listing the ones we've either worked with or I'm sure do it. If you have others, please add them to the comments below!
- Sell T-shirts - A good friend of mine is an art teacher at a local high school. She had her students design a t-shirt and then we provided a gift certificate to the store of the winner's choice. We then made a few adjustments to the design to make it our own and had t-shirts made. If nothing else we had a fun time looking at the wide variety of designs we got back. Some local screen printers may cut you a deal for the printing if they know you are fundraising for your adoption. We used Blue Cotton because they were so easy to work with and no one could beat their prices!
- Host a Silent Auction - I must admit when this one was first suggested to me I was immediately overwhelmed and didn't want to have anything to do with it. However, there are many people out there that may not come to any event you have but they will go online and shop. You don't have to do one in person, there are many great websites that will host a silent auction for you some even for free (check out 32 Auctions)
Let me wrap up here on a personal note.
My recommendation...apply for EVERYTHING. Yes, it is a lot of paperwork to fill out but honestly, most of it is the same and the majority is stuff you already had to have for your agency or your home study so while it may be a bit time consuming it will be well worth it! The other thing is, some people (us) just make too much money on paper to be eligible for these grants. But we applied anyway. And we are re-applying for some of them. And yet to be honest, we have not had a problem thus far. God has provided every step of the way and we know He will continue to do so!
Feel free to ask if you have any questions!! I can only answer based on our own experience and those that I know personally but I'll do my best!
When I worked at Texas Roadhouse, they actually did the charity dinner days.. I was surprised and impressed.
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