My platform: For Every Child, a Place to Call Home

This year, I want to raise public awareness about the need of adoptive families for children in the foster care system.  I want to direct perspective adoptive families to agencies that can walk them through the adoptive journey and I want to use my own story of adoption and foster care to encourage others that you don’t have to be perfect to fill these kids’ hearts. 

More than 250,000 children in the U.S. enter the foster care system every year. While more than half of these children will return to their parents, unfortunately the remainder will stay in the foster care system. Nationally there are 104,000 children in foster care waiting to be adopted. This is a HUGE, staggering number.  But if only 1 in 500 people in the United States adopted, there would be no more children in foster care.  

Who can adopt?  We all can: any family, including singles, couples with or without children.  We simply must have the ability to give a child unconditional love, patience, commitment and be willing to use the community services that children need to succeed.

Let’s look at the numbers on a more local scale.  Currently in the state of North Dakota, there are 1,000 children whose sole desire is to have a family to call their own.  There are 864 towns/cities in the state.  That means that every city needs to adopt one child.  One child. 

250,000 children are too many kids for me or any single person to adopt.  But as a nation, a people dedicated to seeing the lost and weary children crying out for homes around us to be given a new chance, we can make a difference.  One child at a time, and for that one child that difference will be the world.

Pushing Back the Dark

By Josh Wilson

One million reasons why, you shouldn't even try.
After all you're just one heart, a single candle in the dark.
And there are shadows here, feeding on your fears,
That you don't have what it takes - who are you to make a change?
But oh, oh, don't underestimate the God you follow.

So there you have it… my heart on a platter, or should I say on my platform.  I would love to walk your adoption journey with you.  We can take this grand adventure together.

Blessings

Janelle Steinberg, Mrs. North Dakota International 2014