AAI's Erin Henderson Does it All!

AAI's Special Needs Coordinator, Erin Henderson, has long been appreciated by friends and families of AAI.  She is now making new fans in the running world, as she has transformed herself from mom and coordinator into a serious competitive runner over the past 3 years!  Erin was recently highlighted in Runner's World Magazine with an online article.  Click below to be inspired!

DOING IT ALL!

ADOPTION TAX CREDIT AWARENESS DAY!

Adoption Advocates International founder, Merrily Ripley, recently shared this information. Thanks Merrily for your continued involvement and support! We love you!

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The First Annual Adoption Tax Credit Awareness Day will be Monday, February 13, 2012. The hope is that everybody in the adoption community will take part. Many adoptive families are not aware that this tax credit exists. It is our goal to help ensure that adoptive families who are eligible to receive this benefit are informed about how to claim the credit. We are asking everyone, including professionals, advocates, state agencies, families, and others to help spread the word on one given day (Feb. 13th) in hopes to broadcast the existence of the adoption tax credit. Details about how you can help are below.

Save the Date: Plan now to be part of the Adoption Tax Credit Awareness Day on Monday, February 13, 2012—a national effort highlighting the federal tax credit available to adoptive families.

Play Your Part: Join with adoption organizations, state agencies, adoptive families, advocates, and other interested parties to raise visibility of the adoption tax credit. Help spread the word collectively, through website postings, email blasts, newsletters, social media, and other informational outlets, so eligible families that may not be aware of this benefit can be sure to access the credit. Families who adopted as far back as 2005 may still benefit if they haven’t already. Be sure to include non-internet based strategies since some adoptive families do not have access to the internet.

The Facts:

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  Since 2003, families who adopted a U.S. child with special needs from foster care could claim a federal adoption tax credit even if they had no adoption expenses (as long as they met the fairly generous income requirements).


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  Children who receive adoption assistance/subsidy benefits are considered children with special needs. Even families who receive a deferred subsidy ($0 per month but medical coverage through the subsidy program) are eligible.


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  All adoptive families (except those who adopted a step-child) are eligible for the credit, but those who adopt children other than those with special needs must have—and be able to document, if requested by the IRS—qualified adoption expenses.


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  For 2010 and 2011 the credit was made refundable. If parents who adopted as long ago as 2005 had credit to carry forward into 2010, that amount of the credit also became refundable. In 2010 and 2011, parents can claim the credit even if they don’t have income or any tax liability.


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  The amount of the credit for 2011 is $13,360 per child.
  

The Information:

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  IRS Form 8839 Instructions: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8839.pdf


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  IRS Form 8839: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8839.pdf


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  IRS adoption tax credit FAQ’s: http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=231663,00.html


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  Voice for Adoption’s distributable postcard: http://voice-for-adoption.org/adoption_tax_credit


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  Tools & Resources from the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC): http://www.nacac.org/taxcredit/taxcredit.html

Please distribute this widely among your networks. Thanks for taking the time to make this count for adoptive families!

Temesgen and MOWA official visit Port Townsend, WA

Last week, AAI lawyer Temesgen and a MOWA official visited Port Townsend, WA and had dinner with a number of AAI families.  Chris Little, AAI Board President and adoptive parent of many, sent these pictures in and reported that everyone had a great time.  In addition to joining local AAI families for dinner, Temesgen and the MOWA official also visited a school, several private homes and the Port Townsend courthouse where many adoptions are finalized. 

AAI Child is "Community Hero" in Utah

Recently an AAI adoptive mom shared with our listserve community that her son Phile was chosen as a  Community Hero this summer.  Phile has multiple special needs and spent time at our Opportunity House program.  Her story and some pictures are below.  

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Our son, Phile, came home exactly two years ago. He spent about a year at Layla House but most of his time was at Opportunity House. Phile is seven years old and has been diagnosed with mild cerebral palsy, autism, severe developmental delays and a seizure disorder called Lennox Gastaut Syndrome. As my mom once described, our family went through a pretty big "storm" that lasted well over a year after Phile came home. We spent a lot of time in and out of hospitals, doctors, offices, therapies, counseling, schools, etc. trying to find help for our son and our families "new normal."

We live in a small town of about 20,000 people in Utah. Each summer, our community has a week long celebration including a parade, carnival, rodeo, concert and a variety of other activities. As a part of the celebration, a community hero is selected based on nominations. To kick off the celebration, the "Hero" is announced. Phile was secretly nominated by a neighbor and was chosen by the city as the Hero. The city got in contact with members of my family to get more information about Phile and our family. We had no idea any of this was going on!

One afternoon my sister told us she had a surprise for our family and that we needed to go for a short drive to get to it. So we all got in the car and followed her a little over a mile from our house to a new park the city was building. When we pulled up, over a hundred people were there cheering and chanting Phile's name. There were family, friends, teachers, nurses - all people whose lives have been affected and hearts touched by their interaction with our son. It was incredible and we were completely shocked and overwhelmed! It turns out that the park the city was building is unique in that it is a handicapped accessible, special-needs park...and it was named after our son. There is a plaque on display with a picture of our son and his story which was written by my mom. The mayor was at the "reveal" and honored our son and our family. Our family was invited to ride in the parade and to be special guests at the Clint Black concert that weekend. It was also announced that all the proceeds from the city's celebration would be used to fund a rec program for the 200+ special needs children in our area. We were speechless! The park is nearly complete and we have asked to the city if we can add a handprint mural so Phile's park can honor all the special needs children in our city.

Where Phile lacks in "ability" he more than makes up for in heart. He has truly taught us the meaning of unconditional love. There are days where I find myself in a bad mood or feeling upset for one reason or another. Then I see my son who, in my mind, has every reason to be frustrated at life but is so happy and just smiles, laughs and finds joy in the simplest things. I am so grateful for his example, for my neighbor, the community that I am a part of, and my family who take the time to find the rainbows in the storms of life.

-Becky A.

wife to a fabulous man and mom 4 beautiful bio girls and 2 amazing boys we were blessed to find

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Another AAI family story

Recently we received the following story and pictures from an AAI family, the Bossleys of Ohio,  that adopted two special needs children years ago from our Taiwan program.  It is so inspiring to read success stories like this and we thought we just had to share it more widely.

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Peter and Ben

When our oldest son went away to college, it left an empty spot in our lives - both physically and emotionally.  I had always wanted another child or more.  We had 3 biological children and one adopted daughter with some severe emotional issues.  We were stressed almost beyond our limits with her.   I think emotional issues are tough ones and dealing with them takes a lot of real time, wisdom, and love.

I wanted another child as we had been married young and still had child rearing time but my wife had gone through a tubal ligation at the time of our third child.  To compound the issue, we were not wealthy - not at all.  When we decided to adopt, I went through 12 agencies that turned us down until I finally got a photo and information about a 2 year old boy from Taiwan who had been blind from birth but was as cute as a button and seemed to be a normal bright boy.  I had friends who were blind so I did not have a problem getting past the lack of vision.   I had a vision for that child and so did Sister Rosa from the orphanage.

 

The greatest problem I had was getting my wife's signature on the papers.  She was not sure about adding another child because of what we were going through.  I never believed it possible but six months later we were at the airport waiting for our newest son.  Peter was soon enrolled in a preschool for blind children.  Three days a week I also took Peter to the Cleveland Sight Center and waited with other parents - all mothers of blind children.  As I watched Peter at normal tasks and at play, it was clear to me after a year that he would have a much easier time if he had a sighted sibling.

I wrote to Adoption Advocates again - just to drop a hint that we would be interested in adopting again.  I did not think that anyone would allow a second adoption but again Sister Rosa  surprised us and responded that she had  "just the right child for us."  This was a child whose photo would bring a shocked look to anyone I shared it with because the little 17 month old boy had a huge " hemangioma" on his entire lower left jaw.  These blood tumors are red because they are filled with blood and this one was fully the size of the rest of the toddler's face.   This child had been hospitalized (mostly kept on his back) for his entire young life.  

Ben before surgery

I wanted to be certain that the rest of my children could deal with the comments and interactions of others when seeing  him for the first time, so I had the children each take the photo to school to show it to their friends and to deal with the comments.  The family members each handled the comments and questions and I tried to learn about the remainder of his medical conditions.  We had heard that one family had turned him down.  We decided to accept him but my hesitation was that there was no real indication of his mental ability.  I could handle most handicaps but I was uncertain about how I could do with a child with limited mental growth.   

 Benjamin, as we named him, would take only formula through a bottle and was only 12 pounds at 17 months old .  His legs were especially shocking as they were still as he had been as a newborn.  Both Peter, and Benjamin came into this world weighing less than 2 pounds each.  The percentage of babies who survive at this low birth weight at the time was 10%  The Early Childhood Intervention program in our area was just beginning to get underway and I was one of two parent representatives for our county's program.

I began Benjamin in the program for children under 3 years for  2 days a week and then the other 3 days a week, I took both of the boys fifty miles into Cleveland for Peter to go to the class at the school for the blind.  For some of the time, while Peter was in class at the children for the blind, I took Ben over a few blocks to a speech specialist as he was almost 4 years old and still did not speak.

Over the next two years, surgeons worked in nearly 30 surgeries to remove the tumor on his face.  He had 4 other surgeries to correct other problems.  Both boys went to the local elementary school. I remember in 1994 when I took Peter to enroll him in kindergarten

the principal of the school looked at me and said "There is a place for kids like him"  (referring to the schools for the blind).  I said "I know - this is one right here" ---affirming my decision to have Peter mainstreamed.  This law was 20 years old and yet I still had to battle fervently to have things done in a practical way for him to learn.    "Braille and Speak" notepads were coming out and Peter got his first one in the fourth grade.  He really took off academically then and even learned to fix it himself so we didn’t have to send it away when it need servicing  because that took many weeks.  During their school years Peter and Benjamin were involved in wrestling for at least one year and Peter also participated in Model UN.

Peter

Peter was able to take university classes in his last year of high school and began studying on the Ohio State University campus to be an Information technologist for the Office of Research.  Benjamin graduated with honors from high school and followed a couple of years behind Peter also at Ohio State University.  Ben received a bachelor’s degree in Speech and Hearing and then went on to graduate school at Kent State University.  He is now licensed as  a teacher in Early Childhood Intervention and specialized in three to five year old children.

Ben

Having Benjamin go from a class of children in an early intervention program to directing a class of the same made me  think of the days I was waiting for him to finish the class and reading the books on degrees of mental retardation - and wondering what I had gotten myself into.  Both boys live independently in their own condo and put themselves through school.  My motto is now “Teach a child to fish and you will be envious of his trophy catch."

Fun in Wenatchee!

A group of AAI families gathering at a state park in Wenatchee, WA over the past Fourth of July Weekend.  By Saturday evening, there were over 150 people there attending a cookout planned by Chris Little, the event organizer and AAI Board President.  A highlight of the weekend was a panel discussion featuring about a dozen older Ethiopian adoptees discussing and answering questions about their unique experiences. Families also enjoyed games, marshmallow roasting, swimming, bike-riding and hanging out with old and new friends.  Below are some photos of the weekend taken by Marta Little, Jessica Alderson (AAI Volunteer) and Susan Poisson-Dollar (AAI Director of Development).  Director Merrily Ripley and her husband and grandchildren were also in attendance. 

Oh, yes there was Ethiopian dancing!

And doro wat cooked on a campstove...

the older kids fielding questions and talking about their experiences

more members of the panel

AAI Volunteer Jessica enjoyed seeing some old friends from Layla House

Impromptu hair-braiding sessions went on all weekend

Old and new friends enjoyed each other's company

The games Chris planned were a big hit and helped keep us all cool in the hot weather.

Hula-hooping contest with the AAI Family Tree Quilt in the background

The teen set could not get enough socializing in!

There was always a line to try out this cool bike that Chris brought

Update!: Amy made it into the final TWO for her Macy's Makeover!

Wow, AAI mom Amy Ferrell made it into the final two for the Facebook Macy's Million Dollar Makeover.  If you are on Facebook, please head on over and vote for her as many times as your fingertips will let you.   Amy has big plans to help with older child adoption and family preservation in Ghana if she wins.   We are so proud of her.  Be sure to watch the wonderful video about her Leonardo Da Vinci afterschool program as well. 

Recently, Amy's family was the subject of a local newspaper profile and you can read it at this link.

If you missed it, read the earlier blog post about Amy and her family with all the details about the Macy's contest and the link for voting.

Vote early and vote often! 

AAI Gathering in Salt Lake City

Recently, AAI parents organized a family gathering in Salt Lake City, Utah.  About 70 people attended and brought many items for donation to Layla House.  Many thanks to Amy Brandt and Kristie Wilkins for doing so much to put the gathering together.   Below is Amy's description of the event:

 children doing crafts at the kids' table

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Several AAI families and friends gathered in a Salt Lake City area church on Saturday, April 9 to meet Merrily and Ted Ripley and support AAI’s humanitarian projects in Ethiopia.  Merrily and Ted were in town to visit family, and it was wonderful for adoptive (and prospective and waiting adoptive) families to be able to put names and faces together and to share conversation with the agency’s director.

Children of all ages, from babies to teenagers, were in attendance and the younger ones enjoyed impromptu games of ball and tag while families met the Ripleys and each other.  Several families only knew each others' names from the AAI listserve, so it was great to be able to meet in person. 

As people arrived, the donation table for Ethiopia overflowed.  Families brought formula and cloth diapers for Wanna House, and school and art supplies for Layla and partner orphanages.  A family traveling in April offered to transport the donations; hopefully they had lots of room in their luggage!

After families shared a potluck dinner and conversation, Merrily began her presentation about adoption and humanitarian projects in Ethiopia.  She showed a video of waiting children created by Emma Dodge Hanson, photographer for the book Faces of Layla.  She also spoke about Opportunity House, AAI's facility for special needs children at Layla House and other humanitarian projects.   AAI's Family Quilt Project in the photo below helps fund all these efforts.  Families at the gathering were the first to see it in person.  It's starting to look so beautiful as leaves, stars and animals are being added when people donate to honor a loved one! 

Thanks to Merrily and Ted for being the impetus behind this gathering.  Salt Lake City area families are planning a fall fundraiser for AAI Humanitarian Programs on September 17, at Washington Park in Parley’s Canyon, with Ethiopian food, children's activities, and Ethiopian items for auction.  Anyone in the area is welcome to attend!

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We are always happy to help people organize gatherings.  If you would like to do one in your area, please contact Susan Poisson-Dollar, AAI Director of Development.

The Two Trip Rule---Make it a Real Adventure!

The following blog post and photos were submitted by Dakota and Brent Corey, waiting parents to Ashagre and Elsa.  They turned the news that parents have to travel twice to Ethiopia from disappointment and financial stress into the chance to have the trip of a lifetime to their future children's birthplace.  I had the great fortune to meet this adventurous twosome when I was in Addis during November and made them promise to do something for our AAI blog.  Here are their travel tips for adoptive parents and you can read more about what they did on their great blog The Perfect Space. 

Thank you Dakota and Brent--I hope you will inspire more parents to get out and see more of Ethiopia.  

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I’ll admit, when we first heard about Ethiopia’s new requirement to travel twice during the adoption process, we were bummed.  I quickly started doing the math in my head, calculating how much our total adoption expenses had just gone up.  However, as I read the threads on AAI’s Ethiopian Adoption Yahoo Group about the new two trip rule, my disappointment faded and I quickly embraced a point made by many adoptive parents that had gone before us – What a great opportunity to really TRAVEL and learn more about your child’s birth country before you tackle parenthood!

My husband, Brent, and I are  travelers.  We each separately spent several months backpacking around Western Europe in college.  We have seen 49 of our country’s 50 states and parts of Mexico and Canada.  A cornerstone of our relationship is a 7 month trip we took around Southeast Asia.  Five years ago we put our backpacks in the hall closet.  They haven’t come out much since, except for the occasional trip to the Mid- or Northwest to visit our families.  We traded our wandering, seasonal lifestyle for grad. school and “real jobs” that have allowed us to pursue other dreams, like starting our family through Ethiopian adoption.

As soon as the idea sunk in, I ordered Lonely Planet’s guide to Ethiopia and starting planning possible itineraries.  Choosing a route in a country with so much historical and cultural significance wasn’t easy.  Should we check out the ancient ruins in Gonder? Island monasteries on Lake Tana?  The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela?  Gelada Baboons and unsurpassable beauty of Simien Mountains National Park?  The maze-like streets of Harar?  Or should we head south to learn more about the varied cultures that live there?  The opportunities seemed endless, but our budget wasn’t and our time was even more limiting.

Girls playing near a mountain of teff

Ultimately, the choice was easy once we found the right perspective.  We decided to base our travel around the regions of the country our kids were born in – Sidama and Addis Ababa.  In the end, our court trip consisted of the following itinerary:

·         4 days in Addis Ababa solely dedicated to our court date and spending time with our kids

·         4 days in Awasa with daily trips around Sidama - the birthplace of our son

·         5 days horse trekking outside of Bale Mountains National park in Oromia

·         1 night in Wondo Genet to relax and clean up after horse trekking

·         5 more days in Addis sight-seeing, shopping, and trying to learn more about our daughter’s past

Despite the short time frame, it was an epic trip.  Not only did we have adventures equal to those of past trips, but we learned a wealth of information about Ethiopia and its people that we can share with our kids as they grow up in America.

 

Traditional home in Sidama

Maybe you’ve got some wanderlust too or maybe the idea of traveling in Africa absolutely frightens you, but the opportunity to learn about your child’s birth country seems like an opportunity you can’t pass up.  Either way, I’ve put together this list of “tips” to help you make the most of your own epic journey around Ethiopia.

·         Get a good travel guide.  I am a huge fan of the dry humor of Lonely Planet.

·         Realize that things are changing extremely fast in Ethiopia and your travel guide that was written 2 years ago is already very outdated.  Fortunately, our experience indicates that things have only gotten easier for travelers.

·         Don’t under-estimate how long it takes to get from Point A to Point B.  Ethiopia is still a developing country.  It’s better to add some extra padding into your itinerary and find you have extra time to linger somewhere rather than stress that you won’t be able to fit it all in. 

·         Be realistic about what you can do with your timeframe.  You can always come back.  We have found that our travel experiences are much richer when we take some time to actually experience a place rather than just check it off our “I’ve Been There” list.

·         Don’t forget to take a deep breath, relax, and smile.

·         It might be easier to plan some parts of your trip once you arrive in Ethiopia.

·         When weighing the costs of taking a trip or not taking a trip, consider that it is very inexpensive to travel in Ethiopia outside of Addis.  You’re already paying for the plane ticket to Ethiopia; the extra cost to travel is relatively insignificant.

·         Don’t leave home without travel insurance.  You likely won’t need it, but you don’t want to be without it if you do.

·         Realize that accommodations and food outside of Addis are simple.  See how far you can push your comfort level.  In the end, the experience will far outweigh the discomfort of sleeping in a shabby room without a hot shower or eating food you’re not used to.

Sampling the local Bale Mountain cuisine - kocho - tasty, really!

·         Be flexible with your itinerary.  Time operates differently in Ethiopia.  Consider unexpected changes part of the adventure rather than a setback.

·         Be open to strangers.  Unlike anywhere else we have ever been, we found the people of Ethiopia to be extremely open, warm, and helpful.  I don’t know how many macchiatos we drank with relative strangers that just wanted to learn more about the farangis they spotted walking down the road.  

Impromptu hair braiding session with children from a local village.

·         A great guide or driver can be your best ally – they can serve as a historical/cultural guide, interpreter, and friend.  Ask other adoptive families for suggestions (we can provide several).

One of our amazing guides and now a true friend, Yusuf.

·         Try public transportation at least once; it’s easy to figure out.  Just tell people at the bus station where you’re going and they’ll get you on the right bus.  The ride is cramped, hot, stuffy, and noisy, but it will give you a true feel for Ethiopia.

·         Don’t forget to take a deep breath, relax, and smile.

·         Knowing a little Amharic will get you a long way.  We always found people that spoke English well wherever we were; however, the smiles we were able to elicit when we rambled off the limited Amharic we knew were golden.

·         Don’t get bent out of shape about paying the farangi price.  Bargain with a smile and realize the few extra birr you will inevitably pay for things is very little to you and sizable to the person you are paying.  I consider it just part of being a tourist.

·         Remember you are representing America and adoptive families as you travel.  Ethiopia is blessing us with the opportunity to raise some of its children.  Let’s show them how grateful we are.

·         Putting yourself in such an unfamiliar environment can be frightening.  Remember that Ethiopia is a safe place to travel with very low levels of crime toward tourists.  Don’t let your fear hinder your ability to enjoy yourself and gain as much as you can from your experience.

·         Getting flustered, raising your voice, and demanding things will get you very little.  A smile and flexibility will open doors you didn’t even know existed.

Enjoy the journey of a lifetime.  Think of how fun it will be to share stories of your adventures with your kids down the road!

Reason #1 to see Ethiopia -- our daughter, Elsa.





Equally as important--Reason #2 - our son, Ashagre.