The Ava’s Hope StoryAva’s Hope was founded in 2005 to encourage the international adoption of orphans who otherwise have no hope for the love, care or future that a permanent family provides. Often these children also suffer from severe malnourishment, neglect and/or abuse. We believe that no child should suffer because a family wanting to adopt simply can’t afford the enormous expense associated with this process.
My husband and I founded Ava’s Hope after researching international adoption. Once we became aware of the suffering of so many babies and children overseas we knew we couldn’t turn away and pretend we didn’t know – we felt we had a responsibility to help. We were also astonished at how expensive these adoptions are.
Depending on the country it can cost as much as $35,000 to adopt one child. There are many people who were able to provide a loving home, but simply could not afford the up-front expense. We decided that something needed to be done - at least in a small way - to help ease that financial burden for adopting families.
We also decided to focus on international rather than domestic adoptions. Thankfully there are more families wanting to adopt infants in the U.S. than there are infants available, and “harder to place” infants or children are often placed via foster care.
That is not the case for babies and children overseas.
Children overseas are abandoned for many reasons such as poverty, sickness, or deformities that are able to be treated in the U.S. but not abroad. They are also abandoned because of cultural preference for one sex vs. another, legal limits on the number of children allowed per family, or by single mothers facing an impossible future because of the cultural consequences of single motherhood. These children often face a future of neglect, malnourishment, possibly abuse…and certainly a lack of love if they are not adopted. Sadly, there are more people who would be willing to adopt these children if the financial barriers were not so high. Ava’s Hope helps subsidize these adoptions so that these children can know loving families.
We are not setting out to change the entire world - at least not right away. We are focusing on making a lasting difference in the lives of a specific number of families each year by funding their adoptions, and giving their children a running start. Together we can make a critical and lasting difference in the lives of these children, one at a time. This is the simple mission of Ava’s Hope.
Nearly 100% of the donations and proceeds raised by Ava’s Hope go to the sponsorship of a child in need. All of the officers and board members of our organization are volunteers who simply feel a responsibility to help these children.
We hope you will join this effort.
Rachel Henry
Executive Director for Ava’s Hope
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Wished For Child
Our new children's book is here! Written after experiencing frustration at the lack of children's books available for adoptive children and their siblings, Wished for Child uses one child's voice to explain the loving decision that is adoption - from each person involved at each stage.
Written by Rachel Henry and beautifully illustrated by Amanda Mercurio, the story is illustrated and told to be applicable for any child, regardless of where or how they came to be adopted. The book also includes journal pages so that you can record personal notes related to your child's own adoptive story.
This book is perfect to use as preparation for siblings when welcoming a new member of the family via adoption, for your own adoptive child, or as a gift for a family/child growing through adoption.
100% of the proceeds from this book will go directly toward funding our adoption grants.
Paperback, 32 full-color pages
$15 + $2.95 shipping | See Inside The Book
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