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Sponsor one or more families to help with the financial burden of their adoption journey. Thank you for your generous gift of life and love! |
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Sponsor one or more families to help with the financial burden of their adoption journey. Thank you for your generous gift of life and love! |
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Caleb and Lisa Howard have been contemplating adoption since late 2015. After finding out Lisa was pregnant with baby #3 in 2016, adoption got pushed to the wayside. In early 2017, Lisa joined the Reese’s Rainbow facebook group and her heart was again opened to adoption. She showed Caleb child after child, but none seemed to fit in to their family. When an advocate for Reese posted his information, they inquired about him. After much prayer and consideration, Caleb and Lisa decided God was opening the doors for them to adopt Reese! They are anxious to bring him home to meet their 3 other children: Hannah, Judah, and Shiloh!
3/27/2017 — HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
Kayla and Gino have been happily married for 6 years and have been blessed with two biological children.
Adoption has been a long time dream for Kayla, often a topic of conversation with Gino, an open possibility. They were nervous about the whole process, but not enough to give up their mutual dream of having a big family. Kayla kept looking online, then, one day not long ago, she finally found two little siblings! Immediately sent their pictures to Gino. They were both amazed to see that these sweet little angels looked just like their bio kids… They fell in love!
Finding them was a wonderful surprise. Meaning that they didn’t quite have enough time to get ready. So now they are rushing to pay fees, gather a humongous amount of paperwork and raise the remaining amount of money fast enough.
Adoption is never easy peasy process, but they know in their hearts that this journey is gonna be one of the most important and rewarding things they could ever do. They keep working at it and counting the days until they can finally bring those sweet angels home!
4/25/2017 — HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
Ellen and Joel live in Connecticut where they have been married for 25 years. They have five children: two in college and three at home. As things often go, their children’s hobbies and interests have become their hobbies and interests. They enjoy getting outside, watching any kind of sport being played by their children and listening to their musical endeavors. The youngest, John (4), born with Down Syndrome, has been a blessing in all their lives. Since John was born, they have been introduced to the world of “special needs”. All members of the family have taken a keen interest into how to bring about John’s best abilities. They still enjoy the same endeavors, but perhaps in a different way. Over the years, Ellen and Joel have learned so much from being parents; so much about themselves. After John was born, they became aware of Reece’s Rainbow and the phrase “waiting children”. They have come to understand these children are not waiting for a ride to school, or waiting for new shoes; their real wait is for a family. Something many of us take for granted. This phrase, “waiting,” has been on their minds for over 4 years. Ellen and Joel feel their life journey has led them to the role of adoptive parents and they are happily accepting of this role.
One day while looking on Reece’s Rainbow, Ellen saw Eloise and showed her to Joel. The brief description of Eloise noted that, “she responds to people by waving and shaking hands. She loves music and is mesmerized by every note”. AAAAhhh, they felt, “this is our girl!” They shared her picture and the idea of adopting her with their four older children and not one of them hesitated to say, “YES, let’s do it!” So here they are, deeply committed to bringing Eloise to live with them forever; deeply committed to giving her the opportunities that their son John has in his neighborhood school, and in the supportive and loving communities of church, family, and friends. They are currently asking for prayers and support to make this adoption financially, emotionally, and spiritually successful. Please consider partnering with them to bring Eloise to her forever home.
4/5/2017 — HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
Please help Jayce’s family bring him home, where he will receive the love and care he so desperately needs.
5/11/2017 — HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
Janet is so excited to start this family expansion by welcoming in this Deaf child. She is a hearing daughter of two incredible Deaf Parents. She works as a Sign Language Interpreter at Stanford University’s Hospital. So as you can see bringing in a Deaf child… just fits perfectly! Janet and her extended family are so excited to share her language of ASL, her Deaf culture, her family, her friends and extended community with Royce.
Janet has never been married, but her yearning to be a mother has never wavered. This is what led her loving heart right to adoption. She decided to allow God to direct her path to her future as a Mother, and he led her right to Royce. Royce is a bright, cute, energetic preteen that is in need of a signing & stable home. She is only a few miles from the best School for the Deaf in the country in Fremont, CA. He’s already so loved and has so many excited to meet him and help guide, and shape this young man. Janet feels incredibly blessed to be on this journey towards him across these 5552 miles that currently separate them. Thank you for your time to read this biography and donating to her path towards motherhood.
3/22/2017 — HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
Jamie and Kristina Rook are high school sweet hearts who knew from the moment they were married that a large family was a definite desire. After the first year of marriage they were told that they would not be able to have children due to Kristina’s PCOS diagnosis. By God’s grace they were wrong. Through the help of fertility drugs they were blessed with their first child after many losses. There were a total of 16 in utero losses throughout the years. They are currently the parents of 4 amazing children. God blessed them with 4 happy healthy and loving children but he placed the desire in their hearts and their children to have more. They prayed and spoke about adoption for many years even in the process of having their other children. Searching through photo after photo of children awaiting a family was really tough for them and led them down a few dead end roads. God had a different plan and he opened up their hearts to little Carl on RR and even though they had never met him, their lives have been forever changed simply by his innocent smile.
5/5/2017–HOMESTUDY NEARLY COMPLETE
Kristina has been a natural caregiver her whole life. She is a single mom to three wonderful boys. Her youngest son is blessed with Williams Syndrome. Kristina has been a licensed daycare provider for 15 years. During this time she has cared for many children with sever special needs. She’s taken care of children with Cerebral Palsey, Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, Oppositional Defiance Disorder , ASD, and of course Williams Syndrome. Kristina has always welcomes these children with open arms when other daycares turn them away. Kristina loves being a daycare provider because she’s earning a living and home for her own children’s needs. It’s the best of both worlds. Kristina knows the love of adoption because her mom was adopted. Most of Kristina’s family has passed away. Losing them so young has left Kristina with a deep passion for family. Kristina always knew she wanted to adopt. After seeing a friend fundraising through Reece’s Rainbow she began asking questions. Her friend introduced her to the profiles on Reece’s Rainbow. Kristina spent weeks reading hundreds of profiles. She knew she wanted to adopt but how? She had little savings, she was single. She just felt it was impossible. God kept whispering you can do it. She prayed about making the best adoption decision for her family. Kristina has no idea how she’s going to raise the money for this adoption. She has already doubled her work hours. She knows it’s going to take hard work. She is truly jumping in on faith.
2/15/2017–HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
The Ewer family has started their adoption journey to adopt a little boy named Jonathan.They are so excited to bring him home and call him their son! Along with the title son he will also gain the title of “big brother”, “little brother”, and of course gain the title of “orphan no more!”
Jonathan will not only have parents who love him but ten siblings to love him as well! Unfortunately Jonathan has been living in a place that no child should have to live. He spends his days in a room with no toys, no books, no positive interaction of any kind just a room full of boys surrounded by benches. He desperately needs medical care, dental care, an education, but most of all LOVE and a FAMILY! International adoption is very expensive but they know that this is the path God has called them on. Please help them get to their son by helping them chip away at the mountain of expenses that lies in their path! Thank you so much!
“We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes.” – Radical by David Platt
5/5/17 —HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
Andy and Kelly have been married for almost 29 years. They have been blessed with seven biological children over the course of their lives together-six sons and one daughter. They now have four adult children that have left home so that leaves only three at home.
In 2010 they were introduced to the beautiful world of Down Syndrome when their youngest child was born. Although the learning curve was steep and Jamison suffered from numerous medical challenges in the first few years he is now a healthy, thriving and delightful 6 year old who is the absolute delight of their family!
Kelly has had a desire to adopt for a long time. Before Jamison was born she discovered Reece’s Rainbow and she and her daughter, Abby, would spend many hours looking at the waiting children and wondering if there would be a time that adoption would be a part of their family. The timing wasn’t right.
Following Jamison’s birth and a cross country move the Kesti family settled into their new community. They discovered and became active in their local Down Syndrome advocacy group, DSNetwork of Arizona all the while becoming more and more aware of the awesome-ness of these special people blessed with an extra chromosome.
Once again Kelly began looking at the waiting children on Reece’s Rainbow and becoming part of Facebook’s DS adoption advocacy community. Now after a year of looking for their child and beginning an adoption savings they found their daughter, “Merryn” right where this all started-on Reece’s Rainbow!
“Merryn” is a very adorable little 5-year old girl with Down Syndrome who is waiting for her family to come and bring her home. Andy and Kelly are her mom and dad and are working hard to get her home as soon as humanly possible! They can hardly wait until the day they will bring their sweet girl home where she can feel the love of all of her family that waits for her!
The Kesti family has already seen so much support and enthusiasm as they are beginning this process. They know there are generous people that would also like to help by donating so they can make this process as smooth and as fast as it can be!
Please consider making a donation; any amount will help!
3/15/17—HOMESTUDY COMPLETE; AWAITING APPROVAL
Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog at bringingourspecialangelhome.blogspot.com
Jacob and Sarah had that “love at first sight” moment 13 years ago at Dallas Baptist University and never stopped living the fairy tale. Jacob is a Vice President at Alliant Insurance Services and Sarah is a fitness bootcamp instructor / stay at home mom with their 6 children ages 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 10. After the adoption of #6, they knew they had room in their hearts and home for one more and started looking at Reece’s Rainbow for the perfect child with “something extra.” The whole family is so excited to welcome their new sister, soon to be named “Noelle”!
2/6/17 —HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
Follow the family’s adoption journey at: justusholts.blogspot.com
Ian and Karleigh Petersen met on New Years’ Eve 2011. Although it’s cliché, they met on the internet. They emailed back and forth for a few weeks before Ian finally got the gumption to ask if Karleigh wanted to get together. Although never admitting it, Karleigh was so excited to meet the man on the other side of the screen. After several hiccups in the timeline, they finally met that evening at the local mall and the rest is history. Within a few days they were dating officially, six months later were engaged, and just five short months after that were married.
Less than a year later they found out they were pregnant with their now two year old son, Axel. He was the light of their life and although life wasn’t perfect, it was wonderful. Not long after having their son, Karleigh joined the Reece’s Rainbow community on Facebook. After sitting back and following everyone on their own journey for over a year, the adoption itch was becoming unscratchable. Almost daily Karleigh would show Ian pictures of children and tell him their stories. She would curl up on his lap and cry and beg and plead that finally they could. He would hold her close and say “soon. Not now, but soon.”
Finally, Karleigh was scrolling through the posts on the RR Facebook page and a cute picture of a little boy with chubby cheeks caught her eye. Daily she would go looking for the post just to look at this little one’s face until finally she gave in and saved the picture. The next morning Karleigh showed her husband the picture, expecting the same reaction, but praying this time would be different. And it was.
This time, Ian looked at the picture like it was a child he already knew. He took the phone out of Karleigh’s hand and just stared at it. She told him his story and then fell silent. Axel took the phone away from his dad just so he could kiss the picture of this sweet little boy. Ian looked in Karleigh’s eyes and with tears streaming down his face said, “Baby, I don’t know why. I don’t know how. But we are bringing him home, and we’re not going to stop fighting until we do.”
Soon after they found a little girl with a story all her own. She quickly wrapped herself around Ian’s finger and is already her princess. This story is already filled with ups and downs, twists and turns, and bumps and bruises. But they are determined to do whatever it takes to get these kids home where they will be loved, cared for, and cherished.
3/22/17—HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
Follow the family’s journey on their blog: hismissionourhome.wordpress.com
It seems only natural for a person who grew up knowing and loving two people with disabilities to want to become an advocate. Darla grew up with her beloved Uncle Phil, who had a head injury and her step brother Tony, who has Down Syndrome.
While searching for information about her stepbrother Tony, Darla stumbled upon Reeces Rainbow. The very first child she ever saw was a 6 year old boy who had just been listed and his name was “Nolan.” Nolan had sustained a head injury as a young toddler. It was the wrong time for her to adopt, having just had a baby, going through a business lawsuit over her IP and with a mother who had a terminal illness, all she could do was advocate. Fate would take many turns, including inaccessibility during war, but God is faithful and now she can finally go and get Nolan, who is now 12. They also hope to bring home a little girl from Nolan’s area who has captured their hearts.
Darla and Drew have been together since 1997 and have 4 children together, ages 7, 10, 13 and 16. Darla has older children who are now grown and have families of their own. They hosted Nolan in the summer of 2016 and though he can be quite a handful, he is also a smart, loving, funny boy and they are anxious to bring him home, love him and give him a family and begin work on reversing the damage that happens to children who have been institutionalized.
1/16/17 —HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
