The Times They Are A-Changin'

 

In September of 2011, I started my first blog - "Zero the Zeros" - in response to changes made in the way grant funds were raised for the older children of Reece's Rainbow.  This is part of that post -

"the faces of hundreds of children, who, through no fault of their own, are destined to live in orphanages for life. Unless they can be rescued - adopted by families who see through their diagnosis, and see the child that is longing to be loved. The children with Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, arthrogryposis, HIV, and any number of other "conditions" that deem them unworthy in their country of birth.

For those new to the world of international special needs adoption, the mission of Reece's Rainbow is to raise awareness for all the children with Down Syndrome and other special needs, in 25 countries, and to raise funds as adoption grants that help adoptive families afford the HUGE cost of adoption.

  Each child under the age of 10 listed on Reece's Rainbow has an individual grant - the more money they have, the greater their chance of adoption. It's a sad fact that the only barrier between these children and a happy life is money - sad, but true.  Most people CAN afford to take care of a child on a day to day basis, providing them with food, shelter, schooling, therapy - LOVE.

 Unfortunately, most people don't have $30,000 lying around to pay for an adoption. In the world of adoption, money DOES buy happiness - and life......

Until very recently, children listed on Reece's Rainbow who were aged 6 or older had a collective grant - all money donated to these older children was pooled, and the first child adopted received the grant money - which was then set to zero. Since September 1st, that has changed - so all those older kids now have their own grants ! Unfortunately, the majority of them have ZERO in their grants. I want us to zero those zeros !!"
 

 

         

 

Well, in the words of Bob Dylan - the times they are a-changin'.

 

The sad fact is that since these changes went into effect, even though all of the older children listed on Reece's Rainbow (with a few exceptions) had their own individual grant, there are still many many children who have not been adopted (there are currently about 90 children aged over 10 with Down Syndrome, and 240 "Other Angels" still waiting).
 

There are children who have $10,000, $15,000, $20,000 sitting in their grant, but, for some unknown reason, these children are still waiting.

 

         

 

While it is wonderful that these kids have such great grants, it is also sad to think that all of that money is sitting, unused, while families stepping up to adopt other older children are struggling to raise their own adoption funds - in some cases delaying travel because of lack of money.

   

 
 

Hence, the changes.  When I first heard, I was a little hesitant (I do not like change !) - but the more I thought about it, the better I liked it.

 

There is currently about $750,000 in unused grants sitting in a bank account somewhere - this is the total of the grants held between all of the children aged over ten listed on Reece's Rainbow. That's a huge amount of money !

 

The way grants are allocated is going to change back into having two grant pools for the older children - with a few exceptions, they will no longer have individual grants.

    

 

When this was in effect before, whenever a family committed to adopting an older child, they would receive whatever was in the grant pool, whether it was a few dollars or a few thousand, and the grant would then reset to zero, relying on donations to grow it again for the next child chosen.

 

NOW, however - effective MAY 6th 2016 - every older child listed (age over ten) - will automatically receive $10,000 once a family commits !! 
That $10,000 will become the child's grant, and the family will receive the funds at a certain point in the adoption process, as before.

 

This will only last as long as the $750,000 lasts - but do the math - it will last a long time and help with a lot of adoptions - plus, as younger children turn 10, their individual grants will roll into the grant pool.

Another great change is that ALL older children - age 10+ - will be eligible for the grant pool - including those who didn't have their own individual grants previously !

   

There will be TWO pools - one for the children aged over 10 who have Down Syndrome, and one for the Other Angels who are over the age of 10 years.

Even newly listed children, and children with little to nothing in their grants currently, will be eligible for the $10,000.  This is HUGE - every older child (10+) who has a family commit to adopting them will get $10,000 in grant money !!  In the case of sibling groups, if one of the children is over 10, then they, too will be eligible !

     


     

I am actually hoping that the initial grant pool dwindles really really quickly - for that would mean that a whole bunch of older children were committed to and brought home to loving families !!

Once the pool IS gone though....

Then what happens ? 
What will we do when the pool money is all gone ?
Hopefully, we won't have to find out.

As noted above, as younger children age into the 10+ category, their grants will roll into the grant pool, and keep it funded.

• I am hoping that advocates will throw as much energy into raising money for the grant pools as they did raising money for the individual grants. 

• I am hoping that families who have already adopted will help keep the pools funded.

• I am hoping that any families who adopt in the future, and are able to benefit from the grant pool, will be able to "Pay It Forward" once they are home and settled with their new child.

• I am hoping that all involved with Reece's Rainbow will take these changes as positive, and can rally around to help ensure that ALL of the older children have the chance of finding a family.

• All of these older children need warriors - they need US to help them before it is too late for them - the years pass by so quickly, we need to do all we can for them - if we don't shout, who will ?

The times they ARE a-changin' - now, let's get those older kids seen, let's shout out their names, let's give them as much exposure as we can - and let's see them HOME !!!

    

For the official Reece's Rainbow announcement about the changes, please click HERE.