SUPPORT4EVERYFAMILY: PRESS RELEASE
Adopt4Life to publish Parent2Parent Permanency Support Stories and Quotes in its 2nd annual #Support4EveryFamily social media outreach campaign
Throughout February, Ontario’s Adoptive Parents Association will use Family Day’s month of February to provide insights from families that give evidence of the value of peer support for all families formed through adoption, kinship, or customary care.
Toronto, Ontario, February 1st, 2016 – Today Adopt4Life, Ontario’s non-profit Adoptive Parents Association, announced the start of its 2nd annual #Support4EveryFamily campaign; a family outreach campaign through social media channels. Coinciding with Family Day’s month, the awareness campaign will highlight the continued urgent need for readily available, province-wide support for every adoptive child and family in Ontario, from the moment they are matched, through the transition period, and into adulthood.
Every day in February 2016, Adopt4Life will post quotes from Ontario’s adoptive parents describing the benefits of having a Parent2Parent Support Network. As well, stories will be posted weekly sharing in greater detail the ways that peer support has normalized and strengthened their families. The quotes and stories will appear on Adopt4Life’s website www.adopt4life.com, and will be available through the association’s Facebook and Twitter channels using the hashtag #Support4EveryFamily.
“Adopt4Life’s families are very pleased with the Ministry of Child and Youth Services’ recent commitments to post adoption family supports,” says Julie Despaties, Founder of Adopt4Life. “The stories and quotes shared by our adoptive parents speak to how important peer support has been for them in parenting their children who have come from hard places and the need for this support accessible province wide. As parents, we all know that raising children is difficult – in fact we say that we need a Village to raise a child, well, through adoption, we need more than a village, WE NEED A PROVINCE TO COME TOGETHER”.
Julie further explains that in early transition, many families struggle in isolation, quickly becoming defeated and ashamed, making it more difficult for them to seek help in parenting their children. However, by providing the right support as soon as a family is matched with their child(ren), starting with equipping parents with the needed tools and knowledge through post adoption training, along with engaging them in a Parent2Parent Peer Support Network with Buddy and Mentor matching, we help normalize their journey and show them that, there is hope and happiness not too far away.
The Adoption Council of Ontario (ACO) says it best, “Adoptive families bring to their children and youth an open heart and a willingness to do a lot of hard work, but they cannot (nor should they) do it alone”.
Adopt4Life believes Ontario can do better in ensuring successful outcomes for adoptive children and their family with qualified, accessible and timely #Support4EveryFamily.
The Adopt4Life website will feature the daily quotes and weekly stories. Note that all pseudonyms, when used, are a means to protect the requested privacy of individuals.
ABOUT ADOPT4LIFE
Adopt4Life is Ontario’s Adoptive Parents Association, a non-profit organization. We advocate at the government level for an improved adoption process and for better services, and provide support and guidance to adoptive families from the moment they begin their adoption process throughout their parenting journey. Inclusive of ALL Ontario adoptive parents, including: public, private, international, kin care, customary care and moral adoption. Adopt4Life believes Ontario can do better when it comes to forming families through adoption and seeks #AHome4EveryKid with #Support4EveryFamily. Find out more at www.Adopt4Life.com.