By Bonnie J Williams | Manager of Development
It started 29 years ago, when Scott and Darla were married. Darla said she wanted a lot of kids and hoped to adopt. They had 4 of their own, and then -- in one fell swoop --adopted three. When their youngest was 17 Darla went online and found Kidsave, and read about its Summer Miracles “hosting” program.
This program brings older orphans from Colombia to the US for a month-long stay with a family that helps them find a permanent adoptive family. Darla saw a picture of the three Colombian siblings who were not yet matched with a host family after the deadline had passed, but were still hoping to come to the US. The oldest was soon too turn 18 and would soon be out on her own. It was too late for Darla and Scott to apply to host….so they applied to adopt the girls. The dropped everything to complete the adoption process, and the girls came for a month-long visit. Now they have been adopted.
“The hosting period,” said Scott, “got the girls very comfortable that we were the loving parents they were looking for. Without that time in the summer it would have been harder to establish their trust.”
These girls grew up very poor and came from an extremely difficult home environment but had a good few years in foster care to start their recovery before they came to the US.
“The girls are incredible,” said Scott who speaks fluent Spanish. “The oldest prays every night very selflessly – for her mom, for those in jail, and those on the street. The last thing she prays for is anything for herself. She was desperate to get adopted but it was to make sure her sisters would have a better opportunity, not herself. The middle girl believed she had no value or worth to anyone and was anxious about social interaction. But once you establish a connection, that anxiety goes away.”
Each day, Scott says gets numerous text messages from the girls saying things like, “I love you, I miss you.” He says, “lots of people say, ‘you are angels to do this for anyone,’ but honestly we are getting more out of it than they are.” Darla added, “I love them like my own and can’t imagine life without them.” Scott noted contentedly, “I thought I was happy before, but now I wake up with a smile on my face each morning. They are extremely sweet girls who just needed a loving family environment.”
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