Helping More Families Adopt
Wednesday - February 17, 2010 Share
By Kristine Altwies, exec. director, CEO
Hawaii International Child
Hawaii International Child was established in 1975 with the mission “to help orphaned and needy children find loving families, while helping parents adopt children they wish to love and raise.”
Our work in Africa, in a country that has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world, reminds us that the neediest children must sometimes rely on the compassion of adults halfway around the world. On a recent visit I was driving down a muddy road and spotted a group of school-children. Stopping to talk with them, I noticed that half of them were barefoot. Although these children were not orphans, they lacked basic necessities.
The next day we sent back shoes. I now take a suitcase full of footwear every time I go to Africa.
Children in Hawaii need our aloha as well.
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HIC has enjoyed the opportunity to work with local families as they give permanence to foster children. In our visits to homes from Waianae to Waimanalo, we see courage, love and compassion for children. Like the families we serve, our own organizational family has recently grown as well.
On Jan. 22, HIC and Child & Family Service merged, with HIC becoming a subsidiary of CFS, the state’s oldest and most comprehensive nonprofit human service agency. This consolidation makes HIC the largest Hawaii-based adoption agency and will greatly increase the number of children who will find forever families.
For families who are currently going through the adoption process, the merger between the two agencies will not disrupt their adoption application. Both organizations see this partnership as a winwin proposition in growing their array of services for placement of children in permanent homes and supporting adoptive families through the adoption process.
After nearly two decades of building other people’s families through adoption, my dream of adopting a child recently
Hawaii charitable organizations may send requests for space in either Proof Positive or the free advertisement below to dchapman@midweek.com.
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