[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25609]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   RECOGNITION FOR ADOPTIONS TOGETHER

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 30, 2000

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, as National Adoption Month 2000 
approaches, I take great pride in recognizing the exceptional work 
being done by Adoptions Together, a nonprofit organization in my 
Congressional district, on behalf of children in need of a permanent, 
loving adoptive home. Since its founding ten years ago by Janice 
Goldwater of Silver Spring, Maryland, Adoptions Together has worked to 
help all children in need of a home regardless of the child's age, 
health, race, physical or mental handicap. Adoptions Together welcomes 
every child who seeks its help.
  Many things about adoptions needed to be changed for the better then 
Janice Goldwater began Adoptions Together in 1990. At the time, there 
was little hope that medically fragile infants whose birth families 
could not care for them would quickly find their way to loving adoptive 
homes. African American infants waited for years in temporary 
placements because there were so few resources available to them. 
Families who had already adopted had no place to turn when their 
children asked difficult questions and struggled with adoption issues. 
Ms. Goldwater, a licensed clinical social workers, set out to make 
Adoptions Together a place where these difficulties could and would be 
overcome.
  The organization that Ms. Goldwater founded and continues to lead as 
executive director has helped change the picture of adoptions in 
Maryland and the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Through Adoptions 
Together, more than 1,400 children have been welcomed into loving, 
healthy adoptive homes. One homes in particular deserves recognition. 
Darren and Laurie Morgan of Burtonsville, Maryland have fostered 93 
children, adopted one, and raised three. Their willingness to open 
their hearts and their homes to so many children is an amazing kindness 
that all of us can learn from. The Morgan's have touched so many lives 
through Adoptions Together and I am honored to have them in our 
community.
  In addition, older children who have languished for years in foster 
care are now finding adoptive homes through Adoptions Together. It is 
the first private-sector organization in Maryland authorized to provide 
adoption services for the thousands of older Maryland children who are 
growing up in public foster care. Adoptions Together has helped more 
than 300 children with special medical needs such as HIV, birth 
defects, or serious prenatal drug exposure to become part of loving, 
permanent families. The organization has provided over 10,000 days of 
care to more than 300 newborns while their futures were being settled. 
More than 600 children left orphanages and institutions in Eastern 
Europe, Asia and Central America to happily join their new adoptive 
families in Maryland and beyond in other states.
  Adoptions Together serves the needs of both adoptive families and 
birth parents, offering programs that can be a model for adoption 
organizations nationwide. Every birth parent who has sought the 
organization's help has received free adoption counseling for as long 
as they wished. Over the past ten years, more than 5,000 women facing 
unplanned pregnancies have received counseling and other help, whether 
or not they chose adoption for their child. At Adoptions Together, 
birth parents who are unable to raise their child themselves consider 
adoption as a pro-active plan for assuring that their child's needs 
will be met.
  Adoptions Together believes that placing a child is only the first 
step in building a strong adoptive family. Once a child is placed, the 
goal becomes helping the family through lifelong education, counseling 
and support. More than 1,000 families--clients of Adoptions Together 
and many other adoption organizations--have found support and guidance 
in Adoptions Together's Center for Adoptive Families program. More than 
500 teachers, educators, social workers, ministers and therapists 
throughout the country have received professional training by Adoptions 
Together on adoption topics.
  Today, the need for this organization's good work is greater than 
ever before. More than 3,000 children in Maryland and the District of 
Columbia are now waiting for a permanent home. Increased drug abuse, 
institutional poverty, and the lack of community resources make 
Adoptions Together a safety net for these children. Fortunately, 
members of our community are rallying behind Adoptions Together's 
efforts. Corporate and private benefactors teamed up September 22 at 
the Adoptions Together Tenth Anniversary Gala to raise funds that will 
support Adoptions Together's second decade of care giving. Among those 
instrumental in this effort were: gala co-chairs Judy Polk of 
Rockville, Pam Cole Finlay of Bethesda, Jane Philips of Howard; 
television's Rosie O'Donnell; and corporate sponsors Credit Management 
Solutions, Inc. (CMSI), Hecht's, OTG Software, SFX Entertainment, and 
Sun Trust. In November, washingtonpost.com will sponsor an innovative, 
two-month on-line fundraising effort for Adoptions Together. With help 
from these and other benefactors, a great Maryland nonprofit 
organization will begin a new year--its second grade--of loving care 
giving, welcoming all children who turn to Adoptions Together for a 
permanent adoptive home. I applaud the past efforts of Adoptions 
Together and wish them all the best on behalf of the children of 
Maryland and their families.

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