Immigration Approval Here We Come!

Finally an update! Our homestudy has been approved and sent off to USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services). That means our countdown to immigration approval begins. I stated in my second post that it could take up to six months; however, upon my most recent visit to the USCIS website I found out it is currently taking three months or less for processing times!! Yipee!!! Finally some good news. Now that the homestudy is finished, Gladney will look at our whole file and decide if we are officially approved to adopt through them. What a long process...

Speaking of long processes, in their monthly teleconference, Gladney stated the average wait for a referral is now 6.5 months, the timeframe to receive a court date is 1-3 months after referral, and then 12 weeks until the actual court date. Hopefully we will be on the waitlist for a referral in early June.

AHOPE

AHOPE for Children is an organization that serves HIV positive orphans in Ethiopia. They have two children's homes in Addis Ababa that care for children that do not have family to care for them. Many of these children are now finding permanent homes through adoption. AHOPE also has a community outreach program that makes it possible for orphans to stay with their extended relatives and in their own communities by providing medical care, food, education, and more. Since we are adopting from Ethiopia, this issue is very close to our hearts. A t-shirt has been designed to bring awareness to this orphan crisis. Please join us. Your $10 donation for a shirt can feed a child at AHOPE for a week! The following is a post from the AHOPE blog:

There’s a movement growing. Everyday in the Western world someone’s eyes are opened to the orphan crisis that’s ravaging the developing countries. The problem seems so large and we seem so insignificant. We can make a difference though. By raising awareness we foster a community and as a community we can provide. We’re asking you to help us in creating that community.

World AIDS Orphan Day is May 7th. The AHOPE Store has developed a t-shirt to commemorate this day and the community of supporters that are growing year after year. Please join us in raising awareness. It’s simple. Order our newest t-shirt from the AHOPE Store for a $10 donation. (All proceeds go towards care of the children served by AHOPE.) Wear your shirt as often as possible, and especially on World AIDS Orphan Day. It will serve as a reminder to your community. It may even create a dialogue. That dialogue could open someone’s eyes. You might inspire them to do more, give more. We are asking you to join us in creating a community that is committed to orphan care.

After seeing what one little t-shirt can do you might be inspired yourself. If that’s the case be sure to check out the World AIDS Orphan Day website. Here you can find further information on this grassroots campaign and how to organize an event in your area. The campaign was founded by FXB International in 2002 and continues to grow year after year.

The new t-shirts images, designed by 13-year-old Isaiah, are shown below:

To order your shirt, please visit www.ahopestore.org. For orders of 20 or more please contact Marissa Baker at store@ahopeforchildren.org. Thank you very much for your support of AHOPE!