Message from Moira:

National Adoption Month: A Time to Say Thanks

It is something I say all year long, but especially relevant during National Adoption Month: Thank you for opening your hearts and homes to our children.

Thank you for the numerous trips to doctors and therapists. Thank you for remaining calm in the face of behavior problems. Thank you for the birthday parties, graduation celebrations and other festivities you have planned for a child that once belonged to someone else.

Thank you for changing a child’s life forever and thank you for making this community a better place to live.

This is your month.

Hamilton County investigates more than 6,000 reports of child abuse and neglect a year. When intensive services fail and a child can no longer remain safe in a parent’s care, the county will seek custody of the child and attempt to find a safe and loving adoptive home. That sometimes takes months or years.

All the while, those children wait for an angel to step up. Many of you have answered the call.

And somewhere along the way, you realize that the child enriches your life as much as you do his or hers. You find joy in his smile. Pride in her accomplishments. It does not matter if the child is an infant, an elementary school student or a young teen in high school: that child becomes your child.

On Nov. 20, we will celebrate National Adoption Month with a mass adoption ceremony at Hamilton County’s Probate Court. Several of our children will unite with families. I am excited to welcome these families into your fraternity.

We also have several adoption-related events planned for this month to say thanks to our adoptive parents:

• a skating party on Nov. 7 from noon to 3 p.m. at The Skatin' Place in Colerain.  Not only is this a chance for many of our kids to skate, we will use it as a recruitment event for prospective adoptive parents.

• an adoption appreciation event for our adoptive families and children at the Jewish Community Center at 6 p.m. on Nov. 20. The Amazing Portable Circus will be on hand for kids to enjoy carnival games, dancing, music, an aerial show, food and more!

• an official proclamation from the Hamilton County Commissioners proclaiming November National Adoption Month in Hamilton County.

We will also do several appearances on local media outlets and you will see us out and about beating the drum on adoption because we still have more than 200 children who need adoptive homes.

My hope is that eventually every child in our care will find a loving family they can call their own. If you know someone who would make a good adoptive parent, please tell them about us. Urge them to take a quick look at our foster care and adoption Web site, www.hckids.org, and see all the cute, smiling children who are still waiting for homes. Some are growing old waiting for a home to call their own. It is heartbreaking.