Adoption takes spotlight this weekend at local event
By Catharin Shepard
Published in News on November 10, 2010 1:46 PM
The Wayne County Department of Social Services is hosting an Adoption Celebration in recognition of National Adoption Awareness Month.
The event, supporting the many Wayne County residents who have adopted children, will be Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the park house in Herman Park.
A group of organizations, along with the department, are trying to bring foster care and adoption into the spotlight, foster home licensing worker Aaryn Fazakerly said.
The event is all about "celebrating all the families in the county who have adopted children, and also to raise awareness about the many children still waiting for homes," she said.
The celebration will offer a moon walk, slide, booths with crafts and free food, besides information about becoming a foster or adoptive parent.
Exhibitors that often provide services for children and youths will also offer information about the path to adoption and ongoing support for families with adopted children.
Being a child without a permanent home is very hard on kids and teens, and Mrs. Fazakerly knows firsthand how rewarding and challenging it is to adopt -- she and her husband adopted a child.
"These kids had all connections with their own family severed. They end up on their own," she said.
Many foster children have special needs, either medical or psychological, and by the time they age out of the foster care system -- without ever having been adopted -- they have no one to help them get started in life as adults, Mrs. Fazakerly said.
It takes a strong family to adopt a child, and there are many kids out there even in Wayne County who need a home.
"It's not easy. It takes commitment and a willingness to work through," she said.
But the adoption celebration will help spread awareness about the process, and provide information about several Wayne County children who need homes and are currently hoping for adoptive parents.
In keeping with the adoption theme, Wayne County animal rescue groups will also be on hand for families thinking of adopting a dog or cat, Mrs. Fazakerly said.
Partnership for Children, which provides parenthood training, the First Step program, the Goldsboro Family Y, 4-H and the Children's Home Society that also provides post-adoption services. Goldsboro Parks and Recreation, state and county foster parent groups and Rebuilding Broken Places will also take part in the adoption event.