The primary goals of
:
1) To raise awareness of the plight of children with Down syndrome in foreign orphanages and their availability to be adopted.
2) To raise adoption grant donations for each of our waiting children
3) To locate new adoptive families for orphans with Down syndrome internationally.
4) To "de-mystify" the process and costs of international adoption...it IS affordable!
5) To encourage families to consider adopting a child with DS through education and financial help.
6) To offer financial assistance to adoptive families through our Sponsorship Program.
7) To participate in medical missions for urgently ill children with Down syndrome.
8) To participate in humanitarian aid opportunities to improve the quality of life of children in foreign orphanages.
Greetings and welcome! My name is Andrea
Roberts. I am the mother of a 5-year-old boy with Down syndrome, and a
passionate advocate for other children around the world who were born with that
extra 3rd chromosome.
Like many unsuspecting birth parents, my husband and I grieved for quite some time after Reece's birth in April of 2002. The life we had envisioned for ourselves and our first-born-son was turned completely upside down, and we felt very much alone. We were so blessed to find help through the Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta and Parent-to-Parent of Georgia. Our faith that God had given Reece to us, and us to Reece, for a purpose, carried us through our darkest hours.
was started
in
2004 as
an outreach program
serving new families with babies with Down syndrome at Northside Hospital in
Atlanta, GA. The nurse who attended me post-partum with Reece, Mrs.
Kim Wood, RN, called me one day out of the blue and asked if she could use
Reece's name for her hospital service project. She asked if I would come
talk to new families and share everything I have learned with them before they
were discharged from the hospital. I was moved, honored, and
terrified. Would I be able to face a new grieving mother? Would I be
able to HELP and not break down again? YES.
Since that time, we have met countless numbers of new "colors" of Reece's Rainbow. We have made so many wonderful friends, and our life has been blessed in a million ways. Our network of friends and families continues to grow. But the one constant is REECE...the beauty and innocence that a child with Down syndrome brings to the world is truly one of Divine nature. God has led me through some very difficult times, but waiting on the other side of that "rainbow" for me was enlightenment, empowerment, compassion, mercy, and a tremendous "calling" to reach out to other children like Reece who were not as fortunate as he to have a loving, supportive family to grow up in.
In 2006, the program expanded to include promoting the international adoption of children with Down syndrome. By raising money to offer adoption grants on waiting children, we are able to give adoptive families the extra financial help they need to bring a child with Down syndrome home from a miserable existence in overseas orphanages. Our Sponsorship Program provides a unique opportunity for anonymous donors to contribute to the adoption journey of our families. These children are viewed as outcasts with no ability to learn or be functional members of society. They languish in mental institutions, hidden away from the world in shame. Even if you are not able to adopt a child at this time, you truly can change the course of a child's life by helping adoptive families afford the costs of international adoption. $20, $50, $1000....whatever you have goes into an interest-bearing fund for ANY family adopting a child with Down syndrome. Click here to learn the many ways you can help!
