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The primary goals of
 :
To raise
awareness regarding the plight of children with Down syndrome in foreign
orphanages and their availability to be adopted
To raise
adoption grant donations for each of our waiting children
To seek new
adoptive families for orphans with Down syndrome internationally
To provide
adoptive families with additional fundraising opportunities.
To fund
humanitarian aid opportunities and improve the quality of life of our children
waiting to be adopted
To fund
educational and therapeutic opportunities for orphaned children with Down
syndrome living in foreign orphanages
To fund and
facilitate the development of new Down syndrome birth parent support groups in
foreign countries, thereby decreasing the number of children placed in
orphanages
To enact social
change abroad about children with Down syndrome and other special needs through
the testimony of adoption
Greetings and welcome! My name is Andrea
Roberts. I am the mother of a 6-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.
Reece's Rainbow
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!
Families interested in adopting should visit our
New Family page for more information on our country
programs, our waiting children, the costs, and the process in general.
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