Helping Children Find a Good Home

Helping Children Find A Good Home
Lorrie Taylor Staff Writer, FOX 8 Cleveland

Hundreds of children are waiting for homes here in Cuyahoga County. Statistics indicate close to 300 of them don't stand a chance of finding one.

14-year old Andrew Gvozd beat the odds thanks to the efforts of The Adoption Network of Cleveland. "I wanted to be a normal kid," Andrew told Fox 8's Lorrie Taylor. He says living in foster care robbed him of basic freedoms he was certain came with living in a permanent home. Things like going to the bathroom without asking permission or getting a glass of water from the kitchen. "I thought about it everyday," he said of finding a permanent home.

The Adoption Network of Cleveland exists to make the adoption process easier. Helping kids like Andrew is just one of their specialties. Right now 650 youngsters are in need of adoptive parents. 250 of them are older then nine, which greatly reduces their chances of being adopted.

"We partner with Cuyahoga County and with private adoption agencies in the area to help them do really intensive work to look for families for these kids," said Executive Director Betsy Norris. The Adoption Network has won many awards for its work. The Skirball Foundation out of New York is now offering matching funds up to $400,000 for money the Network can raise by August 15th.

"We work with the agencies to help find people known or if necessary unknown to that child to find permanency for them before it's too late," said Norris.

Andrew's a good example of what can happen when the Adoption Network starts mining a child's past. He had a younger brother, Chris, who was adopted at the age of two. Andrew was six and placed in foster care at the same time. When contacted by the Network, Chris' adoptive parents were open to meeting Andrew. Mike Templeton says after several visits at the group home where Andrew was living, his son Chris made a suggestion. "He goes my brother can't be there, he says he needs a home and a family, he's like, you guys need to adopt him now."

Templeton says that's all it took. Andrew's life long dream is now the entire family's dream come true. They're in the process of completing Andrew's adoption. "It's kind of joyful to be around them," said Andrew. His brother Chris describes his growing family another way. "It just feels like my life is complete."

For more information on helping The Adoption Network achieve its goal of raising $400,000, for which every dollar will be matched, go to Fox8.com and look under "Seen on TV".