Rappelling over the side of a building requires trust, preparation, and support. You secure yourself with a harness, rely on ropes and anchors, and use friction devices and safety backups to guide every careful step downward. The most difficult part is often not the descent itself; it’s the moment you lean back over the edge and choose to trust that you will be held.

Healing often feels like standing at the edge of something overwhelming: uncertain, vulnerable, and outside of your control. But just as no one rappels alone, no one should have to navigate the adoption journey alone either. The supports Adoption Network Cleveland provides become the harness, the anchor points, and the “third hand” safety backup that allow individuals and families to move forward safely, even when the path feels steep.

Going over the edge can be scary. Going through life alone — that’s terrifying.

There are many reasons a person chooses to step up to the edge of that building believing they can conquer it. Some do it to prove something to themselves. Some do it for someone they love. Some do it because they know courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision to move forward despite it. In many ways, that mirrors the adoption journey itself: learning to trust support systems, reclaim control after circumstances outside your control, and discovering that strength often comes from allowing others to hold the rope with you.

Brittany Kent is a volunteer with our Over The Edge 2026 Planning Committee

Learn more about going Over The Edge with Adoption Network Cleveland in 2026 here: Go Over The Edge for Adoption Network Cleveland!