Aug 21, 2009 6:30 am US/Mountain
Adoption Exchange Sees Surprises During Recession
Written By Brooke Wagner
DENVER (CBS4) ―
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Dixie van de Flier Davis
CBS
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About 22 years ago, a little boy named Wayne was waiting to be adopted. Wayne was 3 and very sick. He battled cystic fibrosis, crippling arthritis, developmental disabilities and weighed next to nothing. The chances of Wayne finding a family did not look good.
Dixie van de Flier Davis had recently founded the Adoption Exchange when she met Wayne, one of the first Wednesday's Children featured on CBS4.
"He had a number of conditions that would cause someone to say 'I can't take on a child like this,'" said Davis. "If he hadn't been adopted, he probably wouldn't be alive today," Davis said.
A loving family did adopt Wayne, who just celebrated his 25th birthday. Davis said he's grown up to be an important, productive part of the community -- working and volunteering his time.
"I don't at all feel like the Adoption Exchange did something for him. I feel like he does something for us every day," Davis said.
Families who adopt and support children in foster care like Wayne would agree. They are making an investment in the future, Davis believes.
When the recession hit, Davis was very concerned about the organization's ability to keep helping the children.
"You get this horrible sinking feeling," Davis said. "We had to kick in gear and say 'How can we keep on doing more and better with less?' We have been loathe to cut back on our goals."
The Adoption Exchange, which Davis describes as a switchboard connecting potential adoptive families with agencies and children, slashed pay and its budget. Then, Davis noticed something remarkable; a big increase in adoptions.
"More children were adopted this year than before -- 494 adoptions we counted last year, and that's well over a 20 percent increase from a year before. Fifty six percent of the children who were referred to us who were adopted were 9 or over. We are really bucking the national statistics."
Davis said that by the time children turn 9 they are three times more likely to grow up in foster care than they are to find parents.
"People give up on them, and we shouldn't," said Davis. "Their foster parents are not going to adopt them, their extended family members cannot care for them. It's not safe for them to go back home and if we don't do something, they are going to grow up with nobody."
That may happen less and less often, if attitudes continue to change.
"We've also, over the last 18 months, noticed a huge decline in international adoptions -- a 40 to 50 percent decline in international adoptions -- and that causes people to look closer to home. To adopt one of the children (CBS4 features) every week on Wednesday's Child is not a big expense," said Davis. "People think about 'How can I build a family? and I don't want to spend a whole lot of money to adopt the child, I want to invest my time and money in raising that child.' Then they can think about the children who are awaiting families in foster care."
Davis said she thinks the recession has caused people to take a closer look at what really matters.
"It's not the size of my house. It's not what year my car was made. It's not what kind of clothes I wear. It's what I give. We all want to know that what we did this day, this week, this year, leaves a mark. This is one solid way that we can do something ... that gives a child a whole future," said Davis. "When the economy gets tight it doesn't mean that people's hearts close. It doesn't mean that we don't still know how to reach out and care about the children."
2009 was also a banner year for "A Day for Wednesday's Child," CBS4's day-long drive for donations for the Adoption Exchange.
"People were saying to us 'Well, will my little bit help?' And I want you to know that little bit helps," said Davis.
Still, 550 children in Colorado wait for their forever families. Though the work of Dixie Davis and the Adoption Exchange is making a big difference, it is certainly not done.
"I know every day when we close our doors, that two more children have been adopted each workday and that gives me a good feeling every time I get in the car and go home," said Davis. "I can get in bed and go to sleep and get up and do it again the next day."
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