|
 Letter from Joyce
Dear Friends of CFFC:
By the time you receive this issue of our newsletter, Halloween will be sneaking up!
Watch out for any new-to-American-culture internationally adopted older children -who are often traumatized by some of the scary things that are a part of our Halloween festivities.
Go gently!
For this Halloween I'd like to dress up as a Philanthropist and give CFFC $450,000.00!! We really only need about $300k to turn things around, but why not think big if it is a fantasy!
If, however, we touch upon a REAL Philanthropist, what you need to know is that our lovely Commonwealth of Massachusetts has cut- cut- cut...ALL of our Post Adoption funding. Our oldest contract (from the Dukakis Administration), which was paid previously - for almost 30 years - at $150 per hour is now paid at a paltry $58 per hour. AND the amount of hours we can provide per family is capped!!!
This is with cases that are more and more complex, and involve child trafficking, severe abuse, cult involvement and many other situations that innocent children are forced into by adults.
You figure out why our leaders would not want to invest in cleaning up the hearts and souls of these innocent children, so that they and their new families can live healthy and happy lives?
What can you do?
You can help us to find funding to make up for what the State has taken away.
You can introduce myself and/or our Board to funders,
You can bring people to our Auction and Award Event on November 10 at the Hotel Marlowe,
You can introduce us to Corporate Funding sources and you can send us clients!
You can do lots!
We have had a very hard summer and fall at CFFC.
Thank goodness the clinical team has stayed stable and are excellent.
Our new interns and extern are brilliant and up for learning quickly and implementing what they learn.
But our Operations team has had some crises.
The results were a bit devastating: because one of the 'team' let so many things slide (all the while claiming they were done - she is no longer here!) that we have had to postpone our ACTION International Post Adoption Services Conference from February at the lovely Hotel Marlowe and we are going to combine it with ARC, and present it at the Cape this summer and do a smaller one-day event at the Marlowe in the Fall attached to our fundraiser for 2011!
We will have the Provincetown Inn again for ARC/ACTION - with great rooms overlooking the sea and the moors, and we will do both conferences - a true deal!! - July 10 to 14.
Contact Ginger Piaseczny for more information, and the most up to date schedule (we are still firming up the speaker schedule).
Our Auction and Award event called Courage and Curiosity is our Quinceañera this year as we are 15 years as a non-profit!
Our awards are all going to adoption heroes who are of Hispanic decent as a result of our focus. We will be presenting awards to Ernesto Loprena of NY, Maria Quintinella from LA, and Astrid Debbeni from Portland, Oregon, who will all be here to receive their awards and to join us in our celebration!
Come and do some early holiday shopping at the event as we have:
Dinners with Authors at Great Restaurants,
Trips,
Flights,
Hotels,
Ski Lift passes,
Sports Tickets and Memorabilia,
Theatre tickets and so much more!
Fidelity Club House Seats for the New England Patriots
Fabulous Private Residential "retreats" - whether you prefer the City, Beach or Mountains, we have options!
Personal Enrichment - from cooking to dance classes, feng shui or landscape consultations, gym membership or skincare indulgences
Original artwork from several artists covering a variety of mediums and genres
Tickets to the Boston Bruins
A Holiday Tradition with seats for a performance of The Nutcracker Ballet
We also have a guided tour through Mantova, Italy "which is a small city in Lombardy with a characteristic medieval atmosphere thanks to the "Gonzaga" family. There is a beautiful castle (Castello San Giorgio) right in the middle of the city, many palaces (Palazzo Te, Palazzo Ducale, etc), public squares (Piazza Erbe, Piazza Sordello, etc), churches (Basilica di Sant'Andrea, Rotonda di San Lorenzo), streets made of round (lemon size) stones, a Saturday farmer's market, a thick wall that limits the town and three big lakes around. It is also a culinary reference in Italy. It is famous for the "Tortello di Zuca" in a butter and sage sauce, the risotto, garlic salami and spicy fruit "mostarda". Traditionally, you will find a mix of savory and sweet flavors in the same dish, rich textures and Austrian influence in the pastries. It has a full music, theater, exhibitions and fairs calendar, especially in the spring and autumn. With some notice, the friend of CFFC donating this lovely opportunity is available pretty much all the school year and part of the summer and it would be her pleasure to show Mantova to someone that has helped with the auction."
Won't you come and Shop For Our Cause!!
We will hope to see you and other bidders on November 10th at 6p.m. at the Hotel Marlowe.
Enjoy your Halloween by treating us well, as we have had enough tricks, and we hope that at our next November Newsletter we are celebrating Thanksgiving in a way that means we have the funding that we so desperately need in order to serve children and families in need.
Thank you all for all that you do to support our work at CFFC!
Joyce
        
I'm Legit Zara H. Phillips featuring DMC. Act Zero Films: Directed by Justin Lundstrom Photographed by Greta Zozula Edited by Scott Hancock IM LEGIT MUSIC AND LYRICS WRITTEN BY ZARA PHILLIPS, RAP WRITTEN BY DARRYL MCDANIELS (2009)
National Adoption Month November is National Adoption Month, a month set aside each year to raise awareness about the adoption of children and youth from foster care. This year's National Adoption Month initiative targets adoption professionals by focusing on ways to recruit and retain parents for the 115,000 children and... (click link above for entire story)
Child Welfare Information Gateway has launched the 2010 National Adoption Month website, created in partnership with AdoptUsKids click here
The site has resources, tools, local examples, and ideas for activities related to five themes to help adoption professionals build capacity, raise awareness, and make lasting change:
Supporting and Retaining Families
Doing Diligent Recruitment
Working With Diverse Populations
Doing Proactive Family Finding
Facilitating Interjurisdictional Placements
National Adoption Day Is November 20
National Adoption Day is a national day of celebration of adoptive families and an opportunity for courts to open their doors and finalize the adoptions of children from foster care. Since 2000, more than 30,000 children have had their adoptions finalized on National Adoption Day. This year on November 20, families, adoption advocates, policymakers, judges and volunteers will come together and celebrate adoption in communities large and small all across the nation.
For more information and resources, please click here
Dear friends in the adoption community and beyond,
Two great pieces of news about Jean Strauss's feature film For the Life of Me:
The film is being broadcast on PBS! with a prime time screening in New Jersey, Philadelphia and New York City on Sunday, November 7th, at 7:00 p.m., and at other times and regions throughout the coming year! The film has been recut (to 57 minutes) and renamed (ADOPTED: for the life of me), and powerfully illuminates the lifelong impact that secrets can have, not only on adoptees, but on birthparents and adoptive families.
The second piece of news is that the film website is officially launching today! You're the first to know!
www.adoptedforthelifeofme.com
On the home page you'll find screening dates and times (be sure to check back often for new screenings - dates are being added daily!) and all kinds of other cool tools and things to do! You'll find news clips, other short films, maps of adoption policies and legislative efforts, and most important, simple actions you can take to be involved in adoption reform. Please visit and:
Consider joining the brand new Adoption Reform ACTION! List (in partnership with A.A.C. and to be used only by national and regional reform groups directly involved in legislation). Just visit the Action page on the website. It only takes your name, email and state. As a member of the list you will only be sent alerts when there is critical legislative reform action you can take where your voice will make a difference.
Consider sharing your own story on the About page. Comment on the home page.
Host a Community Screening for free! on the Tools page. Help educate your friends and neighbors about the need for adoption reform. With our free loaner dvd program, you can host a screening and all it will cost you is the $1 postage to return the dvd.
Please join in the outreach regarding the need for adoption reform in the forty states which continue to withhold original birth records from adopted citizens.
States which have taken the bold step of reversing sealed records laws have proven that access to records is an empowering, healthy change in adoption policy - benefiting all members of the adoption triad. To learn more, please visit us at:
www.adoptedforthelifeofme.com
Return to Top of Page
| 
