Adoption by Shepherd Care: Creating Pathways for Families Through the Summer Hosting Program
Adoption by Shepherd Care, through their Summer Hosting Program, has been creating ways for children and families to meet and find each other.
For nearly 10 years, Adoption by Shepherd Care has been finding families to host children from Colombia in what is called the Summer Hosting Program. This is an incredible program that creates a pathway for families to help orphaned children who are in need of love. Children who are over the age of 10 have less chances of being adopted with every passing year. They are cared for by the Colombian child welfare system; however, their chances of finding a forever family are next to nothing as they continue to age.
For this reason, the Summer Hosting Program was started.
Many people who want to adopt but are unsure about adopting an older child can get to know one personally through hosting. A lot of success has been garnered through these programs simply by allowing the two—families and orphaned children—to just get to know each other personally. By way of hosting, families are more likely to consider adopting an older child, or they are able to find other families who desire to grow their family through adoption.
The goal and hope of these hosting programs are to find the child his or her forever family. When a family hosts a child, they are to include him in each of their daily activities. They introduce her to their family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. For the length of the hosting program, that child becomes a part of the family.
So who are the children that Adoption by Shepherd Care is hosting?
The children are orphans from Colombia who are between the ages of 12-14 years old. In order to get into the program, the children must apply and submit their own personal statement of why they want to be adopted, the kind of family they would like to be apart of, and any other information. When a family and child are matched, the family receives information about their host child and a photo is included. In addition, the child receives information about their host family, photos, and could possibly video chat with them beforehand.
Through the Summer Hosting Program, families have been formed and united. Adoption by Shepherd Care has seen great success from the program in helping families find each other. Please download the Summer Hosting Information to learn more about hosting these incredible children.
