Last Saturday the Dunker family and their newly adopted sons, Kevin and Jordith, arrived at the Des Moines airport and got quite the surprise. A large gathering of loved ones awaited them, including their sister, grandparents, and extended family. It has taken about eight or nine months to get through the adoption process. The Dunkers first met Kevin and Jordith last summer, and they immediately started with the adoption requirements. The boys are 13-year-old twins from Colombia.
The family was introduced through Kidsave, a nonprofit organization that aims to find families for older children who are in fear of not finding a forever home. “It’s kind of like a cultural exchange. They stay here for a month, and then every weekend we bring in potential adoptive parents. They make connections, and it works really well. That’s the beauty of this program is once you meet these children, you realize they’re just children who need a home. They melt your heart,” says John Erikson, coordinator of Kidsave.org.
Kidsave offers hosting U.S. kids and children overseas. Host families open their homes for four to five weeks and agree to show them to prospective parents. The Kidsave hosting program provides older children in orphanages and foster care an opportunity to not only find a new family but to create lifelong mentors. Kidsave is looking for host families this summer. Adoption of the children hosted is in no way a requirement. For more details on the program, you can visit their website at Kidsave.org.
