We've Moved!

You might have been wondering just where the Hope Cottage Blog has been.  Over the past couple of months, we have been busily working to update our webpage.  Between that project and our Friends of deVille Golf Tournament, we haven't had time to blog! 

But we are back, however, the Hope Cottage blog has a new home.  Our blog is now hosted on our website at www.hopecottage.org/blog.  Thanks for following us and visit us at our new home and read our November posts - 30 Days of Gratitude. 

Thanks!

HopeCottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.

 

If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721. 

 
If you are a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546

750,000 Teens Pregnant Each Year - What Hope Cottage is Doing About It

In battling the teen pregnancy crises sweeping the nation, Hope Cottage educates teenagers about the realities of the issue.  Did you know that 750,000 girls become pregnant each year in the United States?  Did you know that Dallas is rated the NUMBER ONE city for repeat teen pregnancies in the nation?  Don't feel badly - most teens don't know these facts either.  These numbers are staggering and continue to rise.

Statistics prove teen pregnancy is taxing on both youth and community resources and reflect an overall misunderstanding about the realities of being a teen parent.  To address these issues, Hope Cottage offers a free presentation, Teen Mentoring and Prevention (TMAP).  TMAP focuses on the challenges of teen pregnancy while including an interactive life skills lesson about effective decision making.  TMAP is not a sex education program - it is a fact based, age appropriate discussion about a situation that is too easily becoming the norm.  Teachers appreciate how TMAP complements TEKS objectives.  TMAP empowers teens with the knowledge and skills to confidently advocate for teen pregnancy prevention in both the lives of area teens and the lives of their peers. 

In the 2010-2011 school year,  Hope Cottage  delivered TMAP presentations to more than 1,000 students in schools throughout DFW.  If you are interested in learning more about TMAP or scheduling a presentation, contact Christina Easton at 214.526.8721, ext 203 or CEaston@hopecottage.org. 

HopeCottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.

If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721. 

If you are a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

So Excited About Partnering With WIC

The mission statement of Hope Cottage is "Building strong families through education, counseling and adoption."  Education is the first charge.  Hope Cottage has beefed up its efforts to educate people about adoption:  how it works, how it has changed over the years, the laws, etc.  Education Coordinator Heather Hussong shares recent outreach efforts to a local WIC office. 

Attempts to education Dallas County WIC offices about Hope Cottage’s services, and how to discuss the option of adoption, led to an appointment with a field service coordinator in an upper level office of Dallas County’s Health and Human Services Building.  Parking is scarce.  Dallas County residents travel here for assistance with STD testing, welfare, housing, and immunizations.  Sights are set on the agency with a commitment to pregnant women and children.  Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a health and nutrition program with a successful record for improving the diet of infants, children, and pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women who are at risk for nutrition-related illness.

With the email received from the WIC coordinator reporting, “I think that the subject of adoption might be a very sensitive one for most of our WIC participants… we want to be able to refer moms who directly ask for the information about adoption,” there is confidence in the offer for education on infant adoption.  Often those in need of nutritional support face challenges in other areas of pregnancy and/or parenting.  The calm and steady presence of WIC caseworkers, nurses, and dieticians offers an environment where a woman or couple may communicate parenting concerns they may not feel safe enough to communicate elsewhere.  The field coordinator’s passion for helping all members of the adoption triad is evident as she discusses helping an adoptive mother breastfeed, support birth parents need as they face difficult decisions, and her description of infants being born into situations they do not invite. 

While adoption is not for everyone, it cannot be denied education about adoption is for everyone serving pregnant and parenting women.  Dallas County WIC has scheduled three separate Understanding Infant Adoption trainings in an effort to reach as many staff as possible.  In the months of November, December, and January, Hope Cottage will return to teach WIC workers the history of adoption, types of adoption, neutral adoption language, legal rights, referral resources, and special issues dealing with birthfathers and teens.  Hope Cottage is proud to partner with WIC as part of The Infant Adoption Training Initiative.

Learn more about The Infant Adoption Training Initiative at:  www.iaatp.org

Learn more about Dallas County WIC at: http://www.dallascityhall.com/housing/wic_program.html

Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.

If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721. 

If you are a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

In Memorium - Gussie Louise Collins

Earlier this year, Betti King e-mailed Hope Cottage with this message: "I saw on your website that you are looking for the oldest Hope Baby and I think I might have her. It is my mother, Gussie Louise Collins. She was born in August 1922 and is living here in Waco."


Maybe it was the twinkle in her eye. Maybe it was a sense of spunk, but Baby Gussie was adopted from Hope Cottage at the age of six weeks. That was at a time when most babies lived at Hope Cottage until they were six to nine months old to make sure they were healthy and that adoption was what the birth family desired. Gussie's parents were no strangers to the adoption process, having adopted their son twelve years earlier.

Gussie's mother died when she was ten and Gussie was sent to live at Buckner Children's Home until her father felt he could care for her. Two years later, her father remarried and came to Buckner to take Gussie back home to Teague, TX, but Gussie refused to go. She told her father she preferred to stay with her friends at Buckner Children's Home and that is where she remained until she graduated from high school. Gussie had a great sense of adventure working in Washington, D.C. during World War II and living on a military Army base in Alaska, all while raising her three children. Almost her entire career was spent working for governmental agencies. Her children said, "Mother loved people, loved being with them. She always looked like she stepped right out of a fashion magazine."

Gussie with her children (l to r) Betti King, Ralph Calhoon and James Reid Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services. If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.  If you are a woman facing an unplanned  pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Mrs. Collins returned to Hope Cottage in the early 1990's and with information provided by our post adoption department, she reunited with another brother and a sister. She passed away earlier this spring in Waco where she resided near her children Bettie, Ralph and Jim.

Hope Babies and Summer Fun Part II

Every Tuesday Hope Cottage, Dallas' oldest non profit, non sectarian adoption agency shares pictures from its archives.  This week we are featuring Hope Babies and Summer Fun 2011.  Enjoy!

...saw my first parade

...kept cool by playing with ice!

HopeCottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.

If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721. 

If you are a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Hope Cottage and Alley's House - Working to Address Teen Pregnancy

On July 20 Hope Cottage delivered a very successful Adoption 101 presentation to staff members at Alley’s House, a Dallas based non-profit organization whose mission is to empower teen moms in order to forever end a cycle of poverty that, otherwise, would likely be passed on to their children. Alley’s House provides a number of free services to pregnant/parenting teen moms including case management services, mentoring programs, support groups, computer training, high school/GED tutoring, on the job office training, life skills workshops, and counseling services. Most clients are self-referred or referred by CPS or schools, and are between the ages of 13 and 21.

After the presentation, Hope Cottage Training Coordinator Heather Hussong sat down with Alley’s House Executive Director, Allison Whitehead, to discuss how Alley’s House is changing lives.

HH:  How is Alley’s House addressing the issue of teen pregnancy?

AW:  Alley’s House requires active clients to sign an agreement they will not get pregnant again while an active client. The success rate of this agreement is 96%. Teen parents receive counseling to address current needs and demands of a teen parent.

HH:  How are pregnant/parenting teen girls benefiting from the services offered at Alley’s House?

AW:  Alley’s House offers client support they would not have otherwise. Case managers and programs services provide clients with an individualized plan.

HH:  What is the ultimate goal of Alley’s House services?

AW:  To help girls become independent by creating and being involved in their own plan to be successful parents. Most moms think life is over when they become pregnant because they think they have no options. Alley’s House helps them create goals for their future and build self esteem to achieve those goals.

 HH:  What can a pregnant/parenting teen mom expect when joining Alley’s House?

AW:  Support.

 

HH:  At the end of the day, what is your biggest reward?

AW:  Seeing teen mothers feel empowered and aware they have a say and choices. That is when they get that they can take action.

After the Adoption 101 presentation by Hope Cottage, staff at Alley's House decided to include information about adoption, if the client expressed an interest, during the first visit with a new client. 

To learn more about Alley’s House, visit their website. 

Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.

 

If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721. 

 

If you are a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546

School starts next week - at least in the DFW area.
      Pencils - check
      Backpack - check
      Lunch - check     
      Binders/folders/box of Kleenex - check
      Information about adoption - WHAT? 

Don't assume that your child's teacher knows anything about adoption, much less about your adoption. 

Your child's teacher might get a little confused if he/she hears your child talking about his/her "other mother/birthmother/tummy mummy/firstmother" or "birthfather".   

Older children might be a little stumped when asked to provide geneology information for a project. 

You don't want your child singled out just because there is an adoption in your family, but you do want to be proactive for your child.  Adoptive Families magazine offers several resources that can help.   AND you can always call Hope Cottage for suggestions!

What Your Child's Teacher Needs to Know by Lois Melina

Is Your Child Ready for School?  Does she know how to field adoption questions that might come her way? by Carol Rogers

The Family Tree

Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.

 

If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721. 

If you are a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.