Community around adoptive families
Here's a dose of warm and fuzzy for this Tuesday morning:
The New York Times: "This is Generations of Hope, a nonprofit adoption agency that has designed a community to resemble a nurturing small town, complete with surrogate grandparents. Created out of a shuttered Air Force base, Generations of Hope seeks to rescue children from foster care and place them with adoptive parents who have moved here. About 30 children currently live with parents in 10 homes. The community is also home to 42 older people who have subsidized rent.
The program’s annual budget for the Rantoul site is $500,000, with roughly half coming from government aid. The rest comes from private donations and from the rent paid by older residents. Adoptive parents earn $19,000 and live rent-free in one of the split-level ranch-style homes built for the base. The older residents, who agree to do community service, like tutoring or yard work, pay a reduced rent of $300.
Dr. Eheart believed the children would thrive with the love of these volunteer grandparents. But she could not have guessed how much the therapy would work in the other direction."
It sounds like a fascinating and expensive program. I'm anxious to see it replicated and sustained.
