Amara has been lucky over the years to have known and kept in touch with an incredible woman for 100 years. That’s not a typo. Lucretia Way was born in 1923 and spent the first couple years of her life at Amara – then known as the Medina Baby Home, an orphanage – before being
Category: Adoption
One Journey, Two Paths – Brothers Stay Connected
Sometimes foster caregiving becomes a master class in being calm amidst the storm. The trauma that some kids experience as foster youth can lead to big and challenging behaviors, making it hard sometimes for them to stay in one foster home until they can be reunited with their parents, or adopted if they can’t be.
Amara STAR Youth’s Summer of Care and Connection
Amara launched our new youth development program, STAR Youth (Supported, Thriving, Authentic & Resilient) this summer and we are excited to share our experiences and our gratitude to everyone who made our summer camps possible. For five weeks in July and August, our Youth Development Team led week-long day camps for kids and teens ages
Supreme Court Upholds ICWA
Amara is relieved the Supreme Court today affirmed tribal sovereignty by upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act. ICWA is a necessary protection for Native American children, families, and culture. Native families endured decades of forced family separation that sent Indian children to harsh, abusive “boarding schools” where any expression of their tribal culture was forbidden.
When Inspiration Calls – A TAFI Story
We are grateful for the incredible and selfless dedication of all our volunteers. Those who have been working on The Adoption Files Initiative (TAFI) have spent thousands of hours reviewing hundreds of decades-old adoption files from many years ago when many adoptions were secretive. Our volunteers’ work, along with the dedication of Amara staff members,
Speaking of Change: How Parent and Caregiver Partnerships Can Help Children Thrive
“Relationships are what change people.” Shrounda Selivanoff, a parent and kinship caregiver who also is the Director of Public Policy at the Children’s Home Society of Washington shared this important truth as a panelist at our Speaking of Change conversation on “How Parent and Caregiver Partnerships Can Help Children Thrive.” Amara’s Speaking of Change
Adoption Insights from Fulbright Scholar Jenni Tupu
“Mountains, moons, stars…they’re part of our DNA,” says Jenni Tupu, a Fulbright Scholar, Doctoral Candidate, Adoptee and Adoptive Parent who is working and volunteering at Amara as part of her field research on the impacts of adoption. “Adoption has shaped much of my life,” she explains. As a young child, she was adopted in a
A message of solidarity
As an open and affirming child welfare-focused organization, we at Amara stand in solidarity with women, girls, and all people who can become pregnant and their fundamental human rights to bodily autonomy and reproductive health care. The World Health Organization defines abortion care as health care. Today’s Supreme Court decision to end the constitutional right
Amara’s Adoption Files Initiative In the News
Amara’s efforts to make amends in decades-old adoption cases where requests for information were unfulfilled have been featured in The Imprint and Crosscut news. The Adoption Files Initiative is at last uncovering answers for some adoptees, thanks to our amazing volunteers and the work of our post-adoption team. “The initiative appears to be an unprecedented effort,