We have been very busy over the past month or so, doing lots and lots and LOTS of paperwork. We have nearly completed the paperwork for our home study. We had our interviews and our home inspection and I am happy to share that we have been approved through that process! We are now starting our dossier, which is the huge file of paperwork that will be submitted to Haiti. Our agency understands the urgency of our situation, since the boys are hungry and suffering from malnutrition, and they are doing everything they can to speed up the process. This is wonderful and such an answer to prayer, but this also means that we have to complete things very quickly on our end, and also have huge fees due much sooner than we thought they would be. So, while we are rushing to complete paperwork we are also rushing to do lots of fundraising, so that lack of money doesn't slow down the process for us. We are doing all of this while still doing normal life stuff, so it has been overwhelming to say the least.
Despite all of the craziness, there have been some AMAZING things happening as well! It is great that things are moving so quickly with the adoption. Even our agency is amazed at how quickly things are moving. The last update was that things have also been processing surprisingly quickly in Haiti, so I think our prayers are working! Also, we have been very blessed with the amount of donations that have come in. This past week or so, I have been really fretting over money. But while my anxieties have been going up, the money coming in has increased too. This past week we have had 3 checks for $100 come in, as well as other smaller donations. Our soaps have also been selling like hotcakes! We feel beyond blessed at all the support people have been showing and are so thankful for each of you! In addition to money, we have been experiencing an unexpected blessing. This is how many people who have volunteered their talents to help us out! We have had people helping with fundraising ideas, with photography, with making flyers, with notarizing things, and the list goes on from there! It's amazing how many people have offered free services to us, for things that we really really need!
There will be great difficulty in this journey, I am sure. This part of the journey feels especially hard to me because it is filled with two things that always stress me out- paperwork and money. But we feel surrounded by love, and know with greater certainty each day that passes that we are doing the right thing by choosing to bring these boys home where their needs can be met better than they can in Haiti. Thanks so much to all of you for the love and support you have shown our family!
Friday, December 2, 2016
How You Can Help
We have been very busy over the past few weeks with fundraising! We have a big payment due in about 4 months and need to raise quite a bit of money by that time. We won't know the exact amount until our adoption agency sends us a more accurate breakdown of fees, hopefully on Monday, but in the meantime, I thought I would put all our current fundraisers together on this page so you can see more easily how you can help if you feel led to do so.
UPDATE: 1/13/17 We are very close to having the $13,000 needed upon submission of dossier paperwork. To date we have about $12,200 of this money. However, this payment will use up all of our adoption savings that we have, so we will be starting from 0 to raise the $20,000 or so needed to get the boys home. So many of you have been so generous and we realize that the same people can't keep giving, but please feel free to share our story with others, and if you have ideas for fundraising we would love to hear them! As we have known from the start, this will truly take a village and we can't bring our boys home without all of you.
UPDATE: 3/10/17 We reached our first goal of $13,000 and are now at a point where we are out of money. We have approximately $25,000 of upcoming expenses to bring Wilson and Yvenson home, and then will have post-adoption expenses as well. If you are unable to help yourself, please share our blog with anyone who might be willing to help. It truly is a life or death situation for our boys, as they go to bed hungry every day. We have been so blessed by friends and family so far, but still have a long way to go to reach our fundraising goals and be able to bring our boys home. See all current fundraisers below.
UPDATE: 1/13/17 We are very close to having the $13,000 needed upon submission of dossier paperwork. To date we have about $12,200 of this money. However, this payment will use up all of our adoption savings that we have, so we will be starting from 0 to raise the $20,000 or so needed to get the boys home. So many of you have been so generous and we realize that the same people can't keep giving, but please feel free to share our story with others, and if you have ideas for fundraising we would love to hear them! As we have known from the start, this will truly take a village and we can't bring our boys home without all of you.
UPDATE: 3/10/17 We reached our first goal of $13,000 and are now at a point where we are out of money. We have approximately $25,000 of upcoming expenses to bring Wilson and Yvenson home, and then will have post-adoption expenses as well. If you are unable to help yourself, please share our blog with anyone who might be willing to help. It truly is a life or death situation for our boys, as they go to bed hungry every day. We have been so blessed by friends and family so far, but still have a long way to go to reach our fundraising goals and be able to bring our boys home. See all current fundraisers below.
Adopt Together!!
Adopt Together is a crowd funding page for adoption. Through this website, your donations will be tax deductible and we will receive gifts as a grant. Find us at
adopttogether.org/josephfamily
Trades of Hope!
I have recently become a Compassionate Entrepreneur through Trades of Hope! Trades of Hope is a Fair Trade company that sells the work of talented artisans around the world, who are working hard to leave a life of poverty. Each purchase helps women provide a better life for their families, and helps our fundraising efforts. There are three ways to get involved! 1. Purchase an item 2. Host a party to spread the word or 3. Join my team, become a Compassionate Entrepreneur and make a lasting difference for my family and the families of our artisans! Email me for more information at tradesofhopebyliz@gmail.com or check out my website at www.mytradesofhope.com/elizabethjoseph
Chick-Fil-A Night!!
Join us at the Newport, KY Chick-Fil-A on Monday, April 24th from 5- 7pm. Mention Joseph Family Adoption fundraiser when you place your order and a percentage of your purchase will be donated to our adoption fund!
Carabello's Coffee
Purchase bags of Carabello's Coffee and help us raise money for our adoption! We will have order forms available from March 17- April 1. Please call at 859-609-3377, email at lizjos80@gmail.com or message me on facebook if you are interested in ordering coffee! A percentage of each purchase will be donated to our adoption fund!
Go Fund Me Page
https://www.gofundme.com/joseph-family-adoption
Puzzle Piece Fundraiser
More details about this are in our first blog entry, but the basics are that we are creating a beautiful puzzle that will include all the names of people who have played a part in bringing the boys home. This puzzle will show them how many people love them, are praying for them, and who wanted them to be here with us. A donation of $30 will get your name or message on a puzzle piece. So far, as of 1/13/17, we have sold approximately 150 puzzle pieces!! That being said, we still have 850 to go. We have raised the funds to meet our goals thus far and that has been amazing!!
Puzzle pieces can be purchased through the following paypal link or by sending check or cash to: Liz Joseph, 130 Division St., Bellevue, KY 41073
Puzzle pieces can be purchased through the following paypal link or by sending check or cash to: Liz Joseph, 130 Division St., Bellevue, KY 41073
Handmade Soaps
We are selling handmade soaps as a fundraiser. All information is available on the flyer below.
To order please email: lizjos80@gmail.com or message me on Facebook. We are adding new scents all the time so check in with me for our most current offerings!
To order please email: lizjos80@gmail.com or message me on Facebook. We are adding new scents all the time so check in with me for our most current offerings!
Christmas Tea
UPDATE: The Christmas Tea fundraiser is over and it was a huge success! We raised about $1,000 from this fundraiser! Another upcoming fundraiser. All proceeds from ticket sales and a percentage from product sales will be donated to our adoption.
I will continue updating this as new fundraisers come up. We have been overwhelmed by support so far! I certainly don't expect the same people to keep supporting us, but please share our story with others so that these fundraisers can reach a lot of people, and so that our boys and our family can be surrounded by lots of prayer!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)