Fundraising Update

We have had some people asking for an update of our fundraising.  Last I updated, in July, we still needed about $15,000.  It is hard to give an exact number because some expenses, such as travel, change frequently.  There are also unexpected expenses that arise, like our additional trip to Haiti, happening in December (which unfortunately, is a very expensive time to travel).  Here is what we know right now, and what our best guesses are in some areas.  Upon acceptance of referral a fee will be due in the amount of $5,100.  Then, upon exit from IBESR, a fee will be due in the amount of $8,600.  We currently have enough to cover both of those fees but that is about all we have left at this time, after paying for our December trip.  Those are the last two fees we will pay to the agency, unless we get into a timeline where home study and dossier need to be renewed.  The fees that we are still fundraising for are the additional miscellaneous fees that will come up at the end of the process.  We will need to pay for travel for two of us to do our bonding trip upon acceptance of referral.  Then we will need to travel again when it is time to bring the boys home, and that time we will need to pay for 2 round trip tickets and two one way tickets.  We are estimating travel costs to be around $6-$7,000 total.  Passport fees are estimated to be $1,000 for both boys, then $650 for visa fees for two, and there is a $400 medical fee listed on the expense form from the agency as well.  In total we believe we have about $10,000 left to raise.  We have come so far with our fundraising and we are so very thankful for each of you that has given, or helped run fundraisers for us!  We are trusting God that this money will come through by the time we need it.  This has been our prayer all along and so far it has been answered over and over!  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers- we can't wait to update you all after our December trip! 

The In Between

It has been quite awhile since we have updated, and it feels like a lot has happened since then, while at the same time it feels like not much has changed.  Over the summer our dossier was accepted and we entered IBESR in Haiti.  We are waiting for our referral and praying for that to happen soon.  We thought that we would have already had it by now, but we had a few bumps along the way.  First, we found that one of the boys was missing a particular seal needed on his birth certificate, and while our agency was amazing at taking care of this, it did take a little time.  Next, Yvenson needed to give his consent for the adoption.  We were given quite a scare when we learned that this meeting did not go well.  At this point our case was at a stand still.  Our agency was recommending we fly to Haiti immediately to work through this.  We decided that first we needed to talk to Yvenson, to find out what happened, and to decide what to do next.  When we talked to him, we found a very scared little boy.  He was brought to an appointment.  He did not know what he was walking into, and he was made to go all alone.  Then the officers who interviewed him were very intimidating and tried to get him to agree to scenarios that are not true, and that legally, would never have to happen.  It scared him to death and he didn't know who or what to believe.  After many phone conversations we were able to alleviate his fears, he has repeated the interview and it went well the second time.  Now that we all can breathe again, we do feel that we are at a point in the process where the boys need to know who we are and begin to feel comfortable with us.  We know, as their parents, that they need us right now so that they can be more comfortable with this process going forward.  So Bernadin and I are very excited to be traveling to Haiti very soon!  We will be in Haiti December 26-30 and would appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers during this time!  We pray that after that we will be going back very soon for our formal bonding trip (15 days) that will follow our referral.  Positives- we are meeting some wonderful people through this adoption journey who have been where we are now or who are going through it too.  We get to meet our boys soon!!!!  Negatives- We are still waiting here missing our boys, and still stuck in this process with an indefinite timeline.  We are very thankful for all your prayers and support and can't wait for the day that we bring our boys home!

Intro To Us

Who We Are:  We are the Joseph family.  Just an ordinary family, living in the small town of Bellevue, KY.  I am a teacher in Cincinnati Public Schools and my husband, Bernadin, is a research assistant at the University of Cincinnati.  We have 2 kids, Elijah who is 12 and Olivia who is 9.  Elijah loves Transformers, football, soccer and basketball and Liv loves dance, music, theater and art.  My husband was born in Haiti, moved to the US as a child, and worked hard to make the most of the advantages he was given by living in this country.  We now have the desire to offer those advantages to someone else, and we are in the midst of growing our family through adoption.  We are adopting two little boys from Haiti and we have worked very hard to pay for the expensive process of adoption.  We have penny pinched, held various fundraisers such as a Chick-fil-a night, yard sale, handmade soap fundraiser, and many, many more, and we are now only $10,000 away from our goal!

How You Can Help:  We are selling 500 puzzle pieces at $20 a piece to raise the $10,000 needed to fully fund our adoption.  Purchase a puzzle piece and help us complete our family picture!

What Fees Are Left:

Referral and Post-Referral Fees- $3,000 needed of $14,000 fee
Travel Expenses- $5,000 (this covers a mandatory 15 day bonding trip and travel for 4 to bring both boys home at a later date)
Misc. Expenses (passports, visas, court fees, physicals)  $2,000

HELP US FILL OUR NEST!

Purchase a puzzle piece today through PayPal!  

Send $20 to  paypal

Living in Limbo

Living in Limbo

Right now we feel stuck in a very strange in between.  Our paperwork has entered IBESR in Haiti and we have been given an actual timeline by our agency (3-6 months until referral, then bonding trip- yay!!  can't wait for that trip!- then another 2-4 months to exit IBESR, then maybe 6-9 months finalizing paperwork in court and then we can bring Wilson and Yvenson home!!) The adoption has been sort of an abstract idea in our minds all this time and things are finally getting real.  While I can't wait for the day that they are home with us and this whole process is behind us, I also have a lot of mixed emotions over what the next year holds for us.  As always, the stress of coming up with the finances is huge and looming always.  Part of my heart is also mourning for the boys as I know they will mourn, at least to some extent, when they get here.  While life is so hard for them in Haiti, it is their home.  They will be leaving behind the only place they have ever known, their friends and family.  Leaving one life to start a new life.  While I know this will literally be a life saving change for them, and as we talk to them on the phone and hear their excited giggles, I know part of their heart is, or will some day, break over this loss.  But I can't wait for our beginning with them.  I can't wait to see what life here will do for them.  Their little bodies will heal, they will make new friends, they will have opportunity not imaginable to them in Haiti.  We will be their new family.  And we will love them so SO much!  

I have heard people say that adoption is not for the faint of heart.  It is such an emotional process- I thought I was prepared for that but I don't think you can ever be prepared.  There is no way to really explain fully what this is like.  To feel attached to a child before you meet them- almost like a pregnancy but without the closeness that having a child living in your womb brings.  These children are growing and struggling in another part of the world.  It is hard to build a bond through poor phone connections and language barriers.  I know there will be time for bonding in the future, but part of me wants them to know us and love us and think about us now as much as we love them and think about them.  

Our phone calls to them are emotional.  Most of the time we talk logistics with their father.  What are their immediate needs, are they healthy, how is the paperwork going on their end?  Bernadin, trying and sometimes failing to switch from Creole to English and back to Creole so we can all understand.  We worry when they are sick- we problem solve when they are homeless or not in school- but then we hear them giggle- they are playing outside or laughing at our voices on the phone.  And we are thankful that they have some joy and moments of normalcy despite their struggle.  

Many ask us how they can help.  Honestly, it means so much to have people praying for us and the boys through this process.  Our other constant, immediate need, is financial.  We are more than half way through fees.  We have already spent about $23,000 and have about $6,000 left.  We will need about $10,000 post referral and will need another $5,000 or so for court fees, travel papers, and traveling expenses.  So many friends have given and we are so grateful.  We are constantly selling stuff.  But what we really need are donations.  Realistically, I am not going to make $15,000 selling soap in the next 6-9 months.  We also really need people to share our story.  Do you know a person looking to give to a charity, or a person with a heart for Haiti or adoption who is in a position to give financially?  We need our story to reach those people.  Meanwhile, we are applying for grants, saving our pennies and doing everything we can to come up with the fees without begging for money.  It is slow going but somehow we have come up with about $28,000.  I know we will get that extra $15,000.  The best way to donate is either through gofundme or paypal.

GoFundMe:  https://www.gofundme.com/twoheartsinhaiti

PayPal: 

Paypal.me/josephadoption

Can't wait until our family picture has 4 little faces!  Until then, thanks for reading and thanks so much for your love and support!!

Just Some Current Thoughts...

I am sitting in my living room reflecting on this process at this moment.  Even though it is early, I anticipate that April will be a difficult month.  Wilson will be turning 7 this month.  There is a very strange, sad feeling about missing the birthday of our son whom we have never met.  I feel like he is growing up and we are missing out.  We will also be transitioning from the phase of paperwork, into the phase of waiting this month.  We are only one step away from submitting all of our paperwork to Haiti, and then we wait.  Maybe for a year or more.  It is exciting to be one step closer, but the paperwork was also keeping me busy, and helping me to feel like I was doing something.  Working hard to bring them home.  We just received a message from their father that Yvenson is not in school at the moment, due to not having the money for school fees and books.  Both boys have pink eye.  News like this makes the wait even harder.  If they were here we could take them to the doctor.  The last time we heard from them they were also sick.  Malnutrition must be taking its toll on their little bodies. If they were here there would be no interruptions in their education.  They could go to school every day and learn things they should have learned a long time ago.  Lately I have had more time to dwell on the obstacles.  Fundraising is hard.  We do it constantly and hardly make any money.  Our friends have contributed, and strangers who don't know us have no reason to give us money.  We are still $25,000 short.  Soon our documents will be in the hands of the Haitian government.  We will have to pray and trust that those documents will be processed and approved in a timely manner.  We will have no control over that.  Sometimes it feels like we are chasing an impossible dream, gambling everything we have for something that may never happen.  But then I think about their two little faces, and I think about them sick and hungry and I know they are counting on us to come through for their very survival.  And I know that my God is so much bigger than all of the obstacles.  I know that all of you are out there praying for us.  And we thank you so much for that.  We need your prayers, our family needs your prayers, and Wilson and Yvenson need your prayers.  We have such a long journey ahead with no end in sight.  I can't even let myself imagine an end at this point, but I know we'll get there.  My prayer is that we'll be able to celebrate Wilson's 8th birthday and every one after that, with him in our home and in our family.

Goodbye Comfort Zone!

It seems lately that life is happening way out of our comfort zone!  We are in limbo in most areas of our life right now!  Bernadin's job of 13 years will most likely be ending in the next few months.  We are close to submitting our dossier and then will be placing our adoption in the hands and timeline of the Haitian government.  We are making plans to add two children to our family.  Two children will become ours, yet we have never met them and have no way of knowing how they are or if they are safe from day to day right now,  And it feels like 90% of this adoption process is begging for money, something I am not at all comfortable with!  Here are the amazing things that have happened though- our prayer from the start has been that we have enough money to progress to the next step when we get to that step, and so far, that has been happening!!  We have gotten through the fees to get our file to Haiti and now have some time to raise the rest of the fees we will need to bring the boys home.  We have lots of fundraisers going on, as listed in our How You Can Help entry.  We are still doing our Puzzle Piece fundraiser and have lots of pieces still available!  Like hundreds!  We are still selling soaps, and our newest endeavor, that is putting me WAAAYY out of my comfort zone, is that we are partnering with Trades of Hope in our fundraising.  This means I will be selling the work of artisans around the globe to help them earn an income and to raise money towards the adoption.  I am not much of a salesperson, but I believe wholeheartedly in the cause.  You can check out my website at www.mytradesofhope.com/elizabethjoseph or email me to learn more at www.tradesofhopebyliz@gmail.com.  If you can't afford to give financially at this time you can help me grow my business by hosting a party in your home, at a restaurant or coffee shop or even online!  Hopefully soon we will get out of this uncomfortable phase of begging for money, and in the meantime, if you know any millionaires looking for a worthy cause to donate $25,000 to, send them our way!