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End Child Sex Trafficking at Wyndam Hotels

From 2006 to 2011, Crips gang members in San Diego ran a child sex trafficking ring out of area hotels that destroyed the lives at least 16 girls.

An 18-month FBI investigation discovered that the gang was able to use two Wyndham-owned hotels (Travelodge and Howard Johnson) regularly for child prostitution with the knowledge and even assistance of staff.

After hearing about these cases, San Diego native Tim Rosner started a petition urging the Wyndham Hotel Group to sign an international child protection agreement for travel and tourism companies, which could have saved those 16 girls from sexual exploitation.

In California, the staff at a Howard Johnson in Escondido, CA, refused to stop sex trafficking -- and at the San Diego Travelodge, staff actively facilitated and profited from the sexual exploitation of children.

Travelodge staff knowingly rented rooms to Crips gang members for use in child prostitution -- and demanded higher rates for these rooms in exchange for cooperation. They even set aside specific areas in the hotel for sex trafficking.

Members of the staff also allowed the gang members to use the hotel computer to post online ads advertising sex with minors and agreed to warn the Crips if police were nearby.

Although Wyndham has a child protection policy, it has failed at least 16 children -- with more cases emerging.

Just last week in Alexandria, Virginia, a grand jury indicted a MS-13 gang member for selling sex with girls as young as 15 on another Wyndham property, a Super 8.

Two major American hotel chains -- Hilton Worldwide and Carlson Companies, an entity that includes Radisson Hotels and other chains -- have already signed the international child protection policy, as have 945 other companies across 37 countries.

Click here to make sure Wyndham is next to sign the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children and call on the company to implement this stricter child protection policy in order to prevent future instances of child sex trafficking:

http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-wyndham-hotel-staff-from-supporting-child-sex-trafficking-in-wyndham-hotels

Empowered To Connect Conference: Nashville, TN

"Empowered to Connect" is a fantastic resource started by Dr. Karyn Purvis and Michael & Amy Monroe. Their purpose is to equip families with post adoption resources. They started a web site with all kinds of empowering resources, including a study guide that is designed to help illuminate the biblical principles that serve as the foundation for the philosophy and interventions detailed in Dr. Purvis' book called "The Connected Child".

Another resource is the "Empowered To Connect Conference" The next conference will be on September 23-24, 2011, in Nashville, TN. Empowered To Connect, together with Show Hope, will host the next Empowered To Connect Conference on September 23-24, 2011, in Nashville, Tennessee at Brentwood Baptist Church.

Registration for the conference is now open! Visit www.etcconference.org for more details and to register online. ***For a limited time, 1/2 off registrations discounts are available due to a generous grant from Focus on the Family. Simply use the code FOCUS when registering online to receive this discount.***

ETC Conference in Nashville, TN (Sept. 23-24, 2011) from Tapestry on Vimeo.

Book Review: Somebody's Someone

I recently read a book called "Somebody's Someone" by Regina Louise. It is a memoir of her childhood growing up unwanted, moving from home to home until finally aging out of the foster care system. This brilliantly written book has made a profound impact on me. Never before have I read a book that so powerfully gave me a glimpse into the life of a child who is unwanted and unloved. It has given me a greater heart of love and compassion for vulnerable children. Regina becomes a voice for the half million children in foster care in our country. My only disclaimer for a Christian audience is that the language is raw and disturbing. But the language toward her is part of her story, and needs to be told.

The following review is from Regina Louise's web site, www.reginalouise.com.

This is the true story of one child who makes it against all odds, whose resilience shines through each attempt to break her, and whose sheer will to not only survive, but to thrive, is a beacon to us all.

Regina Louise's mother abandoned her at birth, her father barely knows she's alive, and even the state isn't there to protect her because she's been dumped in an illegal foster home. Within the walls of this tattered home, untold horrors happen. At eleven-years-old, this young child makes a pact with God and puts fate into her own hands by running away. But the attempt to free herself only lands her in the unloving hands of her mother, her father, and finally the state. Now in the "system", she is sent from foster home to temporary shelter and back again, until she's lived in too many places to count. With no parent willing to claim her, Regina is finally pronounced a Ward of the Court and sent to a children's shelter that's one stop short of a mental institution. But, in this most unlikely setting, Regina finds something so powerful and so transcendent that her Job-like trials all seem worth the price: Regina finds that she is loved.

This remarkable memoir shines the light on the plight of children with no parent to wake them up with a gentle kiss, to send them off to school with a packed lunch, to read them a bedtime story as they fall off to sleep. These are nobody's children who, due to their cruel circumstances, are rarely able to climb out of the shadows of society and are left to fend for themselves in an inhospitable world. But while Somebody's Someone exposes the extreme trials these children endure, it is also a triumphant story of how one small girl makes it out alive.

Never before has the voice of an abandoned child been so perfectly rendered, intimately captured, and lovingly portrayed. With Somebody's Someone, Regina Louise emerges as an extraordinarily gifted writer whose voice is filled with raw emotion, shocking honesty and pure lyricism. If Twain and Dickens were alive today, they would surely admire Louise's gift for not only deftly retelling this age-old story, but also for having lived it and survived to tell the tale.

Great Opportunity for Licensed Christian Counselors

Dr. Karyn Purvis

Growing support for adoptive and foster families—both professional and church-based—is vital. Alongside their new Help Line, Focus on the Family is putting significant effort into a key aspect of this need: equipping licensed counselors to address the unique challenges faced within families that foster or adopt children from difficult backgrounds.

Focus on the Family is providing scholarships ($3,500 each) to licensed Christian counselors to attend Dr. Karyn Purvis’ full Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI) training. The on-site training will happen the week of September 12 in Texas, but the “homework” for it begins this summer. Although registration is limited and will close soon, some spots are still open.

Scholarship applicants must be licensed Christian counselors, preferably those serving adoptive families. They must also agree to scholarship guidelines, mainly that they help at least one family per year at no cost to the family.

For more information, contact Erin at 719-548-4616 or by email at OrphanCare@family.org

Lydia House Gala

SAVE THE DATE

LYDIA's Benefit Gala 2011

Monday, November 14

Donald E. Stephens Convention Center

Rosemont, Illinois


The evening will include a silent auction, dinner and special message by
Dr. James MacDonald, pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel. Plus, inspirational testimonials of lives changed through the ministry of LYDIA.


For information about hosting a table or to learn about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Erica Dorantes by email or call (773) 653-2249 .

If you plan to attend and would like to sit with others from Willow Creek, please e-mail Dina at vcministry127@gmail.com


The words in the banner above, spoken by a nine-year-old boy in our Residential Treatment Center, reflect how many LYDIA clients feel about the care we provide. LYDIA shares God's love with hundreds of children and families each year, and your partnership makes a difference! Learn more when you attend our 2011 Gala. We hope to see you there!

A Place Called Home Documentary

A Place Called Home: An Adoption story is the heartwarming documentary of one family's struggle to adopt nine children in the face of overwhelming odds. Five years in the making and told from the perspective of their eldest son, A Place Called Home is a documentary filled with the joy and pain that can often accompany the adoption process.

After reading a Mother's Day newspaper article, Baby Boomers Tom and Jean Gaunt (of Indianapolis, Indiana) decided to wave goodbye to their four year-old empty nest and attempt the second largest sibling group adoption in United States history.

As the story unfolds, we learn of the abuse the children suffered at the hands of their stepfather and watch as they prepare for a possible new life with the Gaunt family. Additionally, during the trial period, Tom and Jean discover that the road to adoption is even more difficult than they had originally imagined. The decision was not without controversy within the Gaunt family and viewers will learn of a past that could ultimately threaten the adoption or vindicate Tom and Jean.

Sensitive and affectionate in its portrayal, the film chronicles the evolution of the adoption from moments of doubt to moments of hope and triumph. A Place Called Home gives viewers a rare glimpse into the emotional bonding of two families as they confront their pasts and work for a better future… together.

A Place Called Home originally aired on Mother's Day, but is scheduled to replay on July 6th at 6:00 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.documentarychannel.com/movie.php?currID=9523&t=Place-Called-Home:-An-Adoption-Story,-A

Reese's Rainbow Celebrates 5 Years!

June 9, 2011 marks FIVE YEARS of life-saving impact through Reece's Rainbow. More than 500+ orphaned children with Down syndrome and other special needs, who were hidden away in orphanages and mental institutions around the world, have now found "forever families" in the United States and Canada.

Through the generous donations of private individuals, and of course God's abundant blessings, these children now have the opportunity to grow up in a loving family of their own. Each adoption is a powerful testimony to those orphanage directors, care staff, and officials abroad that these children are WANTED and families will come for them. In only 5 years, they have been able to disburse close to $1.5 MILLION in adoption grants to make these adoptions possible.

In 5 years, they have grown from five children in one orphanage, to more than 700 children in 25 countries around the world. More than HALF of those kids have already found families. The total commitment and belief in this vision by SO many donors, volunteers, facilitators, missionaries, and agency partners has turned Reece's Rainbow into nothing short of a "movement". Congressional Angel in Adoption, People Magazine Hero of the Year, historic giving during our 2010 Angel Tree…and new steps into serving birth families abroad, building a Youth Initiative to tap into schools, and promoting the dignity of life of babies with Down syndrome domestically as well.

Now they have been nominated for the 2011 CLASSY AWARD. The CLASSY Awards recognize the top philanthropic achievements by charities, businesses, fundraisers and volunteers from across the country. The winners receive national exposure and more than $150,000 in cash & prizes for their cause. You can help us win by just clicking "like" here: http://www.stayclassy.org/stories/reeces-rainbow-finds-families-for-orphans-with-special-needs

For more information at Reece's Rainbow ministry, visit www.reecesrainbow.org.

Christian Alliance for Orphans Webinar Series

The Christian Alliance for Orphans Webinar Series is designed to help individuals like you create and grow effective adoption, foster care and global orphan ministry in local churches.


You're Invited...

Journeys of Faith: Guiding Principles for Church Global Orphan Care Partnerships

Both within and beyond Christian circles, experts increasingly recognize that indigenous churches are indispensable partners for effective orphan care around the world. Yet for U.S. churches and individuals, partnering globally in ways both that are both discerning and respectful isn’t easy. Explore principles and models drawn from real-world partnerships that unite U.S. churches with local African churches and organizations. Building upon the recently-published Journeys of Faith, the webinar will provide tangible principles of practice and lessons learned as well as must-read resources for any church or individual desiring to engage in orphan care. Join us to learn what it means to "help without hurting."

Host Church: Watermark Community Church

Presenters: Beau Fournet, Watermark Community Church
Amanda Cox, Faith to Action Initiative

Date: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 Time: 2:00 PM Eastern

To register for the webinar, click here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/873185608

Each 60-minute webinar in this series will give local advocates access to the knowledge and experience of top Alliance member churches and organizations nationwide, covering key topics on adoption, foster care and/or global orphan care. Every webinar will be hosted by a local church orphan ministry and co-presented by one or more national experts on the subject matter. This pairing will deliver a combination of specialist information and resources alongside a “here’s how it works in a real church” perspective.

Post-Adoption Hotline

Focus On the Family has just launched a free post-adoption phone line for adoptive families.

The phone number is 800-A-FAMILY (232-6459) and is staffed Mon – Fri from 8am – 10pm EST by Christian counselors who can help address adoption-related issues.

This resource is a vitally important complement to the role of the local church in supporting, encouraging and aiding adoptive families amidst the joys and difficulties of loving children from difficult places.

If you are an adoptive family with questions, issues or concerns about your child, please call

1-800-232-6459.

Wendy’s Father’s Day Frosty Weekend aims to honor dads by raising $1.7 million to fund adoptions

June 13, 2011

5th annual celebration benefits Wendy’s Wonderful Kids charitable program

DUBLIN, OHIO (June 8, 2011) – From now through Father’s Day, a cool Frosty from Wendy’s can help warm the hearts of thousands of children seeking adoptive families. Even “virtual” Frostys will do the trick!

The fifth annual Father’s Day Frosty Weekend will take place Saturday, June 18 and Father‟s Day Sunday, June 19, when participating Wendy’s nationwide will donate 50-cents for every Frosty product sold to support Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, a signature program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption which finds permanent adoptive families for children in foster care waiting to be adopted.

The fun – and fundraising – begins now, as customers can honor dads while helping the cause of Wendy’s Wonderful Kids in several other innovative ways. Now through Sunday, June 19, the following designated Treat it Forward social media interactions – on Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare – will result in additional 50-cent donations (to a total of $50,000) from Wendy‟s to benefit Wendy’s Wonderful Kids. They include:

Twitter – Use the Treat it Forward application on www.facebook.com/frosty (Treat it Fwd tab), or use the hashtag: #TreatItFwd. A donation will be made by Wendy’s for each designated tweet or re-tweet made from Treat it Forward.

Facebook – Send a Facebook friend a “virtual” Frosty, or tell friends about Father’s Day Frosty Weekend through the Facebook application found on www.facebook.com/frosty (Treat it Fwd tab); as a result, Wendy’s will make a donation.

Also from Facebook, on Father’s Day weekend only (June 18 and 19), offer a “Here’s to You, Dad!” Frosty “virtual toast” by snapping a photo of you raising your Frosty cup to Dad, tagging it with the words “Wendy’s Father’s Day Frosty Weekend” and posting it to Wendy’s Facebook wall or tweeting it. This, too, will result in a donation from Wendy’s.

Foursquare – Every person that “checks-in” to a Wendy’s during Father’s Day weekend only (June 18 and 19) will result in a donation from Wendy’s.

Since its inception in 2007, Father‟s Day Frosty Weekend has raised more than $6.2 million for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. This year, Wendy’s hopes to raise another $1.7 million, enough money to fund about 25 adoption recruiters who work through Wendy‟ Wonderful Kids to find permanent homes for children who have waited too long – five years or more — for a forever family. To date, 2,206 children have been adopted through Wendy‟ Wonderful Kids, and several thousand more are pending.

“Father’s Day Frosty Weekend has become a wonderful Wendy’s tradition that furthers the efforts of our founder, Dave Thomas, an adoptee who devoted his life to the needs of children in foster care,” said David Karam, president, Wendy’s International, Inc. “Sharing a Frosty and helping children in need — what better ways to honor Dave and our dads on Father’s Day?”

Wendy’s and its customers donate millions of dollars annually to the Foundation in support of Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, a program that finds permanent adoptive families for children in foster care waiting to be adopted. Many are older children or those with special physical or emotional needs. 122 Wendy’s Wonderful Kids adoption recruiters are working throughout the U.S. and four provinces of Canada.

“Dave Thomas believed that every child should have the same chances he was given, and we are continuing that commitment with Wendy’s Wonderful Kids,” says Rita Soronen, president and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. “We are humbled by Wendy’s customers who are so committed to helping raise funds and awareness for the program – on Father’s Day Frosty Weekend and all year round.”

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/frosty.

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a national nonprofit public charity dedicated exclusively to finding permanent homes for the more than 145,000 children waiting in North America‟ foster care systems. Created by Wendy‟® founder Dave Thomas who was adopted, the Foundation implements results-driven national programs, foster care adoption awareness and advocacy initiatives. To learn more, visit davethomasfoundation.org or call 1-800-ASK-DTFA.

Wendy’s International Overview

Wendy’s International is one of the world’s most successful restaurant operating and franchising companies with more than 6,500 restaurants worldwide. Wendy’s is a member of Wendy’s/Arby’s Group Inc. (NYSE: WEN). More information is available at www.wendys.com, or www.wendysarbys.com.

A Day on the Farm

Enjoy these memories from our day serving at the Leap of Faith Farm.

Welcome to Leap of Faith Farm!

Mia's Birdhouse

Rebuilding the barn door









Rebuilding the barn door.

Landscaping/Brush Removal

Lilacs

Feeding the Ponies

Tree Trimming

Picnic Lunch

A Friendly Toad

Matt helps with demolition in the Barn.

Mia Paints a Birdhouse.

The Pony

Some of the Crew!

Unique Opportunity for Chinese Adoptees

To celebrate its fifteenth anniversary, the China Center for Children’s Welfare & Adoption (CCCWA, formerly CCAA) is launching an Adoption Month in July to highlight to the general Chinese public the life-changing accomplishments of China’s international adoption program.

They are collecting publications, pictures, videos, and interviews of adoptees. If your adopted child(ren) have achieved a major accomplishment or received a major award or recognition in the area of academics, art and performance, sports, or public (charity) service, please send your story to: itsupport@chinesechildren.org, and they will forward the information to CCWA in China.

The CCCWA requests that your story be accompanied by four pictures (4X6) of your amazing kid(s), a color copy of any award or certificate, and copies of any media coverage/publication. All scanned images must be 300 dpi or more. It would be great if you are able to compress or zip the file first before emailing it to us.

If you have any video footage or audio tracks, you can email them to itsupport@chinesechildren.org or mail to CCAI at: 6920 S Holly Circle, Centennial, CO 80112.

The deadline for submission to CCAI is June 22, 2011.

Tomorow's the Day!

Join Willow Creek Community Church’s (all campuses)
Adoptive, Foster and Safe Families
for

A Day on the Farm
Family Picnic and Service Project


Saturday, June 11, 2011
7:30am – 3:00pm (come as early as you can)
3N645 Ponderosa Drive, St. Charles, IL


Recently purchased by the Scott family from Willow Creek Community Church, the Leap of Faith Farm property has been abandoned for 5 years.


Our desire is to spend a day working on repair and clean-up projects on the property to make it into a wonderful haven for abandoned and abused children who have been adopted or in foster care, as well as veterans of war.


Leap of Faith Farm will eventually provide healing for through meaningful connections with animals, the environment, and the community.


Children are welcome. There will be activites and work projects for all ages. Children will also be supervised in caring for the animals. Please bring potted flowers for the smaller children to plant.

A catered picnic will be served.

Willow Creek McHenry Safe Families Gathering

Willow Creek McHenry invites all Safe Families in the McHenry area to attend their monthly gathering.

MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2011
6:30-8:30pm.
CRYSTAL LAKE PANERA BREAD, 6000 Northwest Hwy # 14
Crystal Lake, IL 60014-8062 (815) 444-8875

Please RSVP to Shelly Forte at shellyforte@aol.com

Boys Clothing Needed for Children's Closet

The Children's Closet, which serves Safe Families and foster families, is in need of boys summer clothing, sizes 3 months - 4T.

If you are able to donate new or gently used clothing, please contact Lisa Phalen phalen245@comcast.net or Teri Altpeter terialtpeter@att.net.

Thanks for supporting the families that so generously care for children in crisis.

Please look for The Children's Closet on FaceBook to keep informed of all their activities.

Adoption Fundraiser for Willow Family

Join the Kerrigan Family from Willow Creek Community Church for an

Adoption Fundraiser!

Friday, June 3rd, 2011
Open House 4:30pm-10:00pm
Free Admission

The Barefoot Café inside West Ridge Community Church
3300 Encounter Lane
Elgin, IL

The evening will include:

"Open mic" performances * snacks and beverages available for purchase * opportunity to donate to the Kerrigan Family adoption fund, to adopt three children, two that they are currently fostering.

Come and meet the Kerrigan Family and show your support!