Julie-Queler

7 Ways Donating Makes An Impact

tanaavatayloradoption
Julie-Queler

It does not matter the quantity of your donation, what matters is that your donation will ultimately make a significant difference. You do not necessarily have to benefit from your donation but in some cases, you will be surprised to find out you are reaping the fruits of your own generosity. Here are some positive impacts of giving.

It Brings More Pleasure.

When you give, it brings more pleasure to you. Recent research studies show that when you give, your brain depicts the same characteristics as when you are eating something sweet or when you are having sex. This means the middle region of your brain is lit. This is the same area responsible for the cravings you experience on the things you like e.g. food etc. Simply, just donating makes you have a good feeling and this is something you can draw benefits from.

Makes Your Life More Meaningful.

When you give to charity you bring more meaning to your life in the sense that, in the process of giving you get to meet new people. You interact with people who believe in the same cause as you. As a matter of fact, this will inspire you. Your life will no longer be that boring but instead, you will have something rejuvenating you from time to time.

Improve Money Management.

When you give you to improve your personal management of money. When you set a particular amount of money to donate each month week or year, you will be able to give more attention to your money there for improving your management. This will make you not to default in the donation. This is a motivation to put more attention to your finances.

Promote Generosity.

When you give, you actually promote the virtue of generosity, especially to your children. Of course, you know your children look up to you as a role model. So when they see you giving to charity, it is a good sign to the young ones. Make sure anytime you give, the kid is there seeing what you are doing. This is a seed you are planting in the kid so in future you are sure they will do the same.

However, don’t make it look like a show-off or brag. Ensure that the minor interprets the deed as voluntary and that you did it willingly with a humble heart. Giving is a good deed so it should not come out boastful. There should be generosity and love when you give.

A source of Motivation.

Quite surprisingly giving can be a source of motivation not only to you but also to the friends and family. According to Julie Queler when you give, you motivate your friends and family to do the same. So your giving actually has a positive impact on society.

Tax Deduction.

When you give to approved organization your donations are written off on your tax returns. However, some restrictions are applicable. Donating your money for a good cause can get your tax money reduced.

Helping Others in Need.

According to Julie Queler, the fact is that is that at any point in life there must be people in need. Even though you might be experiencing challenges in your finances, there is always a person in a worse situation than you. Therefore giving helps somebody else survive the harsh economic times we are living in.

In conclusion, giving to charity appears to be like a global good act for the poor. However, giving can be good for you too as we have seen. So start giving today and if you have been doing so keep up the good work.

Rusty Tweed

How to Cover College Expenses for Your Adopted Child From Foster Care

tanaavatayloradoption
There are over 400, 000 children in the United States who do not have permanent families. While many people in America may have considered adoption, very few have managed to make their adoption formal. One of the reasons for this is the high cost of raising a child including paying college tuition. The cost of a college education is very high, but if a person can access the various resources available to reduce this cost, it can be a great reliever. With that said, parents who have adopted from foster care can use the following programs to cover college expenses for their adopted children.
Rusty Tweed

Federal Programs

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) is one the federal programs that was established in the year 2009 to provide financial aid to any child that was adopted from foster care with an age of 13 years and above. Such children are considered to be independent students who do not rely on family income and therefore qualifies for this financial aid. Education and Training Voucher (ETV) is another federal program that provides financial assistance of about $5000 per annum to every child who was adopted at the age of 16 and above from foster care. This aid is provided from federal funds in different states to children who are in colleges or at any accredited technical training program. Their adoptive parents should do their homework by helping their children apply for these programs. It will become easy to pay for their higher education.

Scholarship Programs

Every state has its own way of establishing and managing scholarship programs, and you will find that some might consider the income of the family while others will not. This means that if you are an adoptive parent who has moved from one state to another, you must get to understand how scholarship programs are handled and administered in your new state to avoid having your child miss the scholarship. Rusty Tweed, a renowned economics blogger, has gone on his ways to provide you with a list of few scholarship programs in different states.

• Delaware: Here, you will find scholarship programs that are available for any child who has been to foster care. During the evaluation of applications, the income of the family is one of the considerations.

• Columbia: Any child who was adopted from the foster care system in the District of Columbia is entitled to scholarships for vocational training and colleges since the year 2000.

• Illinois: Scholarships for children from foster care in Illinois are usually administered by the Department of Child and Family services as long they were adopted from the DFS’s custody and placed to subsidized guardianship.

• New Jersey: In New Jersey, youths adopted from foster care at the age of 12 years and above are eligible for college scholarship programs. The adoptive parents should look for Foster and Adoptive Services in the state to access these scholarships.

• Oklahoma: Oklahoma’s way of administering scholarship programs is very different from other states because it is more based on the behavior and achievement of your child. For instance, if your child enrolls for the Oklahoma Higher Education Access Program (OHLAP) in their 8th, 9th and 10th grade, maintain a score of 2.5 GPA and be well behaved, his tuition in any public college or university will be fully covered. In doing this, they also consider family income except for foster youths whose family income doesn’t matter.

These are few examples of states whereby scholarship programs have been helping children adopted from foster care to get educated through college, vocational training and universities. Every state offers scholarship programs, and you must know where and when to apply for one.

Tuition Waivers Programs

Tuition waivers are programs that have been supporting most children adopted from foster care through college education by waiving their tuition. Some of the states that provide tuition waivers include Florida, Kentucky, Connecticut, Maryland, Maine, Texas, Virginia and Massachusetts among others. Rusty Tweed says that, as an adoptive parent, you need to contact educational institutions directly to know more of all programs that are available for your adopted child.

Dr-Usha-Rajagopal

6 Ways Grants Can Help Finance Adoptions

tanaavatayloradoption

Choosing to adopt and raise a child born into unfavorable circumstances is a noble act. Unfortunately, not everyone who is willing to take on the challenges posed by adopting a child are capable of bearing the financial cost it presents at the start.

Dedicated families and individuals do not have to give up on their plan to adopt and raise a child simply because of the financial obstacles in front of them however, and that’s because grants are now widely available. Grants can be pursued for different kinds of endeavors. Dr. Usha Rajagopal offers a grant to entrepreneurs, and educational grants are also available to students.

Families and individuals can also apply for a kind of different grant which will be discussed in greater detail below.

Dr-Usha-Rajagopal

Grants Can Help Finance International Adoptions

There are obvious financial hurdles that can get in the way of adopting a child from a different country, but families willing to put in the work to apply for a grant can get around those.

According to Cradle of Hope, the organization known as A Child Waits can provide financial assistance to families who want to adopt a child from another country. The grant does not exceed $5,000, but that amount of money should help families immensely.

Grants Can Help Finance Adoptions of Vulnerable Children

According to Home Grown School Feeding, vulnerable children are those who are under 18 years of age who are at high risk of not receiving the adequate amount of care and protection. Different kinds of vulnerable children exist, including those who have been abandoned, orphaned, are living with a disability, are HIV-positive, dealing with abuse and/or poverty, reside in an area where armed conflict is rampant, or are discriminated against.

The Gift of Adoption foundation provides a grant that can go as high as $7000 to families who want to adopt vulnerable children.

Grants Can Help Finance Adoptions of Special Needs Children

Special needs children require love and attention from truly loving families and individuals. Because of their learning issues, physical ailments, or long-term illnesses, it may be difficult for them to receive the kind of care they need.

The Rollstone Foundation is driven to bring special needs children together with the people who will properly care for them, and they do so by offering a grant that can reach up to $5,000.

Grants Can Help Finance Adoptions for Childless Families and Individuals

Love is something for people to share. For childless families and individuals, they may have plenty of love to give but no one they can share that with, but that may no longer be an issue thanks to Childless Mothers Adopt.

The aforementioned organization offers financial aid of up to $5000 to the childless families and individuals who win the grant.

Grants Can Help Finance Adoptions for Same-Sex Households

Same-sex couples looking to start a family may encounter a roadblock too due to having insufficient funds. For these couples, they can turn to organizations such as Help Us Adopt for assistance.

Help Us Adopt offers financial grants that can range greatly in value. A grant from them can be as low as $500 or as high as $15,000.

Grants Can Help Finance Adoptions for Members of the Military

The Department of Defense can reimburse active service members up to $2000 for each adoptive child or up to $5000 a year for the expenses they incurred from completing an adoption.

Financial obstacles may make it tougher for people to adopt children, but they are not impossible to overcome. Thanks to the abundance of adoption grants now available, many people who want to improve the life of a child will be able to do so if they put the time and effort needed to receive that financial assistance.

Tana-Ava-Taylor

5 Benefits of Adoption Photography

tanaavatayloradoption

Tana-Ava-Taylor

As a family who wants to have another addition to their family, adoption may be the answer. Having a new member of the family can be an exciting time for a couple who wishes to care for another child. However, the process may seem all too tedious and challenging that most couples give up trying even before finishing the adoption.

Here are some of the reasons why some parents are discouraged from adopting children:

  • Costly fees – for parents who want to care for adopted children, the cost may be too significant. There are many fees included to finish the whole legal process as well as coordinating with the agency, especially if the child is living overseas.
  • Long process – many hopeful couples find it difficult and time-consuming to process all the documents and background checks needed to adopt a child. Some of them feel discouraged because of the length of time it takes to adopt a child finally.
  • No access to information – although adoption is a known way to care for children, many are genuinely unaware of the process. The lack of information discourages couples from considering it at all.

To provide information and give couples who are considering to adopt some insight about the candidate children, adoption photography can be a good strategy. In this article, we will look into the benefits of adoption photography.

5 Benefits of Adoption Photography

Adoption photography can provide more information about the profiles of each child.

It may be challenging to visualize adopting a child whom you’ve never seen photos of. Although it can be of good will and trust that you don’t need pictures of your chosen adopted child, most parents would still prefer to see the children they are going to adopt. This way, they can learn about the children more and can imagine him or her living in their homes.

Adoption photography can let aspiring parents see the daily lives of the children.

Some parents consider adopting children in dire conditions. For example, an orphan who has no siblings may be a better candidate for parents who want to adopt. Capturing the children in their daily moments help adoptive parents empathize with the situation. Photos are a powerful way to send a message from people who need help the most.

Adoption photography can make a better database of adoptive children.

This benefit is towards the website of the adoption organization. You may continuously be looking for adoptive parents for the children you care for in your center. Having full photos of them on your website will provide better access for potential parents who want to adopt children in your center. This will also lessen the additional inquiries if you create a comprehensive database with information about the children and your center.

Adoption photography can also help sponsor parents.

Some parents do not necessarily adopt, but rather sponsor children in your center. Providing them with photo updates will be an exciting way to keep on helping these children. Additionally, these photos can also be used to promote the cause of your organization. Sponsors would like to know that their money will be put to good use.

Adoption photography can give you a record of success stories.

Taking photos can also be a great way to keep a record of your previous adoption success stories. This will also encourage new parents to feel at ease about the process of adopting.

Adoption is a beautiful cause that should be promoted when possible. By using photography to inform and inspire others, more children will be given new, loving homes.