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Announcing Holt’s 2021 Adoptee Scholarship Winners

Congratulations to this year’s Holt Adoptee Scholarship winners — Annie Bone, Abby Conant and Kira Ewoldt!

This year, each applicant submitted a creative work framed around the prompt, “What’s in a name? Revealing the stories behind our adoptive names, birth names and nicknames.” Annie, Abby and Kira each received a $500 scholarships funded by donors to put toward the cost of higher education. See their winning submissions below!

Abby Conant

Abby will be studying visual arts at Boston University this fall. Continue reading “Announcing Holt’s 2021 Adoptee Scholarship Winners”

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Host a Child from Colombia this Winter!

Host a child from Colombia this December and help them find a permanent, loving family. 

This December, Holt is partnering with KidSave to bring an incredible opportunity to waiting children in Colombia and families in the U.S.

In December, older children from Colombia will travel to spend several weeks with a family in the U.S. Families can share their favorite activities, learn about another culture, spend time with a wonderful child, consider adopting or help that child find a permanent family. 

This is the perfect opportunity for families considering adopting an older child from Colombia.

The application deadline is September 15, 2021. 

Interested in learning more about hosting? Contact summermiracles@kidsave.org or visit kidsave.org/webinars to sign up for an online orientation.

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The State of Kids in Orphanages in 2021

Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lives of many children and families. Children living in orphanage care have been especially vulnerable to the effects of this global crisis. Over the past year, Holt’s orphanage partners have reached out to us, sharing that more and more children are coming into their care. At the same time, delays in international adoption have left even more children in care in some countries, causing overcrowding. These orphanages don’t have the staff or resources to keep up.

Continue reading “The State of Kids in Orphanages in 2021”
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Our Story of Adopting From South Africa and Becoming a Transracial Family

Adam and Erin Turner share about their experience becoming a transracial adoptive family as they welcomed into their lives two children from South Africa, the country where Holt recently launched our newest adoption program.

The Turner family, including their three biological children and two children they adopted transracially from South Africa.

It’s difficult to say when the word “adoption” first popped into our heads. We talked about adoption in the earliest moments of forming our family. Maybe it was an image or a story that stuck with us during our childhood years. We had no examples in our family, per se. It simply felt like a whisper and a heart opening. It felt like extending love, security and family to a child who desperately needed it.

The desire and whispering voice stuck with us as our young children grew. And in the most unlikely moment, that whisper turned into a curiosity about what was possible. Many hurdles had to be overcome and many unlikely “yeses” had to be given. When the doors flung open, we were nervous yet hopeful. We knew we had a lot to learn but that the gift of time would allow us to set out on a journey of growth and maturation that would be important for our family and all our children. Continue reading “Our Story of Adopting From South Africa and Becoming a Transracial Family”

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Last Year’s Holt Adoptee Scholarship Winners!

stock photo of four graduates in caps and gowns to advertise 2020 holt adoptee scholarship contest

We kicked off our 2021 Holt Adoptee Scholarship Contest on June 10th! Adoptees from any agency, domestic or international, are invited to submit a project answering this prompt:

What’s in a name? Revealing the stories behind our adoptive names, birth names and nicknames. Tell us how your name(s) impacts your identity.

We encourage you to interpret the 2021 prompt creatively — whether it be through a self-portrait, an essay, digital art, a zine, a song, original choreography, poetry or a short film (or anything else you might come up with!). For non-essay submissions, please include a brief artist statement describing your piece (200 words or fewer). Submissions are due by July 31, 2021. Our team is looking forward to seeing your work!

Need some inspiration? Check out the winning projects from the 2020 Holt Adoptee Scholarship Contest!

Continue reading “Last Year’s Holt Adoptee Scholarship Winners!”