Holt International offers a variety of post-adoption programs for adoptees and families, including weeklong adoptee camps and a coaching and education program to help families navigate challenges. Below, adult adoptee Bre Linder shares her reflections on Holt Adoptee Camp while the Choate family shares about Holt’s Post-Adoption Coaching & Education program.
As a new adoptive family, you will likely experience both joys and challenges once your child comes home. And as your child grows up, he or she will probably have some questions — questions surrounding their adoption, race, identity as an adoptee or their birth family. You both may encounter issues that you’re not sure how to handle. But don’t worry, you won’t be alone.
In spring 2019, Holt’s nutrition program released Holt International’s Feeding and Positioning Manual: Guidelines for Working with Babies and Children. The first of its kind, this publication will have a lasting and life-changing impact on the lives of children in orphanages and impoverished communities around the world.
As *Lanh lay on his back, his wide, fearful eyes filled with tears as he choked on each bite of food spooned into his mouth.
At Holt International, we continue to learn from the diverse experiences and perspectives of adoptees of all ages. Recently, we began a nationwide search for Holt’s first director of adult adoptee community outreach. The new director’s role will be to inform how Holt can best support, magnify and celebrate a healthy and diverse adult adoptee community. Holt board member and Holt adoptee, Kim Lee, offers her perspective on why bringing aboard a new director of adoptee community outreach is important to her, and for the broader adult adoptee community.
Kim plays with a baby in one of Holt’s programs.
Tell us about yourself!
I am a Korean adoptee. In 1955, after the Korean War, Harry Holt traveled to Seoul to adopt eight mixed-race babies as he knew they would be shunned by Korea’s society and soon thereafter began to unite orphaned children with families in the United States, which pioneered international adoption and the founding of the Holt adoption agency. Mr. Holt, as I knew him, escorted me to the United States as part of the first wave of international adoptions from Korea in 1956. My parents had very full hearts – they adopted five children from Korea and while none of us are biologically related, we are siblings in every sense of the word and lived in Columbus, Ohio. When my youngest sister was adopted in 1959, I traveled with my mother from Columbus, Ohio to Portland, Oregon to welcome her and Mr. Holt, who escorted her from Korea. That was a memorable experience for me. Continue reading “Q&A with Adult Adoptee Kim Lee On New Director of Adult Adoptee Community Outreach Role”
Holt Adoptee Camp is going to be SO much fun, and we’re excited to introduce you to our amazing counselors! If you’re going to camp this summer, get to know your counselors a bit ahead of time and get excited about meeting them soon! More than anything, they’re looking forward to meeting YOU!
Molly Holt, daughter of Holt founders Harry and Bertha Holt, passed away early in the morning on May 17, 2019 in Ilsan, Korea. She was 83 years old.
In South Korea, Molly was known by many names, from the Mother Teresa of Korea to the Mother of all Korea’s Orphans. Although she devoted her life to caring and advocating for children and adults with developmental and physical needs in Korea, she leaves a legacy that is felt around the world.
If you would like to share memories or photos of Molly Holt, please email them to photosubmission@holtinternational.org. Photos and memories will be shared on this blog as they come in.
A blog entry from Joah Mershon, a Holt adoptee currently traveling on a Holt heritage tour of Korea.
Today, we went to Holt and conducted my roots search. Prior to the search, I was already aware that it may not produce any new results. The usual feelings of indifference, disconnection, confusion, fear, sadness and anger arose.
Joah with Sister Theresa at the White Lily Orphanage, the orphanage in Korea where Joah lived in the late 1970s before going home to his family in the U.S.
It is with profound sadness that we share the heartbreaking news that Molly Holt, daughter of Holt founders Harry and Bertha Holt, passed away early in the morning on May 17 in Korea. She was 83 years old.
In South Korea, Molly was known by many names, from the Mother Teresa of Korea to the Mother of all Korea’s Orphans. Although she devoted her life to caring and advocating for children and adults with medical, developmental and physical needs in Korea, she leaves a legacy that is felt around the world. Continue reading “In Memory Of Molly Holt”
Musician George Dennehy will headline Holt’s upcoming dinner & auctions in Portland on September 28, 2019 and Seattle on November 16, 2019. Born without arms to a family living in poverty in Romania, George barely survived his life in an orphanage before a family came forward to adopt him. Today, George tours the country advocating for children growing up orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable — to show how sponsorship can save the lives of children like him.
With over 15 years of experience building strategic corporate-nonprofit partnerships, Linda Wilson is excited to bring new partners alongside Holt in our mission to ensure a stable, loving home for every child.
Throughout her career in CSR, Linda (left) has spent a lot of time volunteering alongside local nonprofits. “As a volunteer,” she says, “I was able to really experience the impact a nonprofit was making and how my skills and expertise could contribute collaboratively.”
Early last month, entertainment giant Redbox used the DVD release of the movie Instant Family to help drive national awareness of the need to recruit and prepare foster families. A couple weeks ago, Nike hosted a family fair for employees at their campus in Portland — inviting Holt to share information about adoption. As part of their benefits package, Nike now has a first-class adoption reimbursement program for its employees — helping families afford the high cost of adoption, and helping children go home to the loving, permanent families they deserve.
Redbox and Nike are both stellar examples of companies striving to make a difference in the world. But they are not outliers.
This summer, Holt International in Oregon will host its inaugural TBRI camp for adoptees and their parents!
This two-day family camp is designed around the Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI)® parenting curriculum for domestic and international adoptees and their families. Even years after their adoption, some children may struggle with behavior regulation, attachment and social skills. With specialized assistance from TBRI practitioners, this camp will equip families with tools and strategies they can use to help their child learn self-regulation skills and deepen family attachment. Other activities include fun sensory games, art, nurture and movement groups and a visit from FETCH Eugene therapy dogs!
