“It’s one of those things that the Lord told us to do this. We knew the necessity of it,” said Nelson, owner of The Benison, of last year’s event, which had about 100 people involved, “but to see how much it was needed was very humbling.”
The name of the conference comes from its mission. Support helps prevent parental burnout and strengthens the marriage, the family unit, and the child because a healthy family helps kids thrive the most, Nelson said. Organizing the event this year, her faith was further strengthened as attendees from last year became more involved.
Jacob and Heather Vandenbark attended, though Heather led one of the “seed groups,” a small breakout session on how couples can strengthen their marriage as adopted parents. While she will again lead a seed group, Jacob became more involved, including working on the planning committee and designing the conference’s website.
While the adoption community is tight-knit, many parents aren’t aware of the existing resources, and that’s where Thrive shines as it helps families thrive after adoption.
“When we adopted, we didn’t know there were groups and support,” said Jacob. They adopted a child who’s now 6, and he said one of the many reasons this conference is needed is “because you meet people who are in the same boat as you and really understand the challenges.”
While parenting is hard, there are different challenges with adoptions, such as children coming from broken families, different races, or with learning disabilities.
There are 135,000 U.S. adoptions that happen annually (not including stepparent adoptions), according to Adopting.org, and 59% are through the foster care system.
Thousands of children in Ohio are looking to be adopted. Nearly 14,000 children are being cared for away from their parents. More than 8,000 are living with foster parents, and the rest are in residential care or living with friends or relatives, also known as kinship caregivers, according to AdoptUsKids.org. More than 3,300 children in Ohio are waiting to be adopted, and nearly a third are teenagers.
Jacob said the conference is “good for networking” and “to provide resources for these families who are often under-resourced and have crazy schedules with a bunch of kids.”
“It’s a good time for them to realize that people care about them and they can get help, and there are opportunities for them out there and people out there that understand them,” he said.
Nelson said the Thrive conference gives her “a sense of peace and purpose,” especially as organizations have stepped up, such as A Gift of Adoption Fund, Operation Blessing Bag and Aligned Hope. Other sponsors include Chick-fil-A, HOPES Closet, Butler County Children Services, and HOPE-full Pastures Therapeutic Farm.
“It’s neat to see the gifts of different people within the community, to come and partner, saying, ‘Hey, this is what I have to offer.’”
Registration for the event is closed at this time. For more information, visit ThriveAdoption.com.
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