We are a 42-year-old organization that supports an adoption community by:
- Creating families for children who now live in foster care
- Working with public and private adoption agencies to expand adoption opportunities for children in their custody
- Providing information and referrals to families interested in adoption
- Creating adoption events that bring children and prospective parents together
- Partnering with the media to raise public awareness about adoption and encourage interest in adopting a “waiting” child
- Developing training materials for adoption professionals
- Managing an online site—AdoptSpeak—where those interested in adoption meet, chat and exchange ideas and information
- Administering AdoptMatch, an online listing of adoption agencies that allows prospective adopters to “match” themselves with an agency that feels like a good fit
- Targeting an outreach program to members of the LGBT community to encourage interest in adoption
When we opened our doors in 1972, we didn’t know whether anyone would want to adopt a child who was 11 years old or brothers and sisters who were siblings and wanted to stay together. Would anyone consider a child who was blind or who had Down syndrome?
We are thrilled at our success: more than 23,000 families created. It turned out that once the public knew about the children, they came forward to adopt them. In the past 40-something years, the Center has become a leader in adoption and an innovator in adoption technology. We created the first website to feature pictures and descriptions of waiting children, a phenomenon that replaced antiquated photo listing books and revolutionized the way adoption was practiced in this country.
Carolyn Johnson, an adoptive mother of three, founded the Center, and, in the early years, worked from her kitchen table with a wooden recipe box that included a section for children, a section for prospective parents and a section for “matches.” For 30 years, until she retired, Carolyn persisted in the belief that a home could be found for every child who needed one. Today, our Executive Director is Ken Mullner, father of two daughters, the youngest adopted.
The National Adoption Center (23-1966667) and the Adoption Center of Delaware Valley (23-2484926) are registered 501(c)(3) charities. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.