Thinking of adopting or fostering a child? Drop by the Father’s Day celebration on Sunday morning from 11:00a-2:00p at The Abbey as part of the RaiseAChild.org effort to pair children in need with prospective LGBT parents. See the full press release and contact info below, but here’s the lead:
This Sunday, June 17, 2012, the L.A. County Department of Children & Family Services teams up with Penny Lane Centers, the Southern California Foster Family & Adoption Agency, L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and the Pop Luck Club, an L.A.-based organization of gay dads, to celebrate and support gay parenting on the occasion of Father’s Day.
The Sunday brunch celebration will take place 11:00 am–2:00 pm at the Abbey, a West Hollywood dining institution, and will feature foster child portraits from the Heart Gallery and representatives from the region’s premier foster and adoption agencies. Social workers and county officials will be available to answer questions of LGBT prospective foster and adoptive parents.
From the Pop Luck Club:
Bryan Miller, a Supervising Children’s Social Worker with the County, explains why they are reaching out to the gay and lesbian community. He says, “On any given day, we have over 500 children in L.A. County who are in need of permanent homes. Last year, we finalized almost 1,400 permanent adoptive placements, but we’re short. The gay and lesbian community is an obvious source of foster and adoptive parents – these kids deserve to find loving families.”
The event is being co-sponsored by RaiseAChild.US, a non-profit organization with the mission to encourage the LGBT community to build their families through fostering and adoption. Its founder Rich Valenza explains, “In our community, it is important that we can trust the agencies that are culturally competent to welcome and support our families. This brunch brings together the two halves of that equation.” L.A. County and each of the participating agencies has earned the All Children-All Families seal from the Human Rights Campaign, which trains foster and adoption agencies in recruiting gay and lesbian resource families.
John Ireland, president of the Pop Luck Club, is excited to establish this Fathers Day event as a Club tradition. He says, “This is the second year the Abbey has welcomed us for a family brunch. It’s really great to gather together for a special day with our kids.”
The Pop Luck Club was founded in 1998 by a handful of gay men to support gay dads and their families, as well as those looking at their options to start their families. It now has over 1,000 members and is the largest such support organization in the U.S.
“Many LGBT families are considering fost/adopt when building or expanding their families,” says Amanda Litwin, of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Family Services Program. She adds, “Kids bring so much joy.” The Center provides support, education, advocacy and an array of social programming to prospective, expecting and existing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parents and their children. Its goal is to build a stronger community, one family at a time, by offering activities for families, where parents and kids can have fun and feel safe and part of a community.
The event runs from 11:00 am–2:00 pm. For more info, contact John, John@PopLuckClub.org, (213) 840-3593 and visit:
www.PopLuckClub.org www.RaiseAChild.org www.ShareYourHeartLA.org
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