According to AdoptionNetwork.com, roughly one out of every twenty-five families residing in the United States have one or more adopted children. The statistics also include that about 1.5 million children in the United States are adopted. This translates to about two percent of the population or about one in fifty children. Around sixty-two percent of privately adopted children are adopted before they are a month old. Many children who do not get adopted before they turn eighteen are unfortunately left out on their own. Statistics show many children who age out of foster care will either go to a homeless shelter or become homeless entirely.
The Hope Cottage Pregnancy and Adoption Center is located in Dallas, Texas. They aim to educate and inform about childcare, as well providing adoption services. Their website says, “Hope Cottage Pregnancy and Adoption Center nurtures and builds families through education, counseling and adoption services and supports adoption as a lifelong process by honoring our clients’ decisions. If you have questions, Hope Cottage can help. Counselors are available any time to help you sort through your choices.”
The history of Hope Cottage Pregnancy and Adoption Center goes back over a century. In the year 1918, a woman named Emma Wylie Ballard took note of all the homeless children on the streets of Dallas. Wanting to do something, she bought a small house and turned it into a care facility for these babies and children. She decided to name it Hope Cottage, and the rest is history.
They maintain a list of milestones and achievements Hope Cottage has made over the past 103 years. In the year 1923, there was an issue with overcrowding. This lead to the building of another permanent fixture to Hope Cottage. In the year 1965, Hope Cottage partnered with a different program that did adoption services. This resulted in Hope Cottage adding more room, as well as an adoption system. Jump forward to 1988, counseling related to families and adopting became available at Hope Cottage. In 2010, Hope Cottage instituted a program that was aimed at teen mothers and teen pregnancy.
Some of the categories for programs available at Hope Cottage Pregnancy and adoption center include infant adoption, foster care, parenting support, post-adoption, education, and training. They offer free classes for parents and potential foster parents; a schedule can be found on their website. There is information about the programs they offer as well as some resources for pregnant women who are in need of help. You can find more information on their website: https://hopecottage.org/