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My Dream … Then and Now Twenty-six years
ago, I became a mom through adoption. My joy spilled over into a lifelong dream
– that anyone with a good heart and a sincere desire would be able to fulfill
their hope of having a family! My dream started with my own children and has grown
into a thousand wonderful families. It began in a small, dilapidated house in
Pawlet, Vermont, outgrew four other places, and finally settled into our beautiful,
but tired, rented farmhouse in Middletown Springs. Over this quarter of a century,
an incredible staff expanded the scope of our work, from creating families to
caring for the families we help to create. I think back with great emotion
to the very beginning … 1978, when I picked up a handsome hitchhiker. We got married
and decided that we were ready to become parents. For us, that meant calling adoption
agencies. We were told no fewer than 29 times that we did not qualify to adopt:
“You haven’t been married the required 3 years … You mean he’s Jewish and you’re
not? … Your income is how much? … Sorry, you can’t adopt.” Short on patience and
long on determination, I vowed that nobody in the world was going to tell us that
we could not become parents. I realized that I needed to take things into my own
hands. | 
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FAMILIES
Click here to pledge online! FIA
FRIENDS
Click here to pledge online! | Friends
in Adoption Foundation “THERE’S
NO PLACE LIKE HOME” CAPITAL
CAMPAIGN WHAT WILL $1.25
MILLION ACCOMPLISH? PERMANENT
HOME FOR FIA 1. Property rented
… Buy property to secure permanent home 2.
Facilities outmoded … Renovate and modernize offices 3.
Case files not fireproofed, increasing visits to read them … Build “Family
History Center” addition 4.
Priscilla’s closed … Build conference space in new addition 5.
Maintain facilities … Endow ongoing maintenance |
| And
I did. I talked with friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers. I found legal
alternatives to the agencies telling me “no.” And I learned about women who thought
we would be just fine as adoptive parents! Although I was teaching kindergarten,
my head was in the clouds – dreaming of the day when we would be parents. Tag
sales became joyful events as I started filling my bottom dresser drawer with
baby clothes. I no longer dreaded getting invited to my friends’ baby showers,
knowing that one day soon I too would share in one. And then, on December 30,
1979, we watched our daughter Aura being born through an open adoption. A year
later, on March 26, 1981, we picked up our son Isaac at the hospital through a
closed adoption. We were parents! A little sleep deprived, a little ragged around
the edges, but blissfully happy! | Then,
in 1987, the New York Times ran an article mentioning our story and the phone
began ringing off the hook. People from all over, told they could not adopt, were
calling and seeking answers. I knew firsthand that with some knowledge and a lot
of determination, they too could become parents. Friends in Adoption, and my lifelong
commitment to compassionate adoption, took off. | 
Dawn,
Joel, Isaac, and Aura | As many of you
know, I never stop dreaming! And my dream now, shared by our Board of Directors
and staff, is to ensure a permanent home for our alumni and their case files at
FIA. It is my deepest hope that you will participate in our capital campaign,
helping this dream come true for our adoptive and birth families – past and future
– and for all of our children. Dawn Smith-Pliner September 2005 |
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