Brittany's Hope Foundation

Brittany's Hope Foundation is a relatively small organization with BIG impact. It seeks to find forever families for children with special needs -- especially children who are considered "difficult to place" for whatever reason.

Addison is the lucky recipient of one of their generous grants -- and it really has made a difference in our ability to adopt him. Adoption is EXPENSIVE, as many of you know, and when we saw that there was a grant attached to him, it made us really consider adopting. Before that, we were thinking about it, but just had NO IDEA how we could manage it. Brittany's Hope is a very real part in making us a family of four.

I hope that you will visit their website and check out all the great work they are doing:
http://www.brittanyshope.org/
And who knows? You may just look into the eyes of a child there and know that your home is his home or her home. You just never know....

Part of our receiving the grant is "paying it forward" and spreading the word about the great work they do. If you would like to make a donation to the foundation, whose monies go directly to finding homes for children, you can visit this site:
http://www.active.com/donate/2008WalkOfLove/BraunFamily

An excerpt from the Brittany's Hope website:
The inspiration behind the foundation
Brittany's Hope Foundation was created in January 2000 for the purpose of advocating for orphaned special needs children who are longing for the love of a family. Our foundation was inspired by our first adopted child, Brittany who we adopted when she was 12 years old.

While Brittany was home for Christmas break in January 1999, during her senior year in college, her life was tragically cut short as a result of a car accident.

She was pursuing a career in social work and hoped to help waiting children find loving families. As we reflected upon the person that Brittany was and the work that she planned to do, we remembered a conversation she shared shortly before her death. She stated she "dreamed of a world where all children know the peace and love only a family can provide."

Although Brittany was unable to pursue her dreams, we wanted to honor her life by beginning the work she intended. As a result, Brittany's Hope Foundation was born. We believe every child deserves to know the love and security only a family can provide; our foundation reflects this passion. Through our work, we advocate for children who would likely spend their lives in an orphanage as a result of a disability or simply because they are older than the more desirable infant.

Sometimes our advocacy means the difference between whether or not the child even survives, such as our heart baby cases. Although we are a small organization, we provide hope and love to children from around the world by helping them find their forever families.

It's a beautiful organization who so freely gives of its time, talent and financial resources to change the lives of children and families. Please keep them in your prayers at the holiday season and always. I'm sure they miss their daughter greatly, especially at this time of the year.