Nightlight’s mission is to “Share God’s love through foster care and adoption.”
Last year we stepped out in faith as we served nearly a thousand children, expectant parents, and foster and adoptive families nationwide.
One act of faith was to invest in foster care by hiring staff in states where we did not previously have a foster program. For instance, we hired foster staff in Indiana, Texas, and Kentucky. Given our success in other states with foster care over the last three years, we knew that if we staffed these positions for an entire year we would eventually get some spectacular families recruited, trained, and ready for placement. And the efforts have begun to show success as we had our first placements in Texas and Kentucky! Over the course of 2023, we had 136 different children in foster placement.
We also stepped out in faith by starting our Anchored in Hope program, which is focused on matching children from foster care whose case-plan is adoption. These children are typically photo listed on Heart Gallery of America or Adopt US Kids. Because it is a uniquely challenging task to navigate the various state laws and contracts that are inevitably involved, Nightlight quickly gained a nationwide reputation as the go-to agency for this type of placement. Last year we had 6 Anchored in Hope placements, so the numbers are still small, but we have attracted some of the most ministry-minded adoptive parents who are willing to take in children who have special needs, or belong to larger sibling sets, or who are older.
Last year 77 children from abroad were adopted by Nightlight families. We took a leap of faith by investing in new international adoption programs in Portugal, Ecuador, and the Philippines. We are featuring waiting children from many of these countries, hoping to attract the right prospective adoptive parents.
Our domestic infant adoption program benefited from our step of faith asking every office to make over 100 visits to pregnancy care centers and other referral sites this year. We began this initiative a couple years ago, and last year our staff made 2013 visits to partner clinics or agencies who work with expectant parents. We know that these visits have been worth our time because we have seen a sharp increase in the number of birth parents referred to us. Last year we placed 71 children through domestic adoption.
Last year, 144 Snowflakes babies were born! The Snowflakes® Program welcomed nearly 200 new adopting families who are excited to help those embryos be born. Joining our life-giving God in this unique program established 26 years ago has allowed over 1,100 Snowflakes babies to be born because placing families lovingly gave their embryos to another couple. Each year our program steps forward to help more placing and adopting families welcome life!
The word Nightlight connotes a warm, safe place for children. Part of ensuring a safe place means that families complete a home study. Nightlight completed 580 homes studies last year. We are lighting the path of adoption, and the way home for children in need.