Helpusadopt.org, a national adoption grant program, has announced it is increasing its maximum adoption grants from $20,000 to $30,000 in order to help families in financial need with the rising costs of adoption.
HelpUsAdopt.org offers financial grants between $1,000 and $30,000 to help families of all types—regardless of ethnicity, gender, marital status, race, religion, or sexual orientation—complete their adoptions and give children permanent homes.
“The average cost of adoption has sky-rocketed in recent years,” explained founder and president Becky Fawcett in a press statement. “Our goal with this increase is to make adoption more financially accessible to the families we serve. Awarding grants up to $30,000 will make a tremendous difference in the lives of these families and the children they are bringing home. This expansion of our services was made possible by our incredible donors and supporters. We’re so grateful for everyone who believes in our mission.”
Fawcett and her husband Kipp adopted the first of their two children in 2005. As a show of gratitude, they wanted to donate to an organization that helped other families with the financial burden of adoption, but could not find one “that was based on a mission of equality,” explains Helpusadopt.org’s website. They therefore founded Helpusadopt.org in 2007, and have grown it into a national 501(c)(3) organization, with a full-time staff of four and a board of 22. They also adopted a second child of their own in 2009.
“We are driven by family equality and advocate daily for single parents and the LGBT community to adopt,” Fawcett recently told Authority magazine.
Helpusadopt.org is on track to award grants in excess of $1.6 million in 2024. Since its founding, the organization has awarded 765 grants totaling $7,360,000. It is not religiously affiliated.
Grants may be applied to domestic and international private adoptions and adoptions through foster care. Applicants must “demonstrate significant financial obstacles and the need for financial assistance,” among other eligibility requirements. The organization does not provide grants for embryo adoptions, step-parent, or co-parent (second-parent) adoptions, nor for contested adoptions.
Helpusadopt.org awards grants six times a year. The next grant application deadline is September 7th. Learn more and apply for free at helpusadopt.org. (The organization is still in the process of updating its website with the new $30,000 limit, but its Instagram account confirms the news.)
If you are not seeking to adopt or are not eligible, you may wish to consider donating to the organization. (As with any charitable donation, please do your own due diligence.)
See also Family Equality’s LGBTQ+ Family Building Grants list for additional sources of assistance for both adoption and assisted reproduction. For assistance with adoption from foster care, you may also want to check out “Adoption and Guardianship Assistance by State,” a non-LGBTQ-specific list from the Child Welfare Information Gateway, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
