We have some exciting updates on Lisa & Fred's project coming soon!! In the meantime, we had over 60 people order Promise Love shirts and they are shipping this week!!!! We thought it would be fun to have all of you send us a photo of yourself wearing your Promise Love shirt so we can post a collage of all your pretty faces. Seflies and phone pics are totally fine! When you get your shirt snap a selfie and you can post it on our Facebook page that is at www.facebook.com/promiselovefoundation or text it to Carrie - 813-480-0324 or Holly - 813-0758-4964. We can't wait to see!!!!
Promise Love Bracelets!
Yesterday, my heart and home were very full! Heaven, my sweet 8 year old daughter, decided after hearing Mr. Fred and Mrs. Lisa's story that she wanted to help them! So we invited some of her bracelet making girlfriends over (with music and ice cream sundaes to keep them motivated) to make as many official Promise Love Foundation bracelets as possible to sell and raise money so these 3 beautiful kids can finally be home forever! So proud of these girls and all there hard work. It was a blast! And I know they will sell like hot cakes!
Saul and I, for obvious reasons, have always stressed the importance of helping orphans find there forever homes in whatever way God calls us to help. It's pretty amazing to watch how God works in their little hearts and minds to reach out to people on their own! Going through the process of launching this foundation with us, my kids have truly taken on the prayers, excitement, love and commitment to helping families and kids find each other! They have learned the ups and downs, ins and outs, hard times and amazing victories and miracles that come through adoption. I am truly thankful to God for the journey He has placed us all on and what impact it is having on my own children.
If you are interested in buying a bracelet they are going for $5, but well worth more with all the love that is put into them:-) Just message us and we can mail them to you or stop by our booth at the No More Event this weekend, Sunday, May 18th @ 5pm at Bay Life Church and there will be a very cute 8 year old selling them!
A BIG Thank you to all the girls who took time out of their day to come make this a huge success! And thank you to the moms for bringing your girls and allowing them to be part of this awesome mission!
Our First Promise Love Family - Lisa and Fred's Story
This is Lisa and Fred. We got connected with them through Facebook when Carrie’s friend Karen saw the launch of the foundation. She thought they might be a great family to help and we think so too! They are an amazing couple that is matched with a sibling group of 3 children ages 4, 6, and 7. Two girls and a boy. They are adopting these kids from the foster system, which means the children’s biological parents’ rights have been terminated and the children are ready to find a forever home. May is also national Foster Care month and so this is also very fitting:-) We immediately fell in love with Lisa and Fred, their hearts, and their story. It is VERY rare that people are open to siblings, especially 3 kids that are a little bit older. They will get to grow up together as a family which is so awesome!
Adoption, especially of a sibling group isn’t for everyone, but, ANYONE can get involved and be a part of Lisa and Fred’s dream to become parents and give these kids an amazing family.
Lisa and Fred's home is a 1390sq ft 1958 bungalow. They need some help turning into a more accommodating space for 3 growing youngsters! What they are going to do is turn their 1.5 car garage into a master bedroom so that the 2 girls can share what was their room, and the boy can have his own room.
They need to raise $5,000 for the renovation and that’s where we want to help!
There is a big DONATE button on our site or you also can mail a check to the Promise Love Foundation: PO Box 47432 Tampa FL 33646
It doesn’t matter if you have $1 or $1000 every little bit helps and 100% of the proceeds are going to this project. It’s also a tax deductible donation for you!
You can also meet Lisa and Fred at the No More Event THIS Sunday 5/18 at Baylife Church. They will be joining us as we support this awesome event! We can’t wait to show you their finished space and their new family!!!!!
Here’s their story:
How did your story begin?
Our story began almost 20 years ago when we met, fell in love and decided to build a life together! We figured that once we built our foundation, we’d include children to our family and live happily ever after just like in all of the fairytales. In life, all tales aren’t so grand and free of complications. We weren’t able to successfully bear children of our own due to infertility issues, so we sought the alternative to adopt!
How did you and Fred grow up?
Coming from a large family, I’ve always been blessed to be surrounded by children, their laughter, their cries during accomplishments and triumphs and their infectious thirst to learn daily. I get great satisfaction of being privileged to share those experiences with them. We have volunteered at Metropolitan Ministries, Paint Your Heart Out, HCSO, BBBS (Big Brother and Big Sisters), and Medical Reserve Corp within our own communities throughout the years. We both come from loving and stable families, our Parents have been married for over 40 years, although Fred’s are both deceased now and we understand commitment in healthy relationships. Through good communication, we always talk out our problems, come up with solutions and work past it.
Tell us about you and Fred?
I love watching Fred when he’s helping children with completing a task, showing them various sites at amusement parks, teaching them about history or just having a moment to discuss life with them. He lights up as they recall how they saw or experienced something that he has shared with them and I always catch his eye when he is in the midst of having his heartstrings tugged by a child.
He often tells me that he knows that children like me because I’m very ‘motherly’ in my job of working with Mentally Ill Adults as well as with all of the children that we’ve been blessed to have in our lives. However, I remind him of what a big ‘kid’ he is and loves to play! Fred not only loves children, but he is affectionately nicknamed, ‘Ace Ventura’ due to his extreme love of animals. If Fred could live in a big open land filled with children and animals, he’d be in his glory.
I am completely a ‘City Girl’. Fred grew up in New York and I grew up in Chicago. He visited his Godparents and other family during summers in Puerto Rico.
We both have a very strong relationship with God and plan to introduce that to our children as well so that they’ll know, they’re never alone. We want to build strength in them so that they can turn those obstacles into positive experiences and allow it to help with their moral character and spiritual walk with God.
What do you want to share with these children who will become part of your family?
Though it’s been a real blast being ‘babysitters’, we long to have our own children to teach and show about how wonderful life can be, despite their previous obstacles and challenges. Our hearts spill over with love that we can give to children that will thrive in a stable, loving and positive family!
What do you look forward to most becoming parents?
We look forward to tucking them in at night, reading bedtime stories, listening to how their day in school went, what field trips they want to go on, watching their eyes glow when we take them to Busch Gardens, taking the dog for a walk with them, shopping for Christmas gifts for them, eating dinner together, helping with homework, so many things and EVERYTHING! We want to instill in our children a strong work ethic, and that they have the opportunity to do amazing things and make a difference in this world.
In 2 sentences why do you want to adopt?
I’d have to say, “I want our children to know what it’s liked to be loved in a healthy way and give them a chance to know that they DO MATTER! Most foster care Children express that they feel ‘forgotten’, ‘unloved’ and other negative feelings that just aren’t true at all.
Why did you decide to adopt from the foster system?
We want to adopt children, specifically a Sibling Group since we’d like to give multiple children a chance to stay together, remain a family and grow in a loving, and nurturing environment.
Want to be a part of making Lisa and Fred's dream come true and giving these kids a forever family?
DONATE on our site or you also can mail a check to the Promise Love Foundation: PO Box 47432 Tampa FL 33646. All gifts are tax deductible and 100% of proceeds will go to this project!
Let the Fun Begin!
We are SO excited to share with you how we are going to start helping families adopt!!! It's a little un-traditional, but that's how we roll:-) What we are going to do is start sharing a story about a specific family, so you can personally hear their about the journey that has led them to adopt and also how much they need to raise to make it happen. After the adoption is final, we will share with you what their new forever family looks like so that YOU can see how you helped give children a home! The awesome part is that not only will their friends and family be able to give, but anyone who wants to help. AND all gifts are tax deductible through the foundation!
Tomorrow we are going to share with you the very first Promise Love family we are going to help and they are an AMAZING couple adopting a sibling group from the foster system. Stay tuned!!!!!!!
Our first appearance @ The No More Event 5.18.14!!!
No More Event at Van Dyke Church was AMAZING!! About 400 people came to experience and feel the need for us to start doing our part and taking care of orphans both across the world and in Tampa. We are VERY excited that Promise Love Foundation will be one of the exhibitors at the next No More Event!!!
Date: Sunday, May 18th
Time: 5pm
Location: Bay Life Church @ 1017 Kingsway Rd, Brandon, FL 33510
Cost: FREE
Registration Link: http://fornomore.org/events/
The statistic that I can not get out of my head is that if literally every church in the US would take on just one foster child it would empty of the system. That's just one child per church. A lot of times people think it's just about adoption, but there are SO many ways you can get involved. Becoming a Guardian Ad Litem, delivering a meal to a foster parent with a new placement, giving to help others adopt, if you want to get involved let me know!! Here's a little overview of the event at Van Dyke and I know the one at Bay Life is going to be equally as awesome, come by and see us!!!!
Adoption through the Foster Care System - How does it work?
How does one even figure out how to get started when looking into adoption?? It can be quite an overwhelming thing!! So, we are going to give you the skinny on how each of the different options works. Holly and Saul have personally experienced adoption from the foster care system and Carrie and David have experienced private domestic adoption. We are going to give you both the process and steps of how to go about it and also what our own personal experiences are. In Florida (specifically Hillsborough County), there are 2 ways you can adopt from the foster care system:
1. As a foster parent, if the child in your care has their parent's parent rights terminated (TPR), and they have exhausted all family and friends then the foster parent generally is given the opportunity to adopt. This is the specific experience that Holly is going to share below.
2. The other option is that you get licensed as an adoptive home. You take similar classes and get licensed as an adoptive home. So you aren't fostering at all your family profile is actually presented at a match meeting of children who are available for adoption because the parents' rights have already been terminated and there is no family, friends or adoptive parents to adopt them. Most people don't realize it, but adoption through the state is generally free, you get a monthly stipend for the child, they get free in state college tuition, and medicaid until they are 21. Generally the cost is low, but the time waiting and frustration levels can be high.
Here's how Holly and Saul's personal experience went:
Almost 3 years ago, we started the process to become licensed foster parents. Previously, we had been working through the process of private adoption and soon realized God was steering us in a very different direction. While we thought we were called to adopt, it was clear, God was saying trust me and just be willing to love on whatever kids I put in your home. So, we somewhat hesitantly began classes to get licensed. Right away, and throughout the licensing ups and downs God never changed His mission for us. It was evident we were in the right place.
In October 2011, before we even knew we had received our official license from DCF (Department of Children and Families), we had a call for a baby, they were placing 3 babies that day and felt the 4 month old baby girl would fit us best. Little did they know I was praying for a 4-6 month old, but God knew. We couldn't believe the gorgeous baby that was dropped off by the CPI the next day. We worked through visits, court hearings, etc. learning along the way. Two and a half years later, there has been alot that has happened, including a return to her bio mom and back to us. We got official approval from the judge literally today that we will get to adopt her so we will be going through this adoption process again and are so happy!
About 4 months after we had our first placement, my husband felt God was saying it's time to take another. We had one open space left. I mentioned to our FDS (family development specialist) we would love to keep one, to which he laughed and said "you know foster parents don't sign up to keep them". It is not looked fondly upon when you sign up to foster parent just in hopes of adoption. I said I knew and I trusted he would find the right kid for our family. Our only preference was a child 2 & under with no major medical issues (we felt we wouldn't be prepared for that at this time). Less than 48 hours later, he called sounding a little surprised on the phone and said we have a 19 month African American boy who looks to be going up for a match meeting soon! He is an a respite (temporary) placement right now and we need to move him somewhere more permanently until he is matched.
A match meeting means that parents rights have been terminated, they cannot locate any other relatives or even non-relatives (friends of the family) to take the child and the child's case will be placed in front of a few families that are licensed to adopt. They then will determine which family is the best match for that child. If we were to take him and decide we would like to adopt him, we would have the first option to adopt! We knew God had set this up, this little guy had to be for our family! 2 days later the tiniest little man who waddled like a duck showed up on my front door. He was so handsome and the only word he could say was "mama"! I couldn't believe it!
We were pretty quickly able to start the process to adopt him. It still took 8 months from the time he showed up to his adoption day. They first determined if us adopting him was the best option (that was quick meeting). Then we had to have an adoption home study performed (which is slightly different than a foster home study), lots of paperwork, there was a child study to written up by the adoption specialist, and physicals by my husband and I. Once all the paperwork was complete, we had to go in for disclosure. This is a meeting where they record the adoption specialist reading everything from the child's history that they are aware of.
It was during that disclosure meeting that we truly got to understand why this little guy was so traumatized and totally explained the behaviors he exhibited when he first came to our home. I am sure reality was 10 times worse for him than what was explained to us in words at that meeting.
Saul and I decided right then and there we would pray over these things and we knew God had put him in our family because this child was going to have a life filled with hope and love with not only 2 parents who really loved him, but a whole new family who did too. These things were in his past, but they didn't define his future!
He arrived in February and a judge made him officially Micah David Nazario on October 1st, 2012!! Micah means "Who is like Yaweh". We owe his adoption to God and his perfect timing. Micah is a huge blessing to our family, a ball of energy and so much fun! He loves his brothers and sister, anything chocolate and rides a razor like a pro. He is still our little peanut and most people think his younger sister is older than him, but we know one day he will catch up:) He turns 4 in a few months and it has been a true miracle to watch this little boy change and grow. He was drug addicted at birth, weighed 2.3 lbs, severely traumatized before he arrived at our home, glued to me 24/7 for at least the first 6 months, desperate and screaming if I left him for a second, terrified to let his daddy touch him, and wouldn't make eye contact with anyone. Now he's a loving, caring, talkative, very friendly and outgoing little boy who loves his daddy sometimes more than his mommy! That is one of the joys and struggles you miss out on when you take a child that is perfectly healthy and has no struggles. We are glad God called us to foster first, so we could truly appreciate the change only He could bring through prayer and love in our little man. And we have been forever changed by adoption.
April Fools Day
So most of you know today April 1st for being April fools day right? I'm going to share with you how meaningful this date is for the Promise Love Foundation! On 4.1.13, David and I got our very first call from placement having just become foster parents. It was for a little boy named Justice. David got the call and we talked and anxiously accepted! A couple hours later, placement called us back and apologized that they had been mistaken and Justice would not need placement. We were so disappointed, but we knew we were ready. Then, on April 3rd, we got another call that said they had a little girl coming straight from the hospital, 2 days old that needed a home. 2 hours later they delivered her to our house and instantly we were foster parents! My very good friend Andi Diamond did her newborn session, which is the first picture. Since I'm a photographer as well, I did photos of her every month for the 6 months we had her and for her 7 month birthday in November, because that's the last time we got to see her.
Today is her birthday, she's 1 year old, her name is Promise Love.
Even though we don't get to see her, we pray for her often, that she will beat the odds, stay safe, and know that she is loved and grow up to be amazing and change the world. I even pray that she will run this very foundation some day, it's named after her. We know that God put her in our home for a reason, she stole our hearts and made us love like we never have before. If He hadn't, Holly and I probably wouldn't have started this foundation. For me, April 1st every year is Promise Love Day. ~Carrie xoxo
Welcome to Promise Love!
It's finally here!!!!! We are so excited to share with you our new site!!! Happy Launch Day!