DEPAUL COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Here's a look at some of the stories we'll be following today as they make headlines in Southwest Virginia.

Three children now have a permanent family, after being adopted by loving parents who were inspired by our 30 Days of Hope initiative.

For the fourth year, WSLS 10 News did a series called ’30 Days of Hope’ highlighting just some of them. We have some exciting updates on children featured during 30 Days of Hope. One year later in 2019, she was still waiting for a family and featured again on 30 Days of Hope. It was those 30 Days of Hope videos that led to a family out of state. 10 News profiled one child who needs a home every day at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. in 30 Days of Hope.

ROANOKE, Va. – “A huge success.”That’s what DePaul Community Resources says about this year’s 30 Days of Hope. Over 30 days, 10 News showed you 30 children. “This has been the most fruitful campaign that we’ve done since we started working with you guys on the 30 Days of Hope campaign,” said Emily Moore, DePaul Community Resources regional recruiter. If you have questions about foster care or adoption, contact DePaul Community Resources here. 10 News is profiling one child who needs a home every day at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. in 30 Days of Hope.

Christiansburg, Va. – The pandemic slowed many things down including local adoptions. Sadie Steele, an adoption specialist for DePaul Community Resources, said if anything, the adoption need increased over the last eight months. She helps local agencies finalize adoptions -- with paperwork, support and resources throughout the process. Steele says they’ve done more than 60 adoptions since March. The children are all ages and races and were put into foster care due to no fault of their own.

ROANOKE, Va. – There are other ways to help children in foster care other than bringing a child into your home. “This was about restoring hope and letting them know they matter to everybody in society,” said Sean Burch, Spirit of Unity Baptist Church Pastor who organized the donations after spending 18 years in foster care. They collected 600 suitcases that are being delivered to multiple foster care organizations that don’t have the budget for items like these. Reach out to your local social services department if you’re interested in helping. The children are all ages and races and were put into foster care due to no fault of their own.

ROANOKE, Va. – Roanoke City has one of the highest numbers of children in foster care but they also are doing the most adoptions in Virginia. “We were fortunate enough to be able to adopt our three boys through foster care,” said Amy Briscoe. I wish that we could have a story about how we didn’t have adoptions because we didn’t have children coming into foster care. Unfortunately, that’s just not the world we live in," said Carrie Guzman, a Roanoke City adoption specialist who worked on the Briscoe adoptions. The children are all ages and races and were put into foster care due to no fault of their own.

But thousands of children in Virginia are waiting for a permanent family to call their own instead of living in foster care. Right now, there are more than 700 children that can be adopted in Virginia. “We have a diverse group of children in foster care that need diverse foster families to meet their needs. There are more than 700 children who are ready for foster to adoption in Virginia. The children are all ages and races and were put into foster care due to no fault of their own.