Bayside Resident Fights for Affordable Adoption to Break Cycles of Poverty

When Bayside Resident Fran Wallace heard on TV two years ago a story about two men killing a mother and her two children, she told her husband: "That's it. I'm doing something."

"I couldn’t cope with the idea that human beings could do something like that, and I thought, obviously these men weren’t loved as children," Wallace said. "We have to stop the cycle somehow."

So Wallace came upon the Gift of Adoption Fund, which was originally founded in 1996 by two Wisconsinites. The fund awards grants to families who are deemed caring and capable but cannot afford the full upfront cost of adoption, which can top $30,000.

"We help a lot of working class families who have enough love in their hearts and enough food to care for a child, but they don’t have the funds to make the adoption occur," said Wallace.

The organization helps families adopt locally, nationally and internationally, often from situations of extreme poverty.

"Some of these kids would have died if somebody wouldn’t have stepped up to the plate to adopt them," Wallace said.

Children from the U.S. often get caught in a revolving door of foster parents, some without their well-being at heart. 

"So many of these kids have never had a birthday party; they’ve never had special things," Wallace said. "Without human interaction, they do not thrive. These kids that have been adopted into families that love them, and kiss them, and feed them, and clothe them — they end up thriving."

Since its foundation, the Gift of Adoption Fund has granted $1.9 million to more than 650 families. One hundred percent of donations to the fund go directly to grants for families, Wallace said.

"Not everyone wants to adopt, but this is another way to help," Wallace said. "We have so much, it’s so important for us to give back. We are just so lucky to live where we live."

Tickets are still available for the organization's fundraising dinner tonight, for $150 per plate. Charlie Sykes will be emceeing the event at the Bradley Center. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Wallace at 414-350-6358 or fwallace@firstweber.com.

The Gift of Adoption Fund also accepts donations through their website, and takes volunteers.