The Nelms Family

Meet the Nelms family.  The Nelms family looks a lot like the Keller family.  Right now it's Tiffany.  Soon it will be Tiffany and "Pepe."  I "met" Tiffany in an online adoption group.  We've had lots of chats about adopting and parenting as a single mother.   Tiffany is still working on getting her profile set up with Reece's Rainbow.  However she has a profile on Give Forward to help raise upfront costs.  

Here is what her Give Forward Profile  has to say about Pepe:

Pepe is a very sweet 6 year old boy with special needs. The adoptive family needs help to raise the money to get him home!!

Pepe is a 6 year old from South America with special needs. He has an adoptive family identified, but they need help raising the $24,000 it will cost to complete his adoption. Due to his special needs his adoption needs to be completed as soon as possible.

If you would like additional information about Pepe, you can read about him on Reeces Rainbow orphan ministry website.

Due to restrictions of the country, his photo and real name cannot be made public.

Here is what Pepe's Profile says on Reece's Rainbow:

Boy, born 2006

Mental delays, coming from an indigenous community.

 As of this little boy’s report evaluation when he was five years and nine months old, he was thriving in his foster home with a foster mom and other children in that home unrelated to him. Pepe has been in this foster home since December of 2011 when he had lesions characterized as a form of erythema. Pepe belonged to an indigenous community but was removed because of his physical condition so that he could be available for adoption. Because of his indigenous background, this little boy will likely not be adopted within his country and for this reason is available for adoption internationally.

Pepe had 7 biological siblings but has not had any contact or relationship with them. This child was diagnosed with moderate mental delays and his report describes that his facial features resemble that of Down Syndrome. He was placed in adoption because he was being severely neglected and was in a poor physical state regarding his lack of good nutrition.

Pepe’s report from just before he turned 6 shows that he was at a low height and weight for his age and had poor communication skills. He is reported to have difficulty learning as characterized by his low concentration/attention abilities, low language ability, low expressive and comprehensive communication skills and delays in kinesthetic movement. He is reported to be easily confused by questions and does not answer questions at the level of other children his age.

Nevertheless, Pepe’s picture shows a very happy and engaging face. He reportedly loves animals and plays well with children who are younger than him. He also enjoys watching TV and playing ball, along with other fun activities that require movement. While frustration and inability to communicate can influence him to become aggressive at times, in general, Pepe is reported to be a very affectionate, caring, warm and good-natured little boy.

It absolutely breaks my heart that coming from an indigenous community is listed as a special need.  Unfortunately, that is enough to prevent him from being chosen by a national family.  

Can we encourage this great young woman?  It takes a lot of courage to adopt and even more to adopt as a single mother.  Tiffany has taken an extra job to pay as much as she possibly can on her own.  Like most of us, she's not used to asking for help.  So, I'll ask for her!  Even if you can't make a donation, head over to her blog and leave an ENCOURAGING comment.  Adoption is hard.  It's exhausting.  Encouragement and support are crucial---even when they come from complete strangers.

If you love adoption blogs like I do, you can follow her journey  here.  (I'll post the link as soon as she gets it going!)  

If you feel led to donate to this amazing family, you can make a donation here.   

If you want to purchase a hand-knit item to help with adoption costs, you can do that on my Scarves and Skirts for Sara page.  (50% of the price of the item will go to the Nelms family.)

Can you find a way to support this mom who is working so hard to get her son home?