Every child should be chosen and dearly loved. Of that there should be no doubt. Yet for orphans with special needs, the chances of finding a forever family are slim.
A recent federal survey shows that 25 percent of adults in the United States consider adopting, yet only 2 percent follow through.
And of that 2 percent, most are interested in adopting only healthy children, having convinced themselves it is too costly or too difficult to raise a child with physical or developmental challenges.
By founding , Mike and Mandy Gallagher have made it their life’s work to change that.
The nonprofit based in Denver was born from the joy that special-needs adoption has brought to their family. Its mission is to eradicate what the Gallaghers describe as “the orphan crisis” and to prove that special-needs kids are “worth the risk, worth the sacrifice, worth the investment.”
Their family of six includes three biological children — Emily, 14; Matthew, 12; and John David, 8 — and three who were adopted.
Hannah, who is Chinese, was born in the United States with spina bifida and club feet. She was 3 months old at the time of her adoption, having been abandoned by parents who wanted a child, but not one with special needs.
Twins Eli and Ellie are from Uganda, born to a mother who was dying of AIDS.
“Special needs don’t define our children, and they don’t hinder us as a family,” Mike Gallagher noted at the Chosen & Dearly Loved Foundation’s inaugural fundraising luncheon Nov. 19 in the Seawell Grand Ballroom. “If anything, they draw us closer and make us more compassionate, understanding and grateful.”
Mike — son of Gallagher Industries founder Charlie Gallagher and his wife, Diane — is the chairman of Educational Outfitters and the volunteer president of Chosen & Dearly Loved.
Mandy did not attend the luncheon because she and the children were in Chicago, where Hannah, 6, is being prepped for a prosthesis following the Oct. 1 amputation of her left foot.
The amputation was performed after multiple other corrective surgeries and will better enable her to walk.
In a video shown at the luncheon, Mandy shared how deeply she was affected, several years ago, when she learned how millions of special-needs orphans worldwide were being abandoned, shunned — even dumped in the trash — because they were born with conditions that range from, but are not limited to, hydrocephalus and HIV to cleft lip and brachial plexus palsy.
After much discussion, and prayer, Mandy and Mike decided to take “a step of love” and adopt. Starting with Hannah, “We went from three (children) to four to six in what seemed like overnight,” Mandy said.
“Without a doubt, it’s been worth it,” Mike added. “It’s a privilege and a gift to be a father to kids who don’t have one.”
In the five years it took to establish Chosen & Dearly Loved, the Gallaghers and their leadership team worked to define and implement four impact areas for work in Uganda, Cambodia, India, Sudan and the United States:
• Adoption grants, where gifts of up to $5,000 are awarded to help with adoption expenses.
• Family Support, which offers training, regional events and a mobile app, all with the goal of building ongoing adoptive communities that help adoptive families thrive.
• Advocacy, where media, speaking and awareness campaigns spur more families considering adoption to move forward and adopt.
• Global Care, an effort to keep families intact by offering training and respite care to the birth parents of special-needs children.
In the past year, the Chosen & Dearly Loved Foundation has made it possible for 40 children to be adopted by families in the United States.
In addition, 219 special-needs children were adopted by families in the children’s native communities. And, the Global Care initiative was successful in keeping 100 special-needs children with their birth families.
James Snook, former vice president of emerging platforms and innovations for Starbucks, and his wife, Millie, are directors of the foundation; Anne and Dr. Kim Ryan train and oversee hundreds of local leaders in India and Cambodia; Catherine Theriault leads the Adoption Grants and Family Support initiatives; David Enge is in charge of communications; and Israel Garcia heads the media advocacy effort.
The luncheon’s $50,000 premier hosts were Bill Coors and Diane and Charlie Gallagher.
Phil and Nancy Anschutz, Cathy and Alex Cranberg, Caryn and Brian Deevy, Lorie and Henry Gordon, Carol and John Saeman and Sharon and Lanny Martin were among the $25,000 hosts.
Other supporters included Ashley and Peyton Manning, Jack Vickers, Nancy and John Sevo, Pam and Ed Diamond, Carol and George Solich and Stanton Dodge
“As our family of supporters grows,” Mike said, “we are excited to help more orphans with special needs know what it means to be chosen and dearly loved sons and daughters.”
Learn more by visiting chosenanddearlyloved.org or by calling 303-595-7755.
