Note: This holiday season, in lieu of a traditional holiday gift guide, we'll be featuring a different LGBT organization each day for our "30 Days Of LGBT Giving." Check back tomorrow for a look at another incredible group that's working tirelessly on behalf of the LGBT community.
"Let love define family."
That's what RaiseAChild.US believes in and promotes. And for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people looking to start a family, RaiseAChild is there to help prospective parents identify an appropriate adoption agency that has earned an "All Children –-- All Families" seal from the Human Rights Campaign. The partnership between the two LGBT organizations began in 2007 and involves HRC training adoption agencies on how to deal with the LGBT community.
What started as a passion project in Los Angeles is now expanding to three other regions, including Orange County, the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. RaiseAChild's main, up-front focus is running media campaigns, which include streetlight banners and public transportation advertisements, "to encourage the LGBT community to build families through fostering and adoption."
According to The Williams Institute, a part of the UCLA School of Law that researches sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy, 41 percent of lesbians and 52 percent of gay men have considered adoption and according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there were over 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system at the end of September 2010. These statistics are partly what drive RaiseAChild's inspiring campaigns.
If you're interested in learning more about RaiseAChild.US, how you can help and about the foster or adoption process, be sure to check out their website and find them on Facebook and Twitter @RaiseAChild.
Before You Go
