Gift of Adoption Helps Families

Based in a Chicago suburb, Gift of Adoption was formed in 1996 by Lucy and Gene Wyka, who had adopted three children. They set up The Gift of Adoption Fund to help children get adopted. They turned it into a public charity, and now there are affiliate organizations that share its non-profit 501(c) 3 status. I just joined the Texas chapter, which is based in Dallas, and there are currently a total of 30 chapters:

For anyone that donates to a GOA Chapter, 100% of that donation is spent funding an adoption assistance grant in that state.

Those grants are quite interesting, as applicants apply for them. The types of adoptions can be domestic and range from private adoptions of infants to the adoption of young adults from 18 to 21 years old. They can be the adoptions of a relative or a foster care child too. For these domestic adoptions, the priority is to help keep children out of foster care (adoption by relatives or kinship), to reunite biological siblings or to prevent their separation and adoptions by relatives, kinship, or fictive kin adoptions (no blood relationship but a sharing of bonds). The organization also supports international adoptions that would unite or preserve biological siblings, that would prevent a child from aging out of an orphanage, that would help with special needs, that would help a child with a life-threatening disease or that would be an adoption by relatives, kins or fictive kins.

I was adopted in Texas as an infant, but I had never heard of Gift of Adoption until recently. I joined the Texas Chapter earlier this month:

I have contributed financially, and I will be working to help the Texas Chapter raise more money. I have spoken with the Director of Chapter Recruiting, Monica, who is based in North Carolina, and I have talked with Adam Pfiel, who runs the Texas Chapter.

I have seen the budget of the organization and the Texas Chapter, and Gift of Adoption is very efficient with very generous givers too. Its website states that it has contributed $25.2 million in adoption assistance grants for over 7200 children. I like that it is lowering the cost of adoption, which seems to be the largest barrier for many families. The annual report for 2025 showed that the organization had $6.16 million in total assets with $2.00 million in liabilities (no debt). It had revenue in 2025 of $5.71 million and total expenses of $4.99 million.

Adoption can help children, but it can also help the adults who adopt them. Many people who adopt children do so because they are unable or have been unable to have children naturally. I like that Gift of Adoption goes beyond just this group of people and focuses on getting children out of the foster care programs and keeping siblings together. The organization has grown and has helped so many families, but it has so much more that it can do as it continues to grow. I am glad to be part of it and pledge to help it continue to help families.