Angels in - Pound Pup Legacy

Letter from the Director
Welcome everyone to the fifth annual Angels in
Adoption awards celebration. CCAI is
honored to be joining members of the United
States Congress and other distinguished guests in
celebrating this year’s Angel award recipients, the
“unsung heroes” for our world’s most vulnerable
children.
The Angels in Adoption banquet is the
culmination of a year-long public awareness campaign
organized to raise congressional and civic awareness
about the needs of U.S. foster children and orphans
worldwide. Each year, CCAI invites all members of the
United States Congress to select individuals from their
home states to receive this award. Since the program’s
inception in 1999, members of Congress have
awarded nearly 600 congressional Angels in
Adoption from all 50 states. Tonight, congressional
representatives, corporate executives, adoptive and
foster parents, adoptees, birth parents, government
officials, and child welfare professionals, have all come
together to celebrate those making permanent, loving,
and safe homes possible for fragile children. I am
amazed by the personal stories of dedication,
perseverance, and compassion detailed in each of the
2003 Angel stories and am pleased to recognize and
honor this year’s 160 congressional Angels in
Adoption and the national award recipients, Bruce
Willis and Muhammad and Lonnie Ali.
CCAI’s commitment to developing and maintaining
successful partnerships with governmental and
nongovernmental organizations has been effective and
rewarding. Throughout the year, our office has worked
closely with the Bureau of Citizenship and
Immigration, the U.S. Department of State, and the
White House to assist children and families in
addressing various adoption challenges in Vietnam,
China, Guatemala, Cambodia, Liberia, Romania, and
here at home.
We are committed to focusing attention on the
needs of the 550,000 foster children in this country,
and specifically the 134,000 of them waiting for
adoptive homes. CCAI has successfully partnered with
a number of other national organizations to raise
awareness about the needs of foster children, namely
through programs such as National Adoption Day,
which is a day in November organized to encourage
the adoption of waiting foster children and to
celebrate all adoptive families and the Congressional
Foster Youth Internship Program, which provides
former foster youths an opportunity to intern in
congressional offices. We are honored to have the
eight Congressional Foster Youth Interns here
celebrating with us tonight. The interns’ work
performance in each of the offices was outstanding,
with two intern’s work leading to permanent positions.
Working in collaboration with the more than 170
members of Congress who make up the Congressional
Coalition on Adoption, CCAI serves as an educational
resource to policymakers as they seek to draft positive
foster care and adoption-related legislation and to
meet their constituent’s needs. To that end, we
organize congressional briefings, meetings, and
receptions on Capitol Hill to provide congressional
representatives with relevant materials, resources, and
statistics. CCAI is a bi-partisan organization; and as a
result, does not endorse particular legislation.
Through our international program, CCAI
facilitates ongoing communication, adoption
education, and fact-finding trips between government
entities on an international scale. We often host
foreign dignitaries in Washington, DC and organize
meetings on Capitol Hill. In 2002, CCAI organized a
congressional delegation trip to the People’s Republic
of China; a trip with included a lengthy meeting with
President Jiang Zemin. In April 2003, CCAI organized a
second congressional trip to Romania and Russia, led
by Senator Mary Landrieu and Senator Larry Craig. In
Romania, the delegation was greeted by President Ion
Iliescu and Prime Minister Adrian Nastase. In all three
locations, the delegations met with legislative leaders
and major ministries to discuss child welfare policies
and practice; in addition, the delegates visited
orphanages and other child welfare institutions. While
in Romania, the delegation was particularly touched
by the children they visited, many of them with special
needs and infected with HIV/AIDS. I am pleased that
we have been joined tonight by a number of foreign
representatives from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe
who are responsible for the well-being of orphaned
children. On behalf of CCAI, I would like to thank
them for their care and work for these children.
In addition, I would like to express my heartfelt
appreciation to the CCAI staff for their work and
dedication, and for helping make the Angels in
Adoption awards celebration a success. To the CCAI
board of directors, thank you for your support and
devotion to the goals and mission of CCAI. Thanks to
all our sponsors, particularly the Freddie Mac
Foundation and Target Corporation, for supporting
our programs and showing your commitment to
eliminating the barriers that hinder children from
finding the families they so desire and deserve.
Enjoy your evening!
Kerry Marks Hasenbalg
Executive Director, CCAI
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