9 Colombian Kids Visit Loudoun Seeking Adoption

Forty-three older orphans and children in foster care from Colombia will visit the United States, and nine will stay in the DC region for five weeks.

Kidsave, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, works to help older kids in foster care and orphanages find families and lasting connections with caring adults. Summer Miracles, Kidsave’s international hosting program, brings children who have little chance of finding an adoptive family in their home country to the United States.

The goal of the hosting program is to find these older children a forever home. Since 1999, 80% of the children who traveled with Summer Miracles have found adoptive families, according to Kidsave. The ages of the kids traveling this summer range from 9-16.

Virginia takes first place in the country for the worst percent of children who age out of foster care without being adopted, according to the Children’s Home Society of Virginia, a non-profit adoption service. According to Washington state-based Partners For Our Children, teenagers account for less than 10% of all adoptions, leaving many older foster care and orphanage children without a home or family and leaving them vulnerable as they enter adulthood. This age range is at great risk for homelessness and unemployment, and many fall victims to crime, trafficking and incarceration, according to Kidsave.

Mary Buelow and Nate Messer are Loudoun County residents who are hosting siblings, 11-year-old Krista and 13-year-old Jean. Kidsave describes Krista as a committed student with an upbeat attitude, and Jean as a passionate, charismatic, and responsible teenager.

“These are good kids, they just have had unfortunate circumstances. Sadly, they have no family of their own,” Messer said.

Buelow and Messer have been looking into adoption for quite some time, and said they can’t wait to spend the summer with Krista and Jean right here in Loudoun County.

“We are super excited! We met them on a Zoom call and had fun getting to know the girls,” Buelow said.

After the five weeks in the United States, the 43 children will return to Colombia. Once children leave, families interested in adopting work with adoption agencies who are accredited to work in Colombia to start the process.

“The biggest thing is finding homes for these kids who may not have another opportunity to find a family. Older child adoption has a pretty low success rate, and a lot of these kids end up aging out of the system which has terrible consequences. Kidsave changes the future for these kids,” Buelow said.

Kidsave local volunteer community coordinators and families have helped organize events like pizza parties, cookie decorating and arts and crafts while the Colombian foster care children are in the U.S. To find an event, visit kidsave.org/events. For more information on Kidsave visit kidsave.org.

Olivia Ausnehmer is a rising junior at Penn State interning at Loudoun Now.

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