The Extra Mile

[suebee]

In talking with some forum buddies, I was reminded of instances where Abrazo has gone the extra mile. We all know adoption is not a 9 to 5 job, but the Abrazo chicks seem to work round the clock. And once you adopt or place with Abrazo, you are not just a client, you are family.

Are they perfect? no. Will you experience frustration in your journey? yes. But they are experienced, and they know what they are doing. They have a wealth of compassion for moms (and dads) who make the choice to place. And, though it may not be welcome at the time, they have a great deal of wisdom and experience to offer those who are hoping to adopt.

Here is a place to "toot their horn" and share your experiences of when Abrazo has gone the extra mile with you in your journey.

[Melanie]

Thanks, Susan for starting this topic. What an awesome idea!! All of the Abrazo staff have been wonderful to me and my family in both of our adoption journeys. Audra was so sweet to come to our hotel room late Friday afternoon(May 8th) in order for this mommy to make it back home to spend Mother's Day with BOTH of her children this year!!

This is but one incidence of the amazing sacrifice all the Abrazo Ladies make on a daily basis on all of our behalfs. I have the greatest love and respect for each of them!!

Love,

Melanie

[Tonycpa and Linda]

Susan, Words well said. All I can say is through our adoption Journey throught the Ups and Down we now have our 6+ year old girl and 3+ year old boy. Thank you Abrazo for helping make many dreams come true and making us all aware that Open Adoption is the only way.

For those of you looking for an Agency with a heart and finding a family for life. Stop here.

[karen&scott]

Susan, love this topic! Gosh, I could fill up pages of this thread with caring countless hours of work the Abrazo chicks put into making our adoptions happen. Believe me, they are there "for you" when the time comes. That's important for all parents in waiting to know and believe!

I am somewhat privey to some of what's gone on this past weekend, the Abrazo chicks are making my head spin, covering South Texas, all for the love of what they do and the children and parents they bring together!

Abrazo is like a well oiled machine that can speed up or slow down, depending on the needs of their clients. And this machine never stops, it's working 24 hours a day.

Go Chicks!

Karen

[melissamerritt]

I love, love this topic!!

Abrazo has been wonderful to us through the years. When we first came to them over seven years ago, we were scared of the whole adoption process, but they encouraged us to learn all we could about adoption.

After we adopted Grace Ann we began to look at agencies closer to home. We even worked to get another a well known agency opened in our hometown. During that time, I was afraid we would get shunned etc, but we continued to receive messages of hope and even a few calls with prospective birthmoms.

Once we came back home, we were welcomed with open arms. Abrazo was truly wonderful to our son's birthmom before, during and after placement. The girls went the extra mile to show her the love and friendship she needed, which spoke volumes to us. She did not have a lot of support from her friends but the ladies of Abrazo were there for her whatever her final decision might be.

I could go on and on about Abrazo and do on many occasions.

[S&P Express]

I have 2 different examples that I was going to use to show how they go the extra mile!

Match/Placement

Our match/placement, on how Elizabeth was our guardian angel that day. From checking with us throught out the night, we orginally got the call at 6 pm on Tuesday before Thanksgiving of McKenna's case. Elizabeth checked in with us many times that night, checking to see if we had any questions about the case and to see how we were doing. I remember the last PM that we received from Elizabeth was at 1 AM, telling us to get some sleep !!!

Then our placement was a rough one, Mama Anna had so many emotions and ended up expressing them to me. My thought at the time was to put myself in her shoes and how would I act? Elizabeth was AWESOME, she was able to difuse the situation the best that she could.

Daddy Edurado

The next example was 2 years ago when Daddy Edurado was killed. Angela was watching the nightly news and thought she recognized the name. She got in the next morning and started to research to make sure it was him. After finding out it was, she found out what the arrangements were and she had the task to call us.

I believe things happen for a reason, we were on our way to Camp Abrazo and we had a delay in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. We were in a panic, what do we do? We decided that we needed to attend the visitation and Rosary service. We caught our next flight and raced to the office, (we had to stop at Target to get a polo for Scott since we didn't have clothes, we had shorts and t-shirts).

The Abrazo chicks were amazing, everyone who was working went with us to the service. Remind you this is camp weekend and there was a lot to do!

We had no idea what we were walking into that day. How would Mama Anna react to us? Does his family know about McKenna? We found out quickly that the family had no idea about McKenna. We were so happy that the chicks were there with us on that day. The family was so greatful that we were there.

We are so greatful of Abrazo, what agency would make us feel like part of the family? If we were at another agency would they go with us to the memorial service? We are so thankful that we are with Abrazo! The chicks rock!!

Paula & Scott

[dbernados]

Like everyone else has said I could go on and on about the ladies of Abrazo but the most recent thing that stands out to me was when we came to San Antonio to finalize Gavin's adoption. It was just after Camp Abrazo and of course the ladies were off on the following Monday which was when we finalized. Audra came to the court house to meet us even though she was techincally off from work. She went the extra mile to let us know that we were important and that she cared.

Thanks Abrazo for all you do!

Donna

[kristal]

When I was pregnant I moved into the housing provided by them four hours away from anyone I knew, and shortly after wards was put on bed rest. I was very lonely and Renee took me out to eat and out to paint pottery (on weekends I might add) I was never comfortable going to my doctors appointments alone so one time when Mike couldn't make it, Pamela came with me. After placement I had a really hard time and Elizabeth arranged for me to have extra counseling (outside of the normal 6 weeks where they still help you out.) To this day I know if I needed someone to talk to that they would be just a phone call away.

I read stories about other women's adoption process and I'm appalled that the things other agencies do aren't down right illegal! I have to agree that the ladies aren't perfect, but that they really do try. From a placing parents perspective I think adoption can be a horrible thing, but I am glad that Abrazo is out there to make it a littler bit easier, a lot more compassionate, and much more open.

[Felicia]

Well, my husband and I did not actually work with the Abrazo ladies (we were in the process of gathering the necessary documents for our formal application when we had a surprise match and birth closer to home) but I do want to share my appreciation of this forum and the time and energy that Abrazo obviously devotes to it. I am primarily a ' lurker' as Elizabeth would say, but I have found so many of the topics and past posts very educational and thought-provoking. The forum helped me through failed matches, helped me better understand the complexities of open adoption, and is helping me traverse the new waters of building a strong relationship with my son's birthmother. Abrazo's dedication to the people they work with is evident even through the forum, as is their dedication to open adoption.