For many people December is a pursuit of finding things that give them joy and connection. Some may take comfort in traditions while others are forging new paths. And, frankly, for many it can be the height of a tough season. Whatever it looks like for you, we hope you know how thankful we are for our community.
On Your Feet Foundation is recognizing the holiday season by hosting a non-denominational holiday party. All birthmoms are welcome to attend (virtually) dressed as their favorite holiday character (or not, because we just want to see everyone. Pajamas are okay too!) for a chance to win raffle prizes. This virtual event is growing to become a treasured tradition as a safe space for everyone to “getaway to” during the month of December.
In addition, we are in a second year of offering a holiday assistance program. Staff, board, and donors have made it possible for birthparents to apply for assistance with their gift giving. This financial assistance is offered to birthparents who need a little help buying gifts for the children that they placed or children that they are parenting. We feel so fortunate to be able to help with both needs. This week, we placed orders to buy gifts, shipped directly to 50 children, hoping this brings joy and decreases financial stress for those families.
Often we are asked for resources that can serve as gifts for those within the adoption constellation. We offer a list below and wish everyone a cozy and fulfilling December. Next week, we will share some holiday self care tips from case manager, Jessica.
With Gratitude,
The Staff of On Your Feet Foundation
Gift Ideas
For Adults:
Our anniversary triad necklace sold by Virtu, benefitting On Your Feet Foundation. This necklace symbolizes the adoption triad, each triangular leaf representing the interrelated and inter-dependent relationship that exists between the three members of the triad: birthparents, adoptive parents and adoptees.
Grow, Flower, & Flourish: A Birthparent Journal. This therapeutic journal offers 52 weeks of prompts designed to help birthmoms tap in to their creativity and resilience and remember how to flourish in their own lives.
Finding Hope: A Birthmother's Journey Into the Light, Hope O. Baker
Flip the Script: Adult Adoptee Anthology, Diane René Christian, Amanda H.L. Transue-Woolston, et al.
All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir, Nicole Chung
American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption, Gabrielle Glaser
What White Parents Should Know about Transracial Adoption: An Adoptee's Perspective on Its History, Nuances, and Practices, Melissa Guida-Richards
Booth Girls: Pregnancy, Adoption, and the Secrets We Kept, Kim Heikkila
Growing Up Black in White, Kevin Hofmann
The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption, Kathryn Joyce
Look At You Now: How Keeping a Teenage Secret Changed My Life Forever, Liz Pryor
In Their Voices: Black Americans on Transracial Adoption, Rhonda M. Roorda
God and Jetfire: Confessions of a Birthmother, Amy Seek
In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories, Rita J. Simon and Rhonda M. Roorda
Redefining Family: A Birthmother's Path to Wholeness, A.K. Snyder
Adoption Through the Rearview Mirror: Learning from Stories of Heartache and Hope, Karen Springs
For Middle School+ Readers
You Don’t Know Me But I Know You, Rebecca Barrow
See No Color, Shannon Gibney
If Only, Jennifer Gilmore
The How and The Why, Cynthia Hand
The King of Slippery Falls, Sid Hite
For Black Girls Like Me, Mariama J. Lockington
The Inexplicable Logic of My Life,Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Swimming in the Monsoon Sea, Shyam Selvadurai
An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes, Randy Ribay
The Length of a String, Elissa Brent Weissman
For Children:
Sam’s Sister, Juliette C. Bond
What Makes A Family?, Hannah Bruner
The Story of My Open Adoption: A Storybook for Children Adopted at Birth, Leah Campbell
Tell Me Again About the Night I was Born, Jamie Lee Curtis
Coco and Olive: The Color of Love, Michelle Madrid-Branch
Growing Grace (written by a birthmom), Erin Mason
Motherbridge of Love by Xinran and Josee Masse
Twice as Tight (about a mama bird trying to find the perfect home for her baby), Kendall Schmitke
On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman
We are always looking for new adoption constellation book suggestions, so if you've read something recently that really resonated with you, please let us know so we can add it to our list!
