Adoption Network Cleveland

💛 You are not alone on this journey. If you're a birth mother navigating the emotions that come with placing your child for adoption, there's a space made just for you. Adoption Network Cleveland's Birth Mother Support Group is a free, virtual gathering where women at every stage of this lifelong journey come together to share, heal, and support one another. ✨ No judgment. No pressure. Just understanding from women who truly get it. 🗓 First Wednesday of every month - Next meeting is October 7 🕖 7–9 PM ET | Via Zoom 👩💻 Free & open to all birth mothers Meetings are led by trained volunteer facilitators Lindsey and Nikki. This group is a complement to — not a replacement for — therapy, focusing on the emotional heart of your experience. 📋 Registration required — https://ow.ly/bLYQ50ZPI8b #BirthMotherSupport #VoicesOfAdoption #YouAreNotAlone #AdoptionNetCLE #LifeLongJourney #HealingJourney #VirtualSupport

It's THANK YOU THURSDAY! Join us in 👏👏👏 for our Corporate Partner Vantage Financial! We are so grateful for their partnership and support 🤩. Interested in learning more about our Corporate Partners program? Connect with Sarah at sarah.wolf@adoptionnetwork.org or visit https://ow.ly/XEE650ZIsya

Join us next week for our monthly Family Ties Gathering on Thursday, October 8 at 6:00 pm. 🍽️ Dinner, connection, and a little breathing room — for the whole family. Parenting through adoption, foster care and kinship care can be a complicated journey. Adoption Network Cleveland's Family Ties Gathering is a monthly evening where families come together, share a meal, and then break into supportive groups designed just for each member of your family. For parents and caregivers — an open, supportive discussion with others who truly get it, facilitated by Adoption Network Cleveland staff. For teens — a peer support group led by ANC staff, a space to connect with others who share their experience. For younger kids — structured, engaging activities including yoga and mindfulness. No one has to sit this one out. Family Ties is for everyone. 🗓 2nd Thursday of every month 🍽️ Dinner included 👨👩👧👦 For the whole family📋 Register → https://ow.ly/nK4t50ZPIl9 #AdoptiveFamily #FosterCare #Kinship #AdoptionNetCLE #SupportGroup

📌We hope you can join us for our October programs and meetings! 📌 📆Check out our calendar here: https://ow.ly/V9QN50Z3iuc

Reconnecting the Dots to Family and Self with Tiana Hawver Join us on Monday, October 5 at 8pm ET -- all are welcome! ABOUT THIS PRESENTATION: At four months old, Tiana was adopted by a white couple. It was 1971, and the couple wanted a child that would have been considered hard to place. At that time, that meant a healthy, Black infant. While reunification with birth family wasn’t something that Tiana had considered, in 2018 she received a phone call from a confidential intermediary telling her that her birth mother had petitioned the court to find her. That phone call started a journey towards reconnecting with family—birth parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and more. It also brought to the forefront the trauma and abandonment of being separated from family that are part of the experience for adoptees. Tiana shares her story of reconnecting not only to family, but also discovering who she truly is at her core. This program will take place virtually (via Zoom) on Monday, October 19 from 8pm-9pm ET. It is free to attend but will require advanced registration in order to receive the link. Sign up here: https://ow.ly/cN4W50ZOsW2 All of our Monday Evening Speakers Series talks are posted to our YouTube channel after the fact, so you can always revisit (or watch for the first time!) these meaningful discussions. Learn more and access past talks here: https://ow.ly/9UOa50ZOsW1

💙Membership Matters at Adoption Network Cleveland💙 Opting to become one of our Members annually is an easy way to show your support for the programs and services we provide at mostly free or very low cost to the unique community we serve. And don't forget -- Membership has its PERKS: ⭐Borrowing privileges to our Resource Library of books and movies ⭐Knowing you are part of a community larger than yourself ⭐A voice in public policy issues affecting adoption and child welfare via our advocacy ⭐Membership/Benefits with a corporate partner, Century Federal Credit Union ⭐Priority registration on Family Social events with limited registration ⭐Subscription to our Hub newsletter We also offer several different Membership options -- choose the one that works best for you! Learn more and get signed up (or renewed) here: https://ow.ly/ZwL050Z0oTx

Join us Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET for our DNA Discovery Support Group, facilitated by Oliver and M.C. If you have either found family using commercial DNA testing or been found by family who used commercial DNA testing, then this group is for you. You do not need to have a formal adoption connection to be in this group, but you do need to have a DNA discovery for this group to be relevant to you. Finding family or being found - whether you are looking or not - is a major life event. It can upend long-held beliefs about ourselves and challenge the very things that make us feel like, well..., ourselves. Things like biological parentage, ethnicity, religion, birth order, just to name a few. There are also a myriad of reactions from those who have either unexpectedly found us or to the news that we have found them. Sometimes those reactions are not what we had hoped for, or what we anticipated. It can all be very overwhelming. This group will focus on supporting each other during and after such DNA discoveries. These are not one-time events; they are lifelong journeys. Pre-registration is required: https://ow.ly/ERsQ50ZPI0w

🟠Torn from the Root: A Memoir of a Black Transracial Adoptee with Rhonda Roorda 🟠 We are so happy to welcome Rhonda to our Monday Evening Speaker Series! Join us on Monday, October 19 at 8pm ET -- all are welcome! ABOUT THIS PRESENTATION: As a Black child adopted out of the New York foster care system as a toddler and raised by white evangelical parents, Rhonda Roorda had to learn how to walk in two different worlds. She often questioned “whether my skin was too dark” and if she “acted too white.” She recalls being haunted by feelings of shame and not being enough. Torn from the Root is her illuminating story of identity, belonging, and purpose and lays bare the deep pain she felt navigating life as a vulnerable Black girl and how she healed herself. 📍This program will take place virtually (via Zoom) on Monday, October 19 from 8pm-9pm ET. It is free to attend but will require advanced registration in order to receive the link. Sign up here: https://ow.ly/an5g50ZMH2h 👉All of our Monday Evening Speakers Series talks are posted to our YouTube channel after the fact, so you can always revisit (or watch for the first time!) these meaningful discussions. Learn more and access past talks here: https://ow.ly/pfch50ZMH2i

Ever been blindsided by a feeling you didn't see coming? 💥 Emotional landmines can show up anywhere: a birthday, a medical form, a passing comment, a holiday. For many people impacted by adoption, foster care, kinship care, or DNA discoveries, navigating them are a part of the journey. Join us for a special in-person general discussion meeting on Emotional Landmines, facilitated by Kim and Amy. 🗓 Wednesday, October 14, 2026 🕕 6:30-8:30 pm 📍 In-Person at Adoption Network Cleveland, 2592 West 14th St., Cleveland, OH 44113 This is a safe place to share your feelings and experiences, get support from your peers, and learn from other perspectives. All are welcome, including adult adoptees, birth parents, siblings, adoptive parents, those who have experienced foster or kinship care, and those with DNA discoveries such as misattributed parentage or donor conception. Professionals are welcome too, to learn from the shared perspectives of our community. 💛 You don't have to navigate this alone. Learn more and register at: https://ow.ly/5vA050ZPS7H #AdoptionNetworkCle #AdoptionSupport #AdopteeVoices #BirthParents #AdoptiveFamilies #FosterCare #KinshipCare #DNADiscovery #PeerSupport #CLE

CHEERS to our friends at Southern Tier Brewing Company for crafting a LIMITED EDITION beer in honor of our Over The Edge urban rappelling event. Southern Tier will donate $1 per Over The Edge beer sold to Adoption Network Cleveland. Ask for it by name! Supply is limited -- give it a try before it's gone! 💙🍻 Southern Tier Brewery is located in Downtown Cleveland at 811 Prospect Ave E, Cleveland, OH 44115. For hours and additional information, visit https://ow.ly/G05T50ZSjKG