WANT TO BE ADOPTED?

 Please complete the adoptee application below for the primary family member with intellectual and developmental disabilities and all approved secondary family members in your household to give the donors plenty of gift ideas. 

Applying to be a recipient family for The Arc’s Adopt a Family program does not guarantee your selection. The Arc's decision regarding who is ultimately selected is up to its discretion due to the volume of applications, availability of donors, past program participation, and strict adherence to the adoptee requirements below. 

ADOPTEE REQUIREMENTS

1. The primary family member in your household must:
   a. must be a child under 21 with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) - autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, Down syndrome, etc.
   b. must live in Baltimore County or Baltimore City
   c. not be in the autism waiver or receive DDA services from another provider

2. The secondary members in your household can only be:
a. child-age siblings
b. parent / primary guardian of the primary family member

3. The adoptee gift item requests cannot exceed $30, but each family member can include higher-cost items in the wish list section of the form (but the adopters aren’t obligated to purchase those items) 

4. Families cannot request gift cards, but you can share the names of the stores where you shop or the restaurants where you like to eat. 

5. We will not accept incomplete applications and will no longer attempt to seek missing information from applicants (e.g., clothing sizes, interests, proof of disability, etc.). 

6. Families are ineligible to apply for our Adopt-a-Family program if they received a Family Fund grant within the last 12 months. 

7. Families will receive a blank thank you card and envelope for the adopter, along with their gifts, and must return it to The Arc by January 17, 2025.  

8. We encourage but don’t require families to share a photo of their family when they open their gifts, along with a testimonial to The Arc, so that we can share it with our donors. (Note: we do not use last names) 

Thank you to all those who adopted families or contributed financially to the Adopt-a-Family program this year. Together we reached 64 families with individualized gifts for every member in each family. Many also received food packages and grocery cards we purchased with the use of our Family Fund, and over Thanksgiving and the December holidays, we gave food and grocery gift cards to an additional 50+ households through our day and employment programs. All the families and individuals we reached were thrilled by the thought and care expressed by our gift buyers and contributors. Truly, the holidays were more meaningful for those who received as well as those who gave.

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