Cradle of Hope Adoption Center gave Marcelle Brown plenty of hope. They also gave her two daughters, Whitney and Sydney.
To help give other parents hope, Brown hosted the annual Bridge of Hope summer party last month at Mansion House Yacht Club.
"I wanted to do what I could to help," said Brown. "We're grateful that Mansion House let us have the party."
Ever since 1997, Bridge of Hope has brought groups of older Russian orphans to the United States for a month in the summer. BOH children attend a local day camp near their host's home so they can swim, play games and have a typical American summer experience.
THE PROGRAM sponsors weekend cookouts, pool parties and other events that enable the children to stay in touch with friends from their orphanage and give host families the opportunity to share experiences. The goal is to let parents who are thinking about adopting an orphan, host the children in their homes.
"They can see how they interact with siblings, and if there are language issues and medical problems," said Brown.
About a hundred people, including the 13 local families who were host families, attended the party at Mansion House.
While not all children are adopted by their host families, Brown thought that the success rate of matches was very high. Coordinator Stephanie McDermott said that the success rate was about 93 percent, and said, "Our hope is that host families will be able to adopt, but there are usually still two to three children who are available for adoption. The party is a good chance for others to meet the children. It's also a good chance for prospective adoptive parents to talk to parents who have adopted before."
Like Marcelle Brown, who tells parents how wonderful the program is. "It's just phenomenal," she said. "Usually by the end of the five weeks, the parents are crazy about the kids."
Many of them have already started paperwork for the adoption, and Brown said, that if all goes smoothly, some of the children will be here for Christmas.
For more information, call 301-587-4400, or visit www.bridgeofhope.cc.