THE FRIENDS OF PHIL FOUNDATION donation site

July 2009

THE FRIENDS OF PHIL FOUNDATION

Phil's Friends

In March 2007, Adoption Advocates International opened Opportunity House, a home for children with special needs in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. For some time, Merrily Ripley (Executive Director of AAI) and Gail Gorfe (Ethiopia Adoption Coordinator) have been concerned about the babies and young children referred to AAI for adoptive placement who have serious delays or physical problems. It is often more challenging to find adoptive families for these children, and there are limited resources available within Ethiopia to support special needs children.

Merrily and Gail conceived of a small children’s home that would assist special needs children referred for adoptive placement, as well as special needs children within the Addis Ababa community, to develop social, emotional, and educational competence.

An adoptive family assisted AAI to apply for a grant from the Margaret T. Biddle Foundation in December 2006. The grant was awarded and provided for startup costs as well as operation expenses for the first year.

The children at Opportunity House have a variety of special needs including autism, blindness, deafness, and developmental delays. After three months of operation, each of the children have demonstrated progress. The staff of Opportunity House will continue to receive ongoing training to maximize the quality of care provided.