MUNCIE, Ind. – November is National Adoption Month, and programs like the Indiana Adoption Program and the Firefly organization here in Muncie make it their mission to find children a place to call home and a family to love them.
For one Muncie family, they were able to give a child a home she was always looking for.
Kyle and Trish Northcutt are a local family in Muncie and were looking to adopt for a long time until they decided to do it. After having two biological children of their own, they wanted to take in another child who needed a home.
They started looking at fostering, which later turned into adopting their daughter, Sammy.
The Northcutts knew that they could be the home and love that a child was waiting for, and opened it up in hopes of finding their final puzzle piece to the family.
“It’s such a neat thing, because you’re not only doing stuff for your family, but you’re giving a child the opportunity to have, but these, these kids, don’t have it. They don’t have a family. They don’t have somewhere they just can call home or know, they can 100% depend on to be there for them. And I think it’s, it’s a pretty big thing to be able to give somebody, and it’s very rewarding to get to do that.” Kyle Said.
Even though Sammy has Cerebral Palsy, that didn’t stop the Northcutts from knowing that Sammy was the final puzzle piece to their family.
“Adoption month, Sammy means that to me. I mean, she’s just amazing, she is absolutely incredible. She’s such a joy. We have learned so much more from her than she’ll ever learn from us. It’s just adoption is absolutely life-changing for everybody,” Trish said.
According to data from the public DCS dashboard, in the U.S., there are 330,000 kids in foster care, and about 71,000 are waiting to be adopted. The chances of being adopted when a child turns 10 drop by 50%. This is a huge drop, and it does affect children who are in adoption programs who are looking for a family.
If you or someone you know is looking to adopt, there are multiple programs in the state of Indiana that are willing to help. Adoption is a reminder that there are children out there who need a home that will love and accept them for who they are.
Contact Ava Lens with comments at ava.lens@bsu.edu.
