In 2013 we adopted our daughter from India. She had come from a very hard place. She was abandoned on the streets of New Delhi at age 2 and taken into an orphanage for over 2 years, where she had to survive unthinkable emotional and physical abuse and neglect. When we adopted her at age 4 1/2, we had no idea how badly those early life traumas would torment her, but they have made it virtually impossible for her to trust us enough to allow us to love her through it.
Now 14, her persistent and debilitating fear of abandonment (a key feature of her Reactive Attachment Disorder, or RAD) still plagues her – and our entire family – as the rejection she fears leads her to preemptively reject us, even after 10 years. Her anxieties result in that the only place she “feels safe” is in institutional settings where she feels in control of her level of vulnerability and where any relationships are superficial or transactional, with little expectation of reciprocity. She was diagnosed with RAD in 2020 and Borderline PD in 2022. Unfortunately, she has found her way into several inappropriate relationships with staff members at three different institutions (two of whom have been fired in her wake). She has proven herself to be extremely vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking. We are deeply worried for her long-term safety in these places. But even if we found a trustworthy one, our insurance benefit has now been fully exhausted.
She has been accepted at a Christian therapeutic boarding school we learned about through some other families who have enrolled their children with RAD there. They offer a two-year program in which she’ll have a Christ-centered experience that includes an education, functional life skills, as well as the counseling support she needs. Most importantly she’ll be immersed in a Christian environment where she’ll be reminded daily of her identity in Christ and the love God has for her and where, we pray, she will be able to receive it.
The cost is substantial, so we are reaching out for your help. We need $10,000 to get her in the door (including the enrollment fee, initial set up fee, and initial tuition. Then monthly tuition will be $3,050. Altogether, we need to raise $76,000 to cover the cost of this two-year program. (If she doesn’t complete the program in that time, she will not be kicked out, which is a great relief to us.)
We have again partnered with Lifesong for Orphans, who has very generously awarded us an $8,000 matching grant. (They did the same to help us bring her home from India 10 years ago! This organization gets it!) For every dollar you give, Lifesong will match it and provide you with a receipt for tax purposes.
We know times are tight for most of us these days, and there is no shortage of people needing help. We have tried to share enough of our situation that you can understand our true need, while trying to protect her story and her privacy too. It is such a tender, hard place to navigate.
You may not know us, but perhaps know the person sharing our story with you. It has been said it takes a village to raise a child. We are trusting God to work through our greater community and network, to help us provide His child the best opportunity we can to experience God’s love for her, to find her healing, and to learn to live a healthy, purposeful life.
We cannot thank you enough. We pray God blesses you many times over in return.
Michael & Aimee Hart
STRIPE charges an online processing fee (2.2% +.30 USD per transaction)*. Your donations will be decreased by this amount. You may also send a check payable to “Lifesong for Orphans”. In the memo line please write “Hart 90319”, to ensure it is credited to our account. Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 9, Gridley, IL 61744.
Lifesong has been blessed with partners who underwrite all U.S. administrative and fundraising costs (TMG Foundation and other partners). That means 100% of your donation will go directly to the adoption.
- In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong for Orphans. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.
- Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. Individual donations of $50 or more and yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $50 will gladly be sent upon request.
- *3.5% fee for donations given with an American Express card