Ruth is a 13 year old girl who was adopted from an orphanage in Ukraine as a child. She is smart, has a wonderful laugh and smile, and enjoys food and cooking. One of her favorite activities are Friday family nights where she enjoys watching a movie and eating snacks with her adoptive family. Ruth is dearly loved, but suffers from several conditions that developed early on as a result of trauma. These can make Ruth difficult to be around with secondary trauma absorbed by the rest of her family.
We are fundraising to support Ruth's healing in a Christian setting. She is currently at a Chrisitan group home for girls thanks to your generous donations! In addition to private donations, this includes a $12,000 matching grant administered by the Lifesong Adoption Counseling Fund. Private group homes cost thousands of dollars per month.
To truly understand Ruth’s story, one must go back in time to the beginning, to Ukraine–her birth country. While many reading this have probably had a loving mom to attach to who has taken care of them through both good times and bad, this was not the hand Ruth was dealt. As an infant, those Ruth relied on most would generally fail her. The mortherly attachment you and I often take for granted is something Ruth has never had the joy of experiencing.
Ruth now lives in the United States here in Minnesota. Adopted from Ukraine in 2018, this girl has become a cherished daughter with a family of her own. Sometimes love is simply not enough, however, to overcome such a rough start in life. While Ruth is loved, it is hard for her to love and cherish back. In fact, it often works the other way in kids with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). Kids and teens like Ruth are traumatized by the thought of losing their mothers all over again, even if they don’t have memories of their biological moms from early on. The brain still remembers and is wired to react negatively to the love of a family. Negative attention is sought, and rather than the danger of love and attachment, children with RAD most often choose sabotage and ways to disrupt attachment. This can impact all areas of their lives, even with those outside the family given enough time.
Ruth can be funny, is good with language, and is very bright. She loves to cook and eat. She tends to crave food and steal it since she did not get enough early on when she and her siblings were taken from their birth mom who then disappeared. Ruth is a wonderful girl, but has trouble showing it within a family.
This is who we are fundraising for today, that she can work on these things in safer and more controllled settings that can better care for her needs. We are not fully sure what that all looks like yet, but we are desperately trying. Ruth is currently in a private gourp home for girls in a program that lasts 12-18 months. The cost isn’t cheap.
We’ll share more as we navigate this journey with Ruth and are thankful for your prayers!
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 “Baerbock 90739”, 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.
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