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CBS4's Upcoming 'A Day 4 Wednesday's Child' Event Highlights Adoption From Foster Care

DENVER (CBS4) - CBS4 has a long standing relationship with the Adoption Exchange. Each week, Britt Moreno profiles a child living in foster care who's eligible for adoption. Once a year, the station holds a day of giving, called A Day 4 Wednesday's Child. This year, A Day 4 Wednesday's Child is Wednesday, August 19th, and this year's may be more important than ever.

A Day For Wednesday's Child 2016
CBS4's Britt Moreno reports from the Heart Gallery at the state capitol (credit: CBS)

"It's so important this year and more than ever. Here in coronavirus world, one of the things we've all learned, and experienced, at a very personal level, is the power and the need and the impact of personal connection, and how important that is particularly for  children, and their development. And what we know is that children in foster care are already at a huge disadvantage for human connection. They have been removed from their home of origin, they're in temporary placement, sometimes multiple temporary placements, and they don't have that permanent home base of connection, that sometimes, right now, in coronavirus world, is the only connection people have. And so, the urgency of getting children, our youth in foster care, out of temporary situations and into permanent homes is so much more important right now, more than ever. Every moment that we wait in this coronavirus world to get these children into permanent and loving homes is that much more tragic, and that much harder for them to recover from," said Lauren Arnold, Executive Director of the Adoption Exchange.

The Adoption Exchange has been finding permanent homes for kids in foster care since 1981. In 2019, The Adoption Exchange served 368 youth, most of whom fall into the category of "hardest-to-place." The mission of the organization is to make lasting connections for youth, to support those connections after they're made, and create hope for Colorado's most vulnerable population.

"We believe at The Adoption Exchange that every young person deserves to go through life knowing they have a caring adult y their side, every single young person. And so, we show up every day, we talk to youth in foster care, we listen to their needs, and we connect them with those adults that they can rely on," Arnold told CBS4.

The Adoption Exchange has been doing this work for 37 years, but recently they've intensified their efforts, adding more recruiters, and more support services for families after adoption occurs.

A Day For Wednesday's Child
CBS4's Britt Moreno

"We set a bold and audacious goal, and we said, 'Can we do this more expensive program, but it's better and it works faster? Can we do that for every single child in Colorado?' And so, we worked in partnership with the Colorado Department of Human Services, every single county across the state, national philanthropy, local philanthropy, CBS4 viewers, and the wonderful people who've supported us through Day 4 Wednesday's Child, and we've been able to grow those programs, so we can do that great work," Arnold explained.

A Day 4 Wednesday's Child is August 19th, and there will be multiple ways to give, we'll have a phone bank taking donations, you can text to give, you can donate online. But there are also ways you can support the cause beyond A Day 4 Wednesday's Child, you can be a champion for the kids in foster care by talking about their plight to friends and family, you can invite others to get involved and watch Wednesday's Child each week on CBS4, and you can volunteer, you can be a mentor to a young person, or you can become a family for a child in foster care.

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