Michelle Daray

Michelle Daray's Fundraiser

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$3,100 towards $3,000

We are fundraising to support families like ours.

Join me in supporting real change. Let’s support good in the world and make a difference for Transracial Journeys.

Hi all,

This year we want to do something that will have a big impact for families like ours by helping to ensure the future of Transracial Journeys. I am reaching out to ask for your support to help make post-adoption services available to more families touched by transracial adoption.

With the best interests of transracially adopted persons at the center, Transracial Journeys (TRJ) provides post-adoption support for families where the parents are a different race than the Black and Brown children entrusted to them.

I know first-hand how limited post-adoption resources are for families. And even though transracial adoption is prevalent (nearly 30% of all US adoptions and growing), less than 2% of transracially adopted Black and Brown children receive post-adoption services. Coupled with the challenges inherent in any adoption, the presence of race and culture differences presents additional complexity for transracially adoptive families. As a result, parents are often ill-equipped to handle these multi-layered challenges and children don't receive the support they need for healthy identity development.

In our own attempts to support our Black daughter we started attending camp in 2015. Transracial Journeys has helped our family in so many ways. It has changed how we parent and navigate the world together.

Now, we look forward to TRJ’s family camp each August. Here, we spend 4 days surrounded by families that look a lot like ours. Transracially adoptive parents spend our days in workshops meant to help us think critically and constructively about how to better support our children and confront racism. Our Black and Brown children–along with their white siblings–spend their days in a balance of typical summer camp activities and age-appropriate group discussions led by camp counselors and staff with firsthand experiences of being transracially adopted. It’s an unparalleled opportunity for us to learn from and challenge one another, grow from our experiences, and support each other.

That's why we created a fundraiser to support Transracial Journeys and their fall annual campaign to “Lift Every Voice and Sing!” This campaign will enable Transracial Journeys to:

  1. Widen the circle to include more families–particularly those with financial barriers to participation,
  2. Provide additional tools for families to navigate differences of race and culture,
  3. Ensure the ability to pay a fair wage to staff,
  4. Expand programming for transracially adopted youth throughout the year, and
  5. Increase engagement with transracially adopted adults during the year culminating in their involvement as camp counselors and staff.

“Lift Every Voice and Sing!” aims to transform Transracial Journeys from a predominantly volunteer-driven effort into a more sustainable organization that can provide year-round learning and growth opportunities for transracially adopted children, transracially adopted staff, and adoptive parents.

Your help will pave the way for Black and Brown transracially adopted children and young adults to be unapologetically themselves, experiencing uniquely supportive spaces to grow and find their places in the world. You are equipping adoptive parents with the knowledge, confidence, and language to actively commit to the deep work needed to support their children and disrupt racism.

Check out our fundraising page and please consider making a donation to help us reach our goal of $3,000.

Give today.

Giving online is easy and fast, and your support will make a real difference.

With much love and appreciation,

Steve, Michelle and Chelsea