Support Downey Side by Purchasing a Christmas Ornament.

Help support Downey Side’s mission of finding homes for kids in foster care by purchasing a Christmas ornament. You can keep it as a keepsake or give it as a gift. Click here to purchase.

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Celebrating National Adoption Month

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Broadening teenagers’ horizons through extended family It’s National Adoption Month and this year the focus is on teens. Teenagers make up almost one quarter of the children in the foster care system.  Many teens in foster care develop a sense of hopelessness. They see themselves aging out of the system without good prospects—and the stats […]

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Our Annual Casino Gala Fundraiser was a success!

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Summer officially started with the Downey Side Gala on June 22. While the weather wasn’t especially warm, the atmosphere inside Spring Lake Manor in New Jersey certainly was. Over 180 people came to our 20th annual event celebrating our mission of building forever families. The volunteer gala committee, led by Sr. Liz Engel, went above […]

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May is National Foster Care Month.

Getting school-age kids out of foster care May is National Foster Care Month, a good time to reflect on Downey Side’s long relationship with foster care. After all, foster care is where our kids come from and that’s true for around two-thirds of all adoptions in the US.    It’s never a child’s fault that […]

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Our Adoption Journey

All adoptions are an emotional roller coaster. But there’s something especially moving about how the Scull family in New Jersey adopted their two teenage daughters. Now you can read about their unique journey in the words of adoptive mother Lesli Scull.  Brett and I have always been interested in adoption. We raised our two biological […]

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National Adoption Month — How you can help

It’s National Adoption Month. But you don’t have to adopt a child to help out. (Of course, it’s beyond wonderful if you can.) Anything you do to support Downey Side’s mission is an enormous contribution. Because Downey Side is a lean, truly grassroots organization, however you choose to participate has an outsized impact. In fact, […]

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Why teens and tweens?

“And I could hear the system’s clock ticking. I knew that the older I got the less likely I would be adopted. Everyone wants cute. Everyone wants a blank slate. And as my case file began to overflow with problems, I could feel my value shift.” — Story of Tim McAdam* in America’s Youngest Hostages,  […]

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Remembering Father Paul Engel

Remembering Father Paul Engel Wake: Thursday, May 26, 2022 3:00 – 8:00 PM Whalen and Ball Funeral Home, Yonkers, NY   Funeral: Friday, May 27, 2022 11:00 AM Sacred Heart Church, Yonkers, NY https://sacredheartyonkers.org His funeral on Friday May 27 will be Live Streamed https://evt.live/fr-paul-engel   Memorial Mass: Saturday, June 11, 2022 11:00 AM Sacred […]

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Visibility for Foster Youth 

We saw this wonderful article from the Oregonian Newspaper and received permission to share! DEAR ANNIE(R)  BY ANNIE LANE  FOR RELEASE: MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2022  Visibility for Foster Youth  Dear Annie: Something not spoken about regarding oppression, disadvantages and privilege is the privilege people have when they have family.  I grew up in foster care, […]

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Adoption Done Right

Adoption Done Right By Br. Terry Taffe ofm Cap. & Ian Keldoulis   Adoption, done properly, yields miracles. Adoption, done improperly, frequently leads to disappointment for potential parents and ongoing misery for children in foster care. So, what’s the surest path to take? Downey Side’s fifty-plus years of experience creating forever families makes us uniquely […]

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