To raise a child from
another culture demands a special commitment from adoptive parents to respect and nurture their children's birth heritage.
Adoptive parents must always remember that:
- Our children did not choose
to be removed from their countries, languages, cultures or genetic ties
- We therefore hold their ethnic, linguistic, cultural and genetic identities in trust
- We need the help of their ethnic communities to teach them their culture and to help them develop
healthy, realistic identities
- We must therefore develop
lasting connections with those communities
- We must
also protect the information that may one day lead them to members of their first families
An Intercountry Adoptive Parent's Bill of Responsibilities
Copyright © 2004 Korean Focus.
Adapted from Liza Steinberg
Trigg's A Transracially Adopted Child's Bill of Rights and A Bill of Rights for Mixed Folks by Marilyn Blake Drame.
Mission and Programs
Korean
Focus helps adoptive and multiethnic Korean American families develop an appreciation of the rich heritage of Korea and the
contributions of Korean Americans to American culture by offering a wide range of programs: educational programs for children and adults, support and information to prospective adoptive families, presentations on
Korean culture and Korean American issues, social events centered around Korean holidays, and contact with the Korean American
community through collaboration on programs and events. We inform our members and friends of activities through our
website and through a quarterly newsletter with articles and announcements.
Korean Focus was founded in June 1996, is incorporated in the
Commonwealth of Virginia, and has achieved Federal 501c3 non-profit status. We are all-volunteer and agency-independent.
Although we are based in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area, we serve families beyond this georgraphic
area by providing support and information through our website and eBulletin. If you would like more information about membership,
please e-mail info@koreanfocus.org, or see the membership and support page.
Korean Focus
is proud to have been recognized by the Korean American Coalition with a 2003 Bridge Builder
Award, which recognized us for our efforts to form connections between our families and the Korean American community. As
a small organization, we are also proud to have planned and hosted the 2003 Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network
national conference One People, Two Histories: Korean Adoption As Part of 100
Years of Korean Immigration. We are also proud of the connections we have made with the Korean
American community in our area, and thank the Korean American community for its willingness to work with our families.
Kamsahamnida!
Board
of Directors
Korean Focus's Board of Directors are volunteers
from the Korean Adoption community who are committed to the Korean Focus mission. The 2008 Directors are:
President
Debbie Dalton
Vice President
-- Open --
Treasurer
David Horn
Secretary
Michelle Howard
Program Coordinators Katie Zeigler, Cara O'Connor
Newsletter Editor
-- Open --
Membership
Coordinator Margie Perscheid
Member-at-Large
Andrea Brenner
See the Contact Us page for information on communicating with members of the Korean Focus Board.
Although we are based in the Washington, D.C. and
Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area, we serve families beyond this georgraphic area by providing support and information
through our website and eBulletin. If you would like more information about membership, please e-mail info@koreanfocus.org, or see the membership and support page.