Adoptive Family Vehicle Fund

Andy and Melanie became licensed foster and adoptive parents in early January, 2018. Despite having 4 biological children already, they opened their hearts and home and were available and ready to care for up to 3 additional children. 2 weeks after being licensed on January 30, 2018 they received a call to care for an 18 month old little girl and her 4 month old brother who had experienced severe physical abuse and was hospitalized. The Montgomery's said yes and took in both children, thus beginning a journey of love, hope and healing.  After having the children placed with them for two months, they learned that the children's birth mother was pregnant again and the family was asked if they would consider taking placement of that baby when she was born. Again, Andy and Melanie said yes to what would be their 7th child who was born in August, 2018.  Unfortunately, reunification to the children's birth family was not possible and the Montgomery's were selected as the adoptive family for these 3 children. On December 7, 2020 these 3 children were finally adopted after 1,042 days in foster care.  

Nothing in foster care and adoption is ever permanent until a judge says so, and therefore Andy and Melanie have tried to prepare their life over the past 3 years for the possibility of adopting these children, yet also knowing this may never come to fruition. Now, knowing these children will be apart of their family forever, they are trying to put into place those resources which will help them successfully parent 7 children for the long term. 

A huge barrier for this family is transportation. Currently, the Montgomery's have a 7 passenger minivan and a small car. They have not had a vehicle large enough to accommodate their family the entire time these children have been placed with them, yet they have made it work without complaint; but the burden is growing. This fall, for the first time, all 7 children were enrolled in school - a total of 4 different schools each with a different pick up and drop off time. Melanie makes several trips each day shuttling children from home and school in shifts because there is no vehicle that can accommodate all children being picked up or dropped off together at once. 

The challenges of not having a large enough vehicle were made even more obvious this year, 2020, when during the pandemic and beyond many family-friendly activities were converted to drive-in or drive-thru formats. The Montgomery's cannot go anywhere together as a family without driving two vehicles. There have been so many experiences they have wished to enjoy together as a family but this is simply not possible in their current situation. 

It is often said that "it takes a village to raise a child." Andy and Melanie know this first hand as they have seen so much support, encouragement and prayer from family, friends and complete strangers during their journey. We are now calling upon their "village" once again to help this family afford a vehicle large enough for their current family and beyond if they should decide to continue fostering or adopt once more. 

The family is hoping to be able to afford a used, reliable, 12-passenger van for their family. Any money raised will be solely focused and put towards helping them achieve this goal. We realize that this year has been extremely tough for everyone and we humbly ask that if you are not able to donate, please join the family in prayer that this need would be met, please suggest a reputable dealership if you know one, or please share this campaign on your own social media to help increase awareness. 

We are so grateful for any and all support!!