chinese adoptee collective (cac) is proud to present, "FAMILY" - first, found, and future - the 2nd closed* conference for people adopted from china on may 22 - 25 2026 at the asian arts initiative (aai) in downtown chinatown, philadelphia, pa.

cac is a growing group of people adopted from china organizing events, sharing resources, and working towards liberation for our community. we are a 100% volunteer and donation based collective seeking to break even on the cost of this 2nd conference in order to be able to continue to serve our community with pay-what-you-can (pwcyc) and no-one-turned-away-for-lack-of-funds (notaflof) opportunities.

this first goal is the total amount it costs to rent the venue. for over 30 years aai has served chinatown philadelphia as a multidisciplinary arts center working towards building community through the power of art. learn more about the venue here :: asianartsinitiative.org

:: update #001 :: WE DID IT! goal #1 ✅

thank you so much to everyone who donated to and shared this community effort - we've officially surpassed our first goal & are able to pay off the venue invoice!!

we are now updating our goal to support the cac micro grants fund. attending a conference can get expensive fast - flight costs and multi-night hotel stays plus food and emergency/last minute expenses. cac is proud to offer pay-what-you-can (pwyc) conference registration again in 2026. this means no one will be turned away for lack of funds (notaflof) in order to attend the “FAMILY” conference. in removing as many barriers to entry as possible cac is also allocating the entirety of this 2nd goal - $6000 - directly to community members (ie. conference attendees, program workshop leads, panelists, photo/video and av tech support, etc.) to offset their flight and lodgings costs in order to attend the conference.

please continue to donate if you can and share this virtual fundraiser with your trusted connections!

ps - conference registration open dec 19 at 12pm et - all donations from registration will help to offset this goal! see all 2026 conference info here :: https://chineseadopteecollective.com/2026-conference

:: update #002 :: WE DID IT! goal #2 ✅

thank you SO MUCH to everyone who donated to and shared this community effort - we’ve officially surpassed our 2nd goal and successfully dispersed over $6000 in micro grants to help offset travel and lodging costs for over 25 community members!

we are now updating our goal for the last and final time to offset print and marketing materials, operating costs, and last minute/misc. purchases for the conference. the small details of a conference that make it great come at a cost and we hope donors will see the value in supporting this 3rd and final goal - $5000 - in order to make cac’s 2nd conference just as special as the 1st. please continue to donate if you can and share this virtual fundraiser with your trusted connections!

*note - FCCNE (FCC New England) should be credited for the recent donation listed from Bruce Hain

:: update #003 :: WE DID IT! goal ✅✅✅

after calculating final expenses and offline donations we are thrilled to announce completion of our final goal -- we did it!!! thank you SO MUCH for all of your support over the past 8 months and beyond. it has been a little over 30 days now since the conference and all of your donations and reshares afforded us the opportunity to serve our community in the most incredible way.

for now you are still welcome to donate to this gofundme to invest in future cac events and community opportunities. we are feeling more impassioned than ever to support and serve our community and we hope you are too.

were officially on summer break til the fall but make sure you are signed up for our newsletter to get the latest from us, sign up form :: chineseadopteecollective.com

looking forward to reconnecting soon, in solidarity, cac <3

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if somebody you know could benefit from this effort please consider donating and sharing! too many adoptees have never had the opportunity to be in a safer, braver, closed* space with folks like them. by donating today you are helping chinese adoptees create this space as a service to our community.

a note to fellow community members, bipoc adoptees, and marginalized folks :: please consider sharing this fundraiser with your trusted circles before donating yourself. we as a community-based collective understand firsthand the exhausting and unsustainable nature of 100% community funded effort.

updates from us can be found here, on our website (chineseadopteecollective.com), or our instagram (@chineseadopteecollective)!

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cac hosted the inaugural closed* conference for people adopted from china, "CONTEXT", at aai on june 27-29 2025.

see more about the 2025 conference here :: https://chineseadopteecollective.com/2025-conference-all

*closed means only for people (adults 18+) adopted from china. no adoptive parents, partners, or the general public.

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