I’ve been keeping a secret and I can’t hold it in any longer. For you to fully understand, I have to take you back in time a bit…
When I was 14, my family adopted my brother, Trevor. I watched his birth mom make the selfless choice to give him a life she couldn’t provide at the time. The emotions I witnessed on both sides of the story stuck with me. A few years later, my aunt and uncle adopted a baby boy. Then my parents welcomed a daughter from Haiti. After that, my aunt and uncle adopted a baby girl. And then my parents added another brother to the crew by adopting Titus from Haiti.
At this point, I was grown, married, and had 3 biological kids, but adoption had become a part of my DNA. I knew that I wanted to adopt one day and mentioned it to my midwife after the birth of my third child. Two years later, I had a voicemail from her: “Trisha, give me a call. I need to ask you something.”
What she asked changed my life forever. “We have a young girl coming in the office. She’s planning to give her baby up for adoption. Do you want him?”
The short version is that YES, we wanted him. Jayden’s adoption was quick and very surreal. Within three months, I became mother to four little ones. From the moment he was born, Jayden was spunky and stubborn and ALL boy. I’ll never forget the terrifying day I learned just how spunky he was. At three years old, he hid in the closet, struck a match, and started a fire that had covered my whole closet door by the time I got to him. Pulling him out of a burning closet with flames on both of us was the moment I KNEW unconditional love. That kid is just as much mine as my biological kids and the love I feel for him isn’t any different. Adoption isn’t a second-hand substitute for having biological kids. It’s a divine, unexplainable calling that can’t be denied. When you feel it, you KNOW.
Over the last several years, I’ve done everything I can to highlight adoptions. It’s my purpose in this life. I’ve done photo shoots for adoptive families for free. I’ve traveled to do photos for Show Hope, an organization that gives grants to adoptive families. I’ve raised money to travel with adoptive families so I can document the moment when they meet their children for the first time. I’ve shared my story with anyone who wants to know what it’s like to adopt.
But that isn’t enough for me. I can do more. There’s a better way… a way to create a movement that helps families fund their adoptions and provides a way for the documentation of more adoptions at NO COST to the families.
This is where my secret project, The Dream Village, was born. I’ve traveled extensively for the last 5-6 years and have been blessed to take photos at incredible places all over the world. When people started asking to buy my prints, I knew this was my solution. Not only will I sell my prints, but the profits will be used for GOOD.
When you buy a piece of art from The Dream Village you aren’t just decorating your home or office. You’re helping a family bring their child home. You’re giving a family the gift of having the memories of their adoption documented forever. You’re joining us in a movement where we encourage those in the adoption process, give hope to those who are waiting, and inspire those who feel the call but haven’t made the commitment yet.
I’ve never sold my work this way before. I’ve made a living off of selling my service as a photographer and videographer. This idea came to me because I wanted a solution to a problem. I’m not trying to get rich off of this art. The profits from The Dream Village will go in two separate accounts… a travel account and a fundraising account. When purchases are made with a family’s coupon code, 50% of the profit will go into the fundraising account to be paid to that family at the end of the month. The other 50% will go into the travel account. When there is enough money in the travel account, I’ll choose a family from the applicants I’ve gotten and accompany them when they pick up their child. Maybe they aren’t going overseas to adopt and just have a powerful adoption story they want documented. Wherever the story takes place, the travel account will be used to cover expenses associated with documenting adoption stories.
The Dream Village website will go live in just a few weeks and I need your help to share it. Post about it. Tag your friends. Comment and like! In the meantime, sign up here to be the first to know when the website goes live.
It takes a village to raise a child but it starts with ONE dream. This started as my dream. But now this is OUR dream–The Dream Village. Join the movement.