RaiseAChild.US Launches New York Campaign Seeking LGBT Prospective Foster Parents

Comedian Alec Mapa to Perform at the New York City Fire Museum

New York City, NY (PRWEB) December 06, 2012

Comedian Alec Mapa will headline an event about parenting for the LGBT community on Thursday, December 6, 7:00–9:00 p.m., at the New York City Fire Museum. The event is sponsored by RaiseAChild.US, a nonprofit organization that encourages the LGBT community to build families through fostering and adoption.

Mapa, best known for his roles on ABC's Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives, will open the event with an excerpt from his stand-up show, Baby Daddy, which chronicles the journey he took with his husband in 2010 to foster and adopt their 5-year-old son. The event will include a panel discussion featuring LGBT foster and adoptive parents.

On the occasion of National Adoption Month, RaiseAChild.US is producing the recruitment event in partnership with the New York Council on Adoptable Children and Family Focus Adoption Agency.

The New York City campaign includes radio PSAs on WNYC, as well as streetlight banners with images of LGBT families that have fostered and adopted. Its slogan is “Let Love Define Family.”

The outreach also seeks to find foster and adoptive homes for LGBT self-identified youth, many of whom were ejected from their families when they came out. RaiseAChild.US provides information and community links for prospective parents who are often concerned about health and financial issues, such as how to provide for college for an older youth.

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Administration for Children & Families, over 107,000 children in the foster care system are available to be adopted. There are 300,000 additional children in need of immediate foster placement. Certified families are in short supply.

“Our goal is to find safe and loving homes for children who desperately need them,” said RaiseAChild.US President Rich Valenza. “A wealth of research and data clearly demonstrates the keen parenting abilities within the LGBT community. We are a part of the solution for our nation's overburdened foster system.”

Since the nonprofit organization was founded in 2011, RaiseAChild.US has organized three multi-media campaigns in Los Angeles, engaging over 500 prospective parents. RaiseAChild.US is working closely with the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's “All Children - All Families” (ACAF) initiative, which provides professional training and technical assistance to foster care and adoption agencies that want to welcome and support LGBT foster and adoptive parents. To date, ACAF includes over 60 participating agencies across the country and has awarded 27 seals of recognition.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/12/prweb10211518.htm