Changing Hearts is a safe haven for girls ages 6 - 16 and their families suffering from the emotional and behavioral challenges of their adopted daughters. Parents, if inadequately informed about their daughter’s life before adoption, find it difficult to understand and handle their daughter’s emotional behavior. Parents struggle to separate the child from her behaviors. Mutual hurt and confusion between parent and child develops perpetuating a cycle of unhealthy communication and interactions. The daughter’s inability to trust their parents intensifies and becomes virtually non-existent. Without intensive spiritual and emotional intervention, the potentially irreparable cycle of abuse and/or neglect continues to the next generation between the daughter and her own children. Changing Hearts exists to help daughters learn to develop and to trust relationships so she is able to place her heart into her parent’s hands for safe-keeping. We are committed to helping each family define boundaries, seek healthy solutions and become the family God intended them to be.
Our program begins with the daughter coming under our care for 3 months apart from her adopted family. Generally, the girls have been diagnosed with a type of emotional disorder that prevents them from having a loving relationship with their families. Many of the girls have experienced such severe pre-adoption trauma that a loving family is of little consequence to their closed hearts. Our prayer and hope for each girl is that she develop a heart-to-heart connection with Jesus, understands herself and is able to interact and trust her family. The girls and trained staff interact daily through specific behavioral tasks, trust games, conflict resolutions, equine therapy and hard work in a home environment. Parents are encouraged to seek counseling and use available resources for their own emotionally damaged hearts during this time. After 3 months, Changing Hearts and the parents come together to discuss and decide if an extended stay for their daughter is needed, or if the family and daughter are in a healthy place to reunite and begin to work together. Our goal is always reunification of the family. Our goal is for your daughter to function as a productive member of the family and community.
There are circumstances where reuniting the family and daughter may not be possible. When this does occur, all parties try to find the best solution for both daughter and family.
We invite you to explore our website to see if our program fits your families' needs. It would be an honor and pleasure to serve you.
