This girl’9 case is assigned to EWA’s Miss Patricia Von Der Lohe, an accredited member of the National A sso c ia tion of Social Workers. She becomes a friend to the girl as she begins working out a solution to her problem. No pres sure whatever is put on the mother to place her child for adoption. EWA’s mission is to help in the name of Christ. This assistance means the baby placed for adoption will have a Christian home with parents to teach her the way to eternal life; it often results in sal vation for the unwed mother; and it is a quality of professional help which frequently lifts a girl out of the cycle of repeat problems and introduces her to a new and better life.
Pastor Ortlund makes this referral to Executive Di rector Adrin C. Sylling, shown here in the EWA office at 304 N. Painter Ave., Whittier, California. Mr. Sylling’s staff of three caseworkers see more than a dozen new unwed moth ers each month and find approximately 80 carefully screened, Christian adop tive parents for babies each year.
Prospective adoptive couples come from many areas of Church life to apply to EWA with a loving desire to ( adopt a baby. They attend an adoptive applicants group meeting where they are informed of the procedure and requirements for adoption through EWA. Prior to the family study by the caseworker, they meet with one of the ministers of the Board, Rev. Ernest R. Johnson, a Baptist Pastor, who conducts the religious interview to r determine their spiritual eligibility. After approval for. a child by the Agency they eagerly look forward to the eventual day of adoption.
Being assured through counseling that her client wishes to place her baby for adoption, Miss Von Der Lohe and fellow caseworkers select an approved adoptive family with the right characteristics and heritage to suit the natural parents. The excitement of the possibility of the reality of having a baby of their own begins to mount in the faces of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Ouellette, of Garden Grove, California, as their family study is completed and they are approved for adoptive placement.
After sufficient care in the hospital, the baby is placed in a special fos ter home to await the meeting with her new parents. Here Mrs. Penny Clopton, an EWA volunteer, ar rives at the EWA office from the foster home with the tiny new life. This is the day the natural mother comes for a look at her child before signing the paper relinquishing her for adoption (a right the natural mother may exercise if she so de sires). She may take as long as she likes to make up her mind. The cleanliness of the baby reflects the excellent care given by the EWA foster mother. This is a source of comfort to the natural mother. She knows that with these standards, her baby will have a good home.
A few days later the baby comes back again — this time to go home with “ mother” and “ dad.” Miss Von Der Lohe elicits some charm from her little charge and then. . . .
25
NOVEMBER, 1966
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