By Brittany Black
Buckner International

DALLAS – For Jerrick Nash and Tevodrick Turner, the road to college has been filled with pot holes and detours, but the Wynnewood Community Services Center helped clear their path.

“Being at Wynnewood changed my life,” Nash said. “It gave me something positive to do and kept me out of trouble.” Read the rest of this entry

By Jenny Pope
Buckner International

DALLAS, Texas – Buckner Adoption and Maternity Services places dozens of children into loving families each year through domestic open adoption. But this year, there is one child who needs a family more than ever.

Seven-month-old Alan* was born with Spina bifida, a developmental birth defect where a child’s spinal cord protrudes through the vertebrae and fills with fluid. Doctors performed surgery shortly after his birth and were successful in repairing the rupture, but it has caused a number of medical difficulties for this playful and happy baby, said Leah Gilliam, Buckner adoption counselor. Read the rest of this entry

Buckner Opens New Centers in Tegucigalpa, Roatan

By Jenny Pope
Buckner International

Watch video about Buckner Honduras director 

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Scattered along the river banks of Flor del Campo, women and children cram into tiny, corrugated tin cottages. It’s the only land they can afford to live on, at least until the river swells and they’re forced to move to higher ground.

“The men go to the seashore to collect sand to sell to construction workers; most of the women sell tortillas,” said Karen Medina, Buckner social worker at the new Community Transformation Center in Flor del Campo. “They are very poor, and there is a lot of violence. Read the rest of this entry

By Dave Atkins

As I hop out of the white van, I pretend not to see her. I’ve been here before; I know her name and she knows mine. It’s a game we play.

So I look about, calling for her, “Sharon?  Sharon?” Of course I see her. She’s standing 10 feet in front of me, grinning, looking at me, and playing our game. The others gather around her, saying, “This one! This one! This is Sharon!” I look left, I look right; I turn around looking for her, still pretending. Behind me I hear her laugh, and then she runs around to plant herself directly in front of me, hands on her hips. “Here I am!” She said. So begins my sixth trip to Kenya and my third visit to the Seed of Hope orphanage in Kitale. Read the rest of this entry

Buckner foster family adopts, stays connected with birth family

By Amy Stone

DALLAS – When 2-year-old Jeremiah first arrived at the Williams’ home as a foster child, he couldn’t walk or crawl.

“He just scooted around on his bottom all around the house if you weren’t holding him,” said his mother Vanessa Williams. “For the first four months that we were caring for him and his siblings, all he would do was scream and cry.” Read the rest of this entry

By Brittany Black

Burnet, TEXAS — By the time Cecilia Lopez was 16, she already had two sons. So going to camp was out of the question until now.

“Being here is stress free, it’s not reality,” said Lopez, now 20. “It’s nice to get away and have fun.” Read the rest of this entry

Holme Oltrogee consoles his mother, Nguyen Thi Thuan. Oltrogee was among a group of orphans fleeing Vietnam for Buckner Children’s Home in Dallas in 1975. His mother took him to the Cam Ranh City Christian Orphanage during the Vietnam War and the two had not seen each other for 35 years. He was also reunited with this five brothers and a sister he’d never met.

By Scott Collins

Click here to watch video from the reunion trip.

NHA TRANG, Vietnam – Thomas Ho holds his cousin’s right leg and foot in his hands as his wife, Trina sits nearby with a calculator. They are surrounded by a dozen family members from the Quang Nga Province of Vietnam who have made the day-and-a-half journey here by bus.

It’s been seven years since Ho’s cousin has had a new leg and the group is trying to figure out what a new one will cost. It can be purchased in Danang and before he returns to the United States, Thomas promises to provide the money to buy the leg. Everyone’s best guess is $300. Read the rest of this entry

By Brittany Black

BEAUMONT, Texas – After 40 years, Buckner Children’s Village in Beaumont is a place where traditions are still carried out and smiles are still being made.

Buckner welcomed more than 175 former residents and their families to Buckner Homecoming June 11. The day’s activities included catching up with old friends and staff members, a worship service, a group photo and plenty of activities for friends and family. Read the rest of this entry

By Brittany Black

ST. CHARLES, Illinois – If one shoe changed Cinderella’s life, imagine what a pair of shoes could do. The cast of Cinderella at Noble Fools Theatricals could not have come up with a more enchanting theme. 

Beth Conrad, part of the shows public relations team and mom of a cast member, thought it would be a great idea to collect shoes for Buckner International’s Shoes for Orphan Souls in order to promote the upcoming performance. Read the rest of this entry

Analiz G. Schremmer

SAN JOSE PINULA, Guatemala – Buckner opened a new Community Transformation Center on May 25 to serve people in one of Guatemala’s most impoverished communities — San Jose Pinula. Read the rest of this entry