Fundraising Update

Just a really quick update on our fundraising...

Support Letters: We've had about $3,000 of donations from friends & family through the support letters we sent out in December. Thank you so much for your generosity! That will cover the expenses of the home study which we are going through right now. With our immediate financial need satisfied, we are feeling very relieved. The bulk of the expense is yet to come however...yikes! We have high hopes for our fundraisers (dates below) and grant applications but your help is certainly appreciated. If you'd still like to help us out financially, please do so through the Paypal link on our blog or by mailing a check to Ryan & Allie Veil, 2539 11th Ave, Anoka MN 55303

Grant Applications: As soon as a social worker signs off on our ability to be parents (prayers please), then we can begin applying for various grants. Some award money monthly while others semi-annually. Please pray that we will find grants that fit our adoption situation and that award decisions will be made quickly.

Mammoth Garage Sale: Our garage sale is going to be May 1st, 2nd, & 3rd and will be at Ryan's parents house: 2965 117th Ave NW, Coon Rapids. Mark the date on your calendars as we'd love to have you stop by and/or spread the word to all you know. ALSO, we are actively seeking donations of all kinds for the garage sale (baby clothing, other clothing, sporting goods, electronics, kitchen & house wares, games, toys, movies, furniture). Contact Ryan to arrange a drop off/pick up. Anything not sold at the garage sale will be donated to other good causes (vets, salvation army, etc).

Photo Shoot Fundraiser: We've received overwhelming response & interest so far for this. The dates are May 10th & 18th. We'll be putting out the sign-up website in early-mid March as it sounds like many are ready to start signing up! Remember, this is also something that your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors can join in on. Please spread the word once the sign-up is released!

Thanks again for your support and prayers. This process would be much more difficult without it

Ryan & Allie

Setback, Praise, Relief

In 3 words....Setback, Praise, Relief.

About 3 weeks ago, we started noticing a pattern with the organization we were working with for our home study. They weren't returning our phone calls or emails in a timely manner (or at all). While this organization was the lowest price we could find, the service was terrible. There's lots of paperwork and we didn't want to mess anything up that would slow down our approval but they were completely absent when we needed support. Setback.

We decided to move on and seek out another home study organization. We quickly found Adopt MN (aka Wellspring Adoption). Someone has answered the phone each time we called and emails are replied within a day or so. They have been great and even though they cost a little more, we know this was the right decision. Praise.

Now, two weeks after starting over with a new organization, we are sending in our home study paperwork packet! It's taken far too much time and sweat equity to get this stuff done but we're so excited to be done with this phase of the adoption process. Here's to hoping we pass the background checks! Relief.

Fundraiser dates announced!

Fundraiser Dates:

Garage Sale: May 1-3
    -we are opening the flood gates and accepting any and all donations you may have for the garage sale. Contact Ryan via email below to arrange a time to exchange any items you'd like to donate. Whether you have a pile of stuff to get rid of now or later as you do Spring cleaning, let us know. We'll gladly accept everything (toys, clothing, furniture, electronics, home decor, electronics, movies, games, tools)

Photo Shoot: May 10 & 18
   -we're VERY excited about this fundraiser. We've gotten TONS of interest from friends & family but remember that these photo sessions are open to everyone and your help spreading the word will be greatly appreciated. In a month or so, we'll provide a website where people can sign up for a time slot. As a reminder, these will be 20 minute mini sessions with a professional photographer for a suggested minimum donation of $60. The digital files will be emailed to the email used on the signup website. We have multiple photographers on board, 2 days of shoots, and a great location in mind so once the signup is open, there will be lots of time slots to fill and make this fundraiser a success!


Ryan - ryan.m.veil@gmail.com

Paperwork...and more paperwork!

About a week ago we started all the paperwork for our background check and home study. They want to know everything...even the dogs medical records! So it has been fun and draining to get all the necessary paperwork together but we are over half way done! Once all the paperwork is in and processed, we will meet with a social worker. So we are making good progress!

As far as the fundraisers...we are almost ready to announce the dates for the Mammoth Garage Sale and Photo Shoot Fundraiser. I think it is safe to tell you that they will be sometime in May.

Continually amazed to see God's hand in this,
Allie & Ryan

Support Letter

As part of our fundraising process and to keep everyone informed, we sent out support letters. We may not have had everyone's addresses so we're posting it here.


Dear family & friends,

On Thursday, December 12th, we (Ryan & Allie) embarked on a new adventure. We made the decision to move forward with adopting a baby boy or girl! Since before marriage, adoption was always part of our plan for our family and over the last four months our excitement around bringing a baby into our lives has grown. We researched several organizations online and decided to work with Lifetime Adoption. (lifetimeadoption.com)

The first questions we’ve been getting from people are “are you not able to have kids?” or “why adoption?” Our decision to adopt has never been influenced by our ability to have kids; in fact we discussed it prior to getting married as something we were both interested in. We have several friends, family members, and co-workers in our lives that have adopted or were adopted themselves and it’s something we feel compelled to be a part of. The idea of caring for a child who is either unwanted or unable to be cared for by their birth parents is a very real way we can live out the love we feel we’ve been called to live out in our faith walk.

With Lifetime Adoption, we are pursuing a domestic infant adoption which means we will be presented to birth mothers within the US who are currently pregnant and know they are going to put their baby up for adoption.

The two main reasons we decided on Lifetime are 1) because there is no loss of time or money if Allie were to become pregnant during the adoption process. Other organizations make you start from scratch and forfeit all monies paid. and 2) because they seem to have a very long track record of successful adoptions and service the entire US which means there is a higher chance of being matched with a birth mother quickly once we are in the waiting pool of adoptive parents.

We’re writing you hoping that as our family & friends you might be willing to support us in this journey. Prayers and encouragement are very much appreciated as this will likely be a journey filled with many emotions, praises, and setbacks. Additionally, we’re asking that you might consider supporting us financially. The total costs of this adoption will be around $30,000. While that is a very large number, know that ANY amount you might be able to give will go a long ways. In addition to asking for direct support from our friends and family, we hope to find funding through adoption grants and fundraisers.

PLEASE NOTE: There are a couple nuances to financing our adoption. In order to begin applying for adoption grants, we need to have a Home Study done. This costs about $3,000 and takes a month to complete. Our immediate goal is to raise that amount as quickly as possible and complete the home study so we can begin seeking out additional funding via grants. Also, Lifetime will not begin showing us to birth mothers until their fee is paid in full. For these reasons, we’re asking that if you plan to give financially that you would do so by January 31st. It will also help guide us in our decisions for additional fundraisers in the Spring. However, support will still be appreciated after January as well. How do I send money? If you choose to support us financially...sincerely, THANK YOU. This is a huge undertaking and we appreciate your support. To give by check, please make them payable to Ryan & Allie Veil and send to our home at 2539 11th Ave, Anoka MN 55303. You can also contribute by credit card via PayPal on our blog VeilAdoption.blogspot.com. You can enter any amount and you don’t even need a PayPal account to do it. (by clicking on Continue under the “Don’t Have A PayPal Account?” heading on the left side of the page.)

How do I keep up to date? We have set up a blog at VeilAdoption.blogspot.com. On the right hand side of the screen there’s a place to enter your email address so you will be notified every time there’s a new post. Don’t worry, it won’t be every day

FUNDRAISERS: For those of you who are local to the Minneapolis/St Paul area, please look over our upcoming fundraisers. We’ll be relying on you to help spread the word and help make them as successful as possible.

1) Mammoth Garage Sale To End All Garage Sales: Friends of ours hosted a similar garage sale to raise money for their adoption and raised $4,000! We hope to duplicate their success and we need your help. Throughout the Winter and as you begin Spring cleaning, please remember that we have this garage sale coming up. ANY and ALL items will be accepted (clothing, games, toys, furniture, electronics, tools, cookware, etc) and we can even pick up from your home. Spread the word to your friends and coworkers that if they’re looking to get rid of things around the home, here’s a great way to do so. It’s going to be epic!

2) Photo Shoot Fundraiser: Sometime this coming Spring, we’ll be hosting a photo shoot fundraiser. For a suggested minimum donation of $60 you and your family, pets, kids, etc can get a 20 minute photo shoot with one of Studio Veil’s professional photographers! We’ll also touch up the photos and then supply the digital files to you to print wherever you like. There will be a specific location (a park most likely) and a specific 1 or 2 days the shoots will take place. Closer to the Spring, we’ll provide an online signup for specific time slots and ask that you help spread the word to everyone you know. For only $60 (regularly over $300), this is a GREAT deal for anyone AND you’re helping us in a significant way.

There are so many details that can’t fit into this letter and I’m sure you have questions as well. Please feel free to contact either of us via Facebook, email, or phone.

Sincerely, Ryan & Allie Veil

Ryan - (651) 238-6761 Ryan.M.Veil@gmail.com
Allie - (763) 670-2119 Allison.Veil@gmail.com

Overall Adoption Process

Thank you everyone for your overwhelming support and encouragement! Allie & I are super excited about this process and look forward to sharing it with you. As we had many conversations with family over Christmas, we realized we should put a post up to share with you how this whole thing works.

1. We signed a contract with Lifetime Adoption earlier this month which locks in our place in their program. They only accept so many couples into their program at a time. There were also some financial benefits to signing a contract to hold our place before the new year. We now have six months to raise the rest of the money.

2. To raise funds, we are sending out support letters to friends & family. We're also planning to apply for several adoption grants and host two fundraisers this Spring (garage sale & photo shoot).

3. Prior to being able to apply for grants and before being allowed to adopt, we must complete a home study. It's important to raise the $3,000 necessary to do the home study as soon as possible so that we can have as much time as possible to apply for adoption grants. Most grants require that the home study be done AND that the child NOT be placed yet. In other words, there's a very specific time frame in which we have to apply for these grants.

4. We have up to six months to raise the rest of the fees owed to Lifetime Adoption. Once those fees are paid in full, Lifetime will begin showing our profile to expecting birth mothers. This could happen sooner than 6 months if funds are raised quicker. Birth mothers typically have a few preferences about the family they'd like their child to be placed with. If we match the criteria, we'll be shown to them for consideration.

5. Once a birth mother selects Allie & I to parent their child, we're considered "matched" and we wait for the child to be born. This could be days or months depending on where the pregnancy is at.

6. Most adoptions through Lifetime involve the adoptive parents going to the hospital for the birth and being able to take the baby home from the hospital. We'll be waiting for that phone call and need to be able to leave at a moments notice.

7. After the baby is in the home, there are a few months of finalization for the adoption before it's 100% solidified. The birth mother has a certain time frame to change her mind and the state requires a followup by the home study organization to ensure everything is going well. Then the lawyers finalize the paperwork, a judge signs it, and THEN everything is set.

So those are most of the logistical details of how this works. Let us know if you have any questions!

Ryan & Allie

The contract is signed!

We just wanted to say thank you for everyone's amazing words of encouragement! Your thoughts and prayers mean so much to us. On Friday (two days ago) we officially signed the contract and put down a deposit for Lifetime Adoption. We now have up to 6 months to raise the rest of the money and whenever that happens we then get shown to birth mothers and pray for a match. But in the meantime, we will be working on our home study and fundraisers. We are planning to do a garage sale and photo shoot fundraiser, but those won't be until the spring. So more details to come, but we want to start spreading the word.

We will continue to post on the blog with updates. Please be sure to enter your email address on the right side of the blog to subscribe and be notified when new posts are made.

Again, we thank you for your love and support! We have such amazing family and friends!

Ryan & Allie