Contrary to the belief that any bad word against an agency is a unhappy adoptive parent with too high expectations, my adoption went just fine. It was quick and I LOVED Liberia and my son. However, my experience with Acres of Hope (aka AoH or AOHL) would not lead me to recommend it to ANYONE. There are many families who could and have given their perspective on adoptions done wrong, either illegally or unethically, and I have questioned them and know they are telling the truth. My adoption was not my issue with Acres integrity. Rather, I was regularly discussing their "humanitarian" programs with Patty Anglin (the director) and began raising substantial funds before finding out that those programs didn't actually exist. It took me actually calling the organization that provided the food and finding out there was no way that a feeding program of that magnitude was taking place. And this was after asking MANY questions of the AoHL staff, including Patty herself. They have since changed their website and blamed it on an old staff member, but Patty herself had lied to me about it in her conversation to get me to raise 3 million dollars. I would not recommend them for adoptions or for humanitarian relief of any kind.
I have been slow to write my review since I know that a lot of people are being accused of "slander" because of what they say. I have not been asked by anyone to write this review nor have I told others to do so. I am simply here to tell you my story and you can do with it what you will.
I adopted my special needs son in 2007. From the day I mailed my application to the time I brought my son home was less than 7 months. Fast right? It was, but there was incentive to get it done quickly. About 5 months into the process I was speaking with Patty Anglin for about an hour about fund raising ideas. Being in the TV/Film world I know how great a well made commercial or promo video can be to help raise some money for a good cause.
Patty asked me if I could do it when I traveled to pick up my son then asked me when I could travel. She asked me if I was available in 3 weeks time. I asked her how she could get my son's adoption finished so fast and she said to me that "it wouldn't be a problem". Up to this point I had no idea when I would be traveling. From what I had been told it would be a few months even though they were working hard to get it done because of my son's special needs. So maybe his adoption was further along then I thought, but I deeply doubt this. 40 days later I was on a plane to Liberia to pick up my son.
It was a whirlwind 3 weeks of running around shooting footage of acres of hope projects and hanging out with the amazing children waiting to go home. During this time I never once saw a feeding program or schools. Though I was told over and over again that they existed by Patty, her Liberian staff laughed when I mentioned it. We went deep into the bush one day to see a future farming project and got a chance to tour the new land for the current compound they are building. I was to say the least impressed. My son's adoption went through without a hitch at least I thought.
When I went to airport with my son to leave Liberia I didn't have the proper paperwork to leave the country. Acres of Hope wasn't available to me by phone as I begged with immigrations in Liberia to let us through. By the grace of God we got copies made at the UN airport next door and literally ran after a moving plane. I was left stranded in the airport with no support and not the correct paperwork.
When I got home I took a closer look at my son's background history and adoption paperwork. Many dates didn't match up. I ended up having to deal with the state department here in the US to make sure my son's adoption wouldn't be overturned. I did it on my own with no help from my adoption agency.
As far as AoHL taking in Special needs children when no one else will because of the cost. My son was "reliquished" in October 2006 but didn't come to the orphanage until March 2007 (once they knew I was adopting him). His mother kept him and cared for him on her own until they found him a family. This was of no cost to AoHL what so ever, his mother took care of him and his expenses.
My son also had a bunch of other physical issues I was never made aware of. He's partially blind in his left eye, and has hearing loss in his right ear. The left eye was very obvious but I was never told. I love my son and am forever grateful to AoHL for bringing him to me, without them I wouldn't know that he existed but they could have done things in a more ethical way and would have been there to support me when I needed them most.
My son had surgery this month to help with his special need and is now a paralyzed from the waist down (he wasn't before). His doctors are hopeful that he will walk again one day, but they can't promise me.
You asked for first hand experience... this is as first hand as it gets. I wish I had a better rating of the agency that I spent 7 months of my life intertwined with. But I don't, nor would I recommend Acres of Hope Liberia to anyone wishing to adopt.
I adopted my daughter through AoH, I would not recommend them to my friends, I am currently planning to adopt again and will not use AoH again, I was directly lied to, mislead, poorly communicated with, put through utter trauma in Liberia by the staff there because they did not do their job and lied to us about it, thought I'd have to leave my daughter in Liberia because of absolute incompetence on AoH part, they did not do what they told me my 6 week wait to go get her was all about - clearing the embassy. I waited over 8 months for a referral and over 8 months to finally get her, then to be faced with leaving her behind! It was horrible. They changed fees structure on me 3 times, jacked up the mandatory guest house fees at the last absolute second, promised services and never delivered, and to top it off - the expensive guest house food was in short supply and of poor quality (I was not expecting much and was still disappointed). Just my personal experience. Tracy
So there is a lot of talk on here about how families are choosing adoption agencies by their humanitarian work. I will say that drew us into Acres of Hope because we thought that they were really helping the surrounding community a lot, especially with a feeding program that fed 8,000 children a day. Their fees were reasonable at the time for international adoption, and within a budget range we could afford. We read many great things about Patty Anglin and Acres of Hope and all the great work they are doing to care for orphans and help them get adopted. We thought it was a dream come true agency. Well, we wanted to say that our experience with our adoption through Acres of Hope was a horrible one. We can say that because the end result was no children ever came to our home through Acres of Hope. We will never recommend them to anyone. (Why doesn't this scoring system have a zero start rating?)
My adoption went smoothly. My daughter is alive because of Acres of Hope. But I can't say I would adopt from them again, in light of all that has come out. I've been very disappointed by this organization. The end does not justify the means.
Acres of Hope is a very unethical organization. I would never use them again and I would never recommend them to anyone. I would never donate any money to this organization. Patty Anglin has no integrity and is not in this business to help the children, but to make a name for herself. The children are not well cared for and issues of known sexual abuse have been allowed to continue as well as not informing parents of their children being abused. We have experienced repeatedly being lied to as well as witnessed gross mismanagement of funds. Acres of Hope has a bad reputation around the world.
I agree with the first poster. My adoption too went off without a hitch. There were things during my process that should have raised red flags, but I let them go and defended AoH because I believed in them. In retrospect, all of the wonderful things I had heard about them, came from them. If you have to constantly toot your own horn instead of letting your actions, ethics and integrity speak for you, there is a problem.
I am grateful for the child that came to me through this organization, but I cannot recommend them. We are all well aware that things are often done differently in Africa due to many factors, but integrity and honesty must remain in tact even in the midst of cultural differences if you are going to present yourself as a Christian organization. I don't believe that Acres of Hope has done this. The truth has been twisted when information has been given to birth families and adoptive families. This is unacceptable.
I have given Patty Anglin and AoH one star because I can't give them none. To be honest my adoption went on without a hitch. It was quick and done for the most part well. But after returning home with my already special needs son, I have found out that he has partial blindness, Hep B, busted ear drums, and a whole other array of issues, I was not aware of.
I also found out that Liberian Adoption law was broken in my adoption and should my son's mother choose to come back for her son, she could take me to court and win since his reliquishment was either forged or no good! I have also discovered a lot of unethical practiced by not only AoH, but Patty Anglin herself. She has lied to my face and to others I know.
When I questioned AoH about certain things, I was turned away and my questions were never answered. This is NOT a Christian Organization and by saying that it is they are giving Christians around the world a bad name.
Though I had an easy adoption overall, I would not under any circumstance recommend that you adopt from AoH or work with Patty Anglin. They have also since my adoption become insanely overpriced for the services that they provide and are not to be trust to be good stewards of your money.
This is an agency that continues to lie to its clients and yet shout they are a "Christian" organization operating in the best interest of children. This is simply not so as they lied to me about my adoptions and to several other families. They also over charge every family, are the most expensive agency in Liberia, are not a licensed agency in the states, and they try to force families to stay at their guest house for 1000 a week as a way to make more money off of them. Their rating is a 0 in my book.
Adoption, and international adoption particularly is extremely difficult due to all the paperwork and costs involved. More of the expense came from travel and USA government requirements, partly since we reside in Ireland. The rules change constantly, and I do believe it is being made more difficult in order to discourage prospective parents. According to our social worker, our adoption was the toughest experience he has had, and it was a nightmare all around.
If it were not for the love and guidance of Harold and Patty Anglin, it never would have worked out for us. We recommend them, with only one note of concern, and it is that prospective parents consider the road is likely to be rocky due to intense red tape. Do not listen to gossip, but talk to the staff at AOH. They are a missionary family that spends much time in Liberia, not just paper pushers living comfortably cushioned from troubles.
Please pray before choosing an agency. If it is integrity, love, and kindness, I see no better place to go. We chose AOH because if the going gets rough, we needed to know that we could turn to true believers of Jesus Christ walking in the light. Rachel was just learning the ropes when we finished our adoption, but she prayed with me and has a kind heart, as does Erin. Donna was the one to tell us first of the availability of our children and God worked all of it out even when it seemed impossible.
We have two wonderful children from Liberia. Our daughter is 2 with cerebral palsy and microcephaly, but she is learning to speak sign language and understands us when we just speak English. She loves having a family and bonded right away. She knows her family and is appropriately cautious of new people, but is good to everyone she gets to know. We love her dearly.
Our son is incredible and absolutely charming. I would love to adopt just one more through AOH under age 1 if the opportunity presented itself. They give so very much to take care of the children and the adoptive parents.
This orginzation is wrought with serious issues...and it starts from the top down. Our families research indicates significant issues with accountablility (mainly there is none), honesty (we have been directly lied to), and integrity(not owning up to mistakes).
Some of the stories that we have heard have been heart breaking and I would hate to hear more of those stories. Please do not use Acres of Hope.
Acres of Hope is the name of Harold and Patty Anglin's homestead. Acres of Hope is also the name of the charitable organization begun by the Anglins in approximately 1995. AOH, the charitable organization, is registered with the State of Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing as a charitable organization and has filed some reports with same, but not consistently. This can be checked at the Department's website. AOH, the charitable organization, has from time to time filed a federal tax form for non-profit organizations. AOH, the charitable organization, has not filed a report with the Better Business Bureau's charitable division, despite requests from interested persons that they do so. The mission of Acres of Hope, the charitable organization, has morphed several times over the past decade. At one time there was an Acres of Hope Minnesota, no longer in existence. Now there is an Acres of Hope Liberia and perhaps an Acres of Hope Ghana. There is some accountability with Acres of Hope, the charitable organization. There is very little accountability with Acres of Hope Liberia.....no filing of reports with State of Wisconsin, no income tax returns, no rating by any charitable giving oversight agency, including the Better Business Bureau. Everyone is free to chose which charitable organization(s) they want to work with and how accountable that organization(s)should be for individuals to feel comfortable in their involvement and giving. I would assume that when one works with multiple populations of vulnerable adults and children the standards of accountability, honesty, truth and integrity should be more than lip service at a web site.
First hand experience. (Disclaimer: I have not been encouraged or contacted by anyone to leave my review here, and or anywhere else. Noone has contacted me or encouraged me to partake in any kind of campaign to hurt a person.)
We will not be using Acres of Hope for any further adoptions.
I have had wonderful experiences with this agency. I think they really care about the children. Adoption is not perfect. I think AOH works hard to get things done. I personally think if adoptive parents don't have everything go exactly there way then they bad mouth an agency. You cannot expect perfection in an African adoption. Africa is not like America and things do not work in Africa like they do here. Adoption is just unpredictable. If you won't accept this, than don't adopt.
As for cost, there are a few families who adopted through Acres of Hope that have there kids home and still owe AOH their adoption fees. So if AOH was so into the money, why would they have brought these kids home on their dime, knowing they might not get those adoption fees? Anyway my point is nothing is perfect and I think AOH are good, kind hearted people who do what it takes(legally) to get this sweet babies home to loving Christian families. I would adopt through them again in a heartbeat!
I was happy with my AOH experience. I was looking solely for an adoption agency,the level of care the children recieved, and the efficiency of the agency. I give to other humanitarian efforts that are not adoption related. But as for adoptions, AOH took excellent care of my child and got my child home pretty quickly. I was pleased. I think AOH does a good job with ADOPTIONS. Other areas I was not looking into as adoption was my focus.
I'm sure that AOH doesn't need me to be an apologist for them, but I want to inject as objective of a view as I can based on my experience, as well as comment on some of the earlier postings about AOH.
Of the six "negative" posts on this site, three of them say that their adoption went fine, and three others focused on issues other than their specific adoption. If the purpose of posting these negative comments about AOH is to dissuade rational people from using AOH, you really need to give better examples than mere ad hominem attacks against Patty Anglin.
I had my own reasons for selecting AOH. I didn't compare the fees of AOH to those of other agencies. Certainly that may be a consideration for some people, but that wasn't my primary concern. (For the record, Liberian adoption cost less than any of the other countries we considered). Nor did I base my decision on the presence of a feeding program, although it certainly sounded like a very good thing for them to do and I was happy to know that it was part of their overall program in Liberia.
What I wanted was an agency that would facilitate my adoption on my behalf in Liberia. I wanted my children to be well cared for while I waited. And I wanted open communication about what was going on. While there is much to say about the fact that the orphanage is a mission of mercy, and the decision to adopt is a personal, life changing decision, the adoption process at the end of the day is a business transaction. We select an agency, we pay the fees, we provide the paperwork, and the agency makes sure that you have a legally binding adoption of the child that is referred to you. Acres of Hope delivered in every respect with our adoption.
Our adoption proceeded fairly quickly. From the time of our referral to the time we arrived back in the states with our daughters it was seven months and one week. We entered the program after our homestudy was completed, and we accepted a referral of two girls that were on the waiting children list, so we did not have a long wait there.
We elected to travel to Liberia as a couple to pick up our daughters. We stayed at the guest house and we paid the fee ($1,000 for a couple for a week, even though we stayed a couple days less than that, meals included). Was that too much? I suppose I could stay in nicer accommodations for the money in some countries. Perhaps even in Liberia. But I don't know my way around Liberia, and was in no position to shop for a nice hotel, then figure out meals and transportation after that. To me, the $1,000 was worth the expense. We were well fed, and Rich and Linda made the extra effort to take us shopping, sight seeing, and to the beach. I know that there are others who make their own arrangements, but that really wasn't a realistic option for us.
As far as cost goes, again, I got what I paid for. I'm not prepared to see if other people were able to get a better deal than I did. I suppose if you wanted to hire your own attorney you might be able to go it alone, but that's not something I would even begin to be able to do.
With respect to communication, we were encouraged by the pictures and orphan reports that we received. I don't think an adoptive parent can get enough pictures. My understanding is that with two American staffers who worked at the orphanages gone, pictures and reports are not as frequent. That may be an area for improvement. Still, I have friends who have adopted from China, Korea, and Russia, and the amount of feedback we received on our children and the overall process was much greater than they received.
There were some minor glitches in communication with our adoption with respect to the spelling of the girls names, but AOH stepped up and owned up to the mistake. I see how these mistakes can happen. I'm also sympathetic to how difficult it is to balance the needs of parents waiting for referral, parents waiting for finalization, parents waiting for passports, parents waiting for visa appointments, and parents in the country. I sense that AOH is always looking at ways that they can improve, and Patty listened patiently as I shared my concerns with her.
Based on my experience, I would enthusiastically recommend AOH to parents considering adopting from Liberia and would be happy to answer any questions that you might have.
Our overall experience with AOH was good. Things where not exactly how I envisioned them, but I felt AOH did a good job. Ours was a hard case and AOH worked it out. We are so grateful for our child.
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Reviews
Acres of Hope not trustworthy
Contrary to the belief that any bad word against an agency is a unhappy adoptive parent with too high expectations, my adoption went just fine. It was quick and I LOVED Liberia and my son. However, my experience with Acres of Hope (aka AoH or AOHL) would not lead me to recommend it to ANYONE. There are many families who could and have given their perspective on adoptions done wrong, either illegally or unethically, and I have questioned them and know they are telling the truth. My adoption was not my issue with Acres integrity. Rather, I was regularly discussing their "humanitarian" programs with Patty Anglin (the director) and began raising substantial funds before finding out that those programs didn't actually exist. It took me actually calling the organization that provided the food and finding out there was no way that a feeding program of that magnitude was taking place. And this was after asking MANY questions of the AoHL staff, including Patty herself. They have since changed their website and blamed it on an old staff member, but Patty herself had lied to me about it in her conversation to get me to raise 3 million dollars. I would not recommend them for adoptions or for humanitarian relief of any kind.
You asked for first hand... well here it is
I have been slow to write my review since I know that a lot of people are being accused of "slander" because of what they say. I have not been asked by anyone to write this review nor have I told others to do so. I am simply here to tell you my story and you can do with it what you will.
I adopted my special needs son in 2007. From the day I mailed my application to the time I brought my son home was less than 7 months. Fast right? It was, but there was incentive to get it done quickly. About 5 months into the process I was speaking with Patty Anglin for about an hour about fund raising ideas. Being in the TV/Film world I know how great a well made commercial or promo video can be to help raise some money for a good cause.
Patty asked me if I could do it when I traveled to pick up my son then asked me when I could travel. She asked me if I was available in 3 weeks time. I asked her how she could get my son's adoption finished so fast and she said to me that "it wouldn't be a problem". Up to this point I had no idea when I would be traveling. From what I had been told it would be a few months even though they were working hard to get it done because of my son's special needs. So maybe his adoption was further along then I thought, but I deeply doubt this. 40 days later I was on a plane to Liberia to pick up my son.
It was a whirlwind 3 weeks of running around shooting footage of acres of hope projects and hanging out with the amazing children waiting to go home. During this time I never once saw a feeding program or schools. Though I was told over and over again that they existed by Patty, her Liberian staff laughed when I mentioned it. We went deep into the bush one day to see a future farming project and got a chance to tour the new land for the current compound they are building. I was to say the least impressed. My son's adoption went through without a hitch at least I thought.
When I went to airport with my son to leave Liberia I didn't have the proper paperwork to leave the country. Acres of Hope wasn't available to me by phone as I begged with immigrations in Liberia to let us through. By the grace of God we got copies made at the UN airport next door and literally ran after a moving plane. I was left stranded in the airport with no support and not the correct paperwork.
When I got home I took a closer look at my son's background history and adoption paperwork. Many dates didn't match up. I ended up having to deal with the state department here in the US to make sure my son's adoption wouldn't be overturned. I did it on my own with no help from my adoption agency.
As far as AoHL taking in Special needs children when no one else will because of the cost. My son was "reliquished" in October 2006 but didn't come to the orphanage until March 2007 (once they knew I was adopting him). His mother kept him and cared for him on her own until they found him a family. This was of no cost to AoHL what so ever, his mother took care of him and his expenses.
My son also had a bunch of other physical issues I was never made aware of. He's partially blind in his left eye, and has hearing loss in his right ear. The left eye was very obvious but I was never told. I love my son and am forever grateful to AoHL for bringing him to me, without them I wouldn't know that he existed but they could have done things in a more ethical way and would have been there to support me when I needed them most.
My son had surgery this month to help with his special need and is now a paralyzed from the waist down (he wasn't before). His doctors are hopeful that he will walk again one day, but they can't promise me.
You asked for first hand experience... this is as first hand as it gets. I wish I had a better rating of the agency that I spent 7 months of my life intertwined with. But I don't, nor would I recommend Acres of Hope Liberia to anyone wishing to adopt.
Would not use them again.
I adopted my daughter through AoH, I would not recommend them to my friends, I am currently planning to adopt again and will not use AoH again, I was directly lied to, mislead, poorly communicated with, put through utter trauma in Liberia by the staff there because they did not do their job and lied to us about it, thought I'd have to leave my daughter in Liberia because of absolute incompetence on AoH part, they did not do what they told me my 6 week wait to go get her was all about - clearing the embassy. I waited over 8 months for a referral and over 8 months to finally get her, then to be faced with leaving her behind! It was horrible. They changed fees structure on me 3 times, jacked up the mandatory guest house fees at the last absolute second, promised services and never delivered, and to top it off - the expensive guest house food was in short supply and of poor quality (I was not expecting much and was still disappointed). Just my personal experience. Tracy
Don't adopt with Acres of Hope
So there is a lot of talk on here about how families are choosing adoption agencies by their humanitarian work. I will say that drew us into Acres of Hope because we thought that they were really helping the surrounding community a lot, especially with a feeding program that fed 8,000 children a day. Their fees were reasonable at the time for international adoption, and within a budget range we could afford. We read many great things about Patty Anglin and Acres of Hope and all the great work they are doing to care for orphans and help them get adopted. We thought it was a dream come true agency. Well, we wanted to say that our experience with our adoption through Acres of Hope was a horrible one. We can say that because the end result was no children ever came to our home through Acres of Hope. We will never recommend them to anyone. (Why doesn't this scoring system have a zero start rating?)
Thankful, but can't recommend
My adoption went smoothly. My daughter is alive because of Acres of Hope. But I can't say I would adopt from them again, in light of all that has come out. I've been very disappointed by this organization. The end does not justify the means.
Don't Support Acres of Hope
Acres of Hope is a very unethical organization. I would never use them again and I would never recommend them to anyone. I would never donate any money to this organization. Patty Anglin has no integrity and is not in this business to help the children, but to make a name for herself. The children are not well cared for and issues of known sexual abuse have been allowed to continue as well as not informing parents of their children being abused. We have experienced repeatedly being lied to as well as witnessed gross mismanagement of funds. Acres of Hope has a bad reputation around the world.
Red Flags
I agree with the first poster. My adoption too went off without a hitch. There were things during my process that should have raised red flags, but I let them go and defended AoH because I believed in them. In retrospect, all of the wonderful things I had heard about them, came from them. If you have to constantly toot your own horn instead of letting your actions, ethics and integrity speak for you, there is a problem.
I am grateful for the child that came to me through this organization, but I cannot recommend them. We are all well aware that things are often done differently in Africa due to many factors, but integrity and honesty must remain in tact even in the midst of cultural differences if you are going to present yourself as a Christian organization. I don't believe that Acres of Hope has done this. The truth has been twisted when information has been given to birth families and adoptive families. This is unacceptable.
Not to be trusted
I have given Patty Anglin and AoH one star because I can't give them none. To be honest my adoption went on without a hitch. It was quick and done for the most part well. But after returning home with my already special needs son, I have found out that he has partial blindness, Hep B, busted ear drums, and a whole other array of issues, I was not aware of.
I also found out that Liberian Adoption law was broken in my adoption and should my son's mother choose to come back for her son, she could take me to court and win since his reliquishment was either forged or no good! I have also discovered a lot of unethical practiced by not only AoH, but Patty Anglin herself. She has lied to my face and to others I know.
When I questioned AoH about certain things, I was turned away and my questions were never answered. This is NOT a Christian Organization and by saying that it is they are giving Christians around the world a bad name.
Though I had an easy adoption overall, I would not under any circumstance recommend that you adopt from AoH or work with Patty Anglin. They have also since my adoption become insanely overpriced for the services that they provide and are not to be trust to be good stewards of your money.
A very unprofessional and over priced agency
This is an agency that continues to lie to its clients and yet shout they are a "Christian" organization operating in the best interest of children. This is simply not so as they lied to me about my adoptions and to several other families. They also over charge every family, are the most expensive agency in Liberia, are not a licensed agency in the states, and they try to force families to stay at their guest house for 1000 a week as a way to make more money off of them. Their rating is a 0 in my book.
Very grateful for our precious children.
Adoption, and international adoption particularly is extremely difficult due to all the paperwork and costs involved. More of the expense came from travel and USA government requirements, partly since we reside in Ireland. The rules change constantly, and I do believe it is being made more difficult in order to discourage prospective parents. According to our social worker, our adoption was the toughest experience he has had, and it was a nightmare all around.
If it were not for the love and guidance of Harold and Patty Anglin, it never would have worked out for us. We recommend them, with only one note of concern, and it is that prospective parents consider the road is likely to be rocky due to intense red tape. Do not listen to gossip, but talk to the staff at AOH. They are a missionary family that spends much time in Liberia, not just paper pushers living comfortably cushioned from troubles.
Please pray before choosing an agency. If it is integrity, love, and kindness, I see no better place to go. We chose AOH because if the going gets rough, we needed to know that we could turn to true believers of Jesus Christ walking in the light. Rachel was just learning the ropes when we finished our adoption, but she prayed with me and has a kind heart, as does Erin. Donna was the one to tell us first of the availability of our children and God worked all of it out even when it seemed impossible.
We have two wonderful children from Liberia. Our daughter is 2 with cerebral palsy and microcephaly, but she is learning to speak sign language and understands us when we just speak English. She loves having a family and bonded right away. She knows her family and is appropriately cautious of new people, but is good to everyone she gets to know. We love her dearly.
Our son is incredible and absolutely charming. I would love to adopt just one more through AOH under age 1 if the opportunity presented itself. They give so very much to take care of the children and the adoptive parents.
Do not use them---they should be shut down!!
This orginzation is wrought with serious issues...and it starts from the top down. Our families research indicates significant issues with accountablility (mainly there is none), honesty (we have been directly lied to), and integrity(not owning up to mistakes).
Some of the stories that we have heard have been heart breaking and I would hate to hear more of those stories. Please do not use Acres of Hope.
Accountability
Acres of Hope is the name of Harold and Patty Anglin's homestead. Acres of Hope is also the name of the charitable organization begun by the Anglins in approximately 1995. AOH, the charitable organization, is registered with the State of Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing as a charitable organization and has filed some reports with same, but not consistently. This can be checked at the Department's website. AOH, the charitable organization, has from time to time filed a federal tax form for non-profit organizations. AOH, the charitable organization, has not filed a report with the Better Business Bureau's charitable division, despite requests from interested persons that they do so. The mission of Acres of Hope, the charitable organization, has morphed several times over the past decade. At one time there was an Acres of Hope Minnesota, no longer in existence. Now there is an Acres of Hope Liberia and perhaps an Acres of Hope Ghana. There is some accountability with Acres of Hope, the charitable organization. There is very little accountability with Acres of Hope Liberia.....no filing of reports with State of Wisconsin, no income tax returns, no rating by any charitable giving oversight agency, including the Better Business Bureau. Everyone is free to chose which charitable organization(s) they want to work with and how accountable that organization(s)should be for individuals to feel comfortable in their involvement and giving. I would assume that when one works with multiple populations of vulnerable adults and children the standards of accountability, honesty, truth and integrity should be more than lip service at a web site.
Acres of Hope
First hand experience. (Disclaimer: I have not been encouraged or contacted by anyone to leave my review here, and or anywhere else. Noone has contacted me or encouraged me to partake in any kind of campaign to hurt a person.)
We will not be using Acres of Hope for any further adoptions.
This is a Wonderful Agency
I have had wonderful experiences with this agency. I think they really care about the children. Adoption is not perfect. I think AOH works hard to get things done. I personally think if adoptive parents don't have everything go exactly there way then they bad mouth an agency. You cannot expect perfection in an African adoption. Africa is not like America and things do not work in Africa like they do here. Adoption is just unpredictable. If you won't accept this, than don't adopt.
As for cost, there are a few families who adopted through Acres of Hope that have there kids home and still owe AOH their adoption fees. So if AOH was so into the money, why would they have brought these kids home on their dime, knowing they might not get those adoption fees? Anyway my point is nothing is perfect and I think AOH are good, kind hearted people who do what it takes(legally) to get this sweet babies home to loving Christian families. I would adopt through them again in a heartbeat!
overall pleased
I was happy with my AOH experience. I was looking solely for an adoption agency,the level of care the children recieved, and the efficiency of the agency. I give to other humanitarian efforts that are not adoption related. But as for adoptions, AOH took excellent care of my child and got my child home pretty quickly. I was pleased. I think AOH does a good job with ADOPTIONS. Other areas I was not looking into as adoption was my focus.
My experience with AOH
I'm sure that AOH doesn't need me to be an apologist for them, but I want to inject as objective of a view as I can based on my experience, as well as comment on some of the earlier postings about AOH.
Of the six "negative" posts on this site, three of them say that their adoption went fine, and three others focused on issues other than their specific adoption. If the purpose of posting these negative comments about AOH is to dissuade rational people from using AOH, you really need to give better examples than mere ad hominem attacks against Patty Anglin.
I had my own reasons for selecting AOH. I didn't compare the fees of AOH to those of other agencies. Certainly that may be a consideration for some people, but that wasn't my primary concern. (For the record, Liberian adoption cost less than any of the other countries we considered). Nor did I base my decision on the presence of a feeding program, although it certainly sounded like a very good thing for them to do and I was happy to know that it was part of their overall program in Liberia.
What I wanted was an agency that would facilitate my adoption on my behalf in Liberia. I wanted my children to be well cared for while I waited. And I wanted open communication about what was going on. While there is much to say about the fact that the orphanage is a mission of mercy, and the decision to adopt is a personal, life changing decision, the adoption process at the end of the day is a business transaction. We select an agency, we pay the fees, we provide the paperwork, and the agency makes sure that you have a legally binding adoption of the child that is referred to you. Acres of Hope delivered in every respect with our adoption.
Our adoption proceeded fairly quickly. From the time of our referral to the time we arrived back in the states with our daughters it was seven months and one week. We entered the program after our homestudy was completed, and we accepted a referral of two girls that were on the waiting children list, so we did not have a long wait there.
We elected to travel to Liberia as a couple to pick up our daughters. We stayed at the guest house and we paid the fee ($1,000 for a couple for a week, even though we stayed a couple days less than that, meals included). Was that too much? I suppose I could stay in nicer accommodations for the money in some countries. Perhaps even in Liberia. But I don't know my way around Liberia, and was in no position to shop for a nice hotel, then figure out meals and transportation after that. To me, the $1,000 was worth the expense. We were well fed, and Rich and Linda made the extra effort to take us shopping, sight seeing, and to the beach. I know that there are others who make their own arrangements, but that really wasn't a realistic option for us.
As far as cost goes, again, I got what I paid for. I'm not prepared to see if other people were able to get a better deal than I did. I suppose if you wanted to hire your own attorney you might be able to go it alone, but that's not something I would even begin to be able to do.
With respect to communication, we were encouraged by the pictures and orphan reports that we received. I don't think an adoptive parent can get enough pictures. My understanding is that with two American staffers who worked at the orphanages gone, pictures and reports are not as frequent. That may be an area for improvement. Still, I have friends who have adopted from China, Korea, and Russia, and the amount of feedback we received on our children and the overall process was much greater than they received.
There were some minor glitches in communication with our adoption with respect to the spelling of the girls names, but AOH stepped up and owned up to the mistake. I see how these mistakes can happen. I'm also sympathetic to how difficult it is to balance the needs of parents waiting for referral, parents waiting for finalization, parents waiting for passports, parents waiting for visa appointments, and parents in the country. I sense that AOH is always looking at ways that they can improve, and Patty listened patiently as I shared my concerns with her.
Based on my experience, I would enthusiastically recommend AOH to parents considering adopting from Liberia and would be happy to answer any questions that you might have.
Patrick Berryman
www.berrymanfamily.blogspot.com
Overall my experience was good
Our overall experience with AOH was good. Things where not exactly how I envisioned them, but I felt AOH did a good job. Ours was a hard case and AOH worked it out. We are so grateful for our child.