Henan Project

In April 2008, CCAI, with strong support from the Chinese Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) in Beijing, entered into a long-term partnership with the Henan Provincial Civil Affairs Bureau. As Henan Province is one of the largest and poorest areas within China, this partnership represents a unique and important step in assisting a large number of Chinese orphans. Among adoption agencies, CCAI is the only agency that has ever been designated to help an entire province.

From the onset, the partnership goals were considerable.

As we look back today, it is clear that CCAI’s efforts are bearing fruit. No longer are children considered unadoptable because of a special need. Our dedicated charity team has helped orphanage leaders and staff see the potential of each child, just like they did for a little girl now called Joy.

The charity team has also established routine child care and international adoption trainings to improve caretakers’ skills, strengthen the adoption support procedures, and solicit active participation from each orphanage director. Through CCAI’s tireless effort and systematic charity investment, more than 5,000 children’s live have been touched, about 2,000 children have received individualized foster care, and over 1,000 orphans have been adopted internationally, which represents a ten-fold increase in adoptions pre-2008.

The partnership has even benefited the local communities around the orphanages. Where before there were no CCAI foster families, Henan Province now boasts more than 360. Each foster family provides one-on-one home care to a special needs child. This personalized care not only improves the child’s daily situation, it enables these special children to form attachments that will increase the odds of a successful adoption.

Where CCAI saw additional needs in the community, we constructed three Lily Orphan Care Centers (LOCC). These LOCCs not only relieved Henan’s severe orphanage overcrowding, but they continue to serve as models of childcare which go beyond adoption. As part of our LOCC organization, CCAI sends childcare training and therapy teams to all Henan orphanages to evaluate orphanage conditions, produce training plans, and conduct onsite caregiver training on how best to meet basic, emotional, and developmental needs of special needs children.

You can make a difference in a child’s life! - Many of the abandoned children within the Henan orphanages exhibit one or more special needs. While our objective is first, and foremost, international adoption, CCAI believes we can make a difference in the lives of those that may never find a forever family. Our co-founder, Joshua Zhong, says it best: “Adoption, without helping the children left behind, is meaningless.”

To help the Henan orphans, please consider supporting a LOCC, sponsoring a child, supporting the valuable work done by our training team, offsetting the cost of medical treatments, purchasing items to fulfill basic needs (i.e., special nipples for cleft lip/palate), or even just bettering their lives through items of convenience (i.e., disposable diapers instead of cloth; laundry machines, cooking appliances). For more information, please contact us at charity@ccaifamily.org or 303-850-9998.

Please check with your employer to see if they will match your donation.