Bringing awareness to the need for adoptive families at Toyota Field

MADISON, Ala. (WHNT) — There are thousands of children in the foster care system in the state of Alabama, and a need for adoptive families.

“They all need good, supportive homes,” said Brittany Popham, with Alabama Pre/Post Adoption Connections (APAC).

APAC is an effort between the Children’s Aid Society of Alabama and the Alabama Department of Human Resources. Its goal is to help families prepare for and through the adoption process.

“We do all the training, home study, everything,” Popham said. “It’s a free service to you guys to help become forever families.”

She said every child, no matter their age, deserves a life-long family.

“We want families to step in and become forever families for those children that do not have a family to go back to, somebody to walk them down the aisle when they’re older, to teach them how to drive, to send them off to college, to do all those things that we take for granted, having families,” she said.

APAC partnered with the Heart Gallery , a non-profit that connects youth in foster care to families, for an event to raise awareness about the need for adoptive families at Sunday’s Trash Pandas Game.

The Redd family was one of the families in attendance at the game. Their family grew with the help of the Heart Gallery and APAC.

“Everybody needs a good parent figure in their life to grow up and be successful and it’s harder for the older kids,” said Tyla Redd.

Her son Levi has now been in the family for about a year. “He just fits right in, everybody says he looks just like my husband so he’s just a part of us now,” she said.

Levi’s adoption was just recently finalized. To celebrate, he was able to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Trash Pandas game.

His throw went right across home plate. He said he had played in a baseball tournament all weekend and practiced these throws to prepare.

You can learn more about Alabama Pre/Post Adoption Connections (APAC) by clicking here .

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