NorCal FRUA Chapter

We are one of the fastest growing FRUA regions, with 200 member families. Our children have been adopted from many countries, including Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Guatemala and the United States.

FRUA National Information

Despite our name, our families have adopted children from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and other Eastern European countries.

The organization was started in 1993 in the Washington DC metropolitan area. The initial group of parents met in their living rooms. Today FRUA has grown to almost 2,000 member families and a database of 4,000. Regional chapters cross the country, with scattered members worldwide.

For a small annual fee, members have access to information and events that address the specific needs of our families. These services include:

• Our national quarterly newsletter, Family Focus, which includes profiles of geographic regions, medical and parenting news, book reviews, culinary ideas and other resources.
• A hot line that may be used for:
• Keeping up to date on law changes and policies
• Finding reference families for agencies and contacts
• Learning about specific orphanages
• Providing guidance to prospective families
• Locating cultural, medical and adoptive resources
• Because of our size and place in the adoption community, FRUA is able to:
  • Sponsor conferences
  • Focus attention on the children still living in orphanages
  • Educate the general public about the culture, the joys our children bring and adoption issues
  • Work with the media to present well balanced stories about our children

• We work with the National Adoption Center to help our members introduce Employer Provided Adoption Benefits to the American workplace.
• We provide information through our booklet series:
• A Brief Overview of Our International Adoption Research for pre-adoptive families
• Health and Developmental Issues Facing Our Children dealing with medical issues
• Member Recommended Resource Directory which covers anything and everything
• FRUA has an award winning home page at: www.frua.org
• Information is also available through our lending library:
• Books on cultural and medical issues
• Audio tapes from FRUA conferences
• Video tapes from FRUA conferences and cultural events
• We have not-for-profit IRS tax deductibility status. This allows us to step up our relief efforts and make donations go farther.
• FRUA is made up entirely of volunteers.

• As of this writing, FRUA has almost 2,000 active member families and 4,000 in our database. We are growing at a rate of 50 new members each month.
• Since the former Soviet Union opened for foreign adoption, more than 44,166 children have been adopted by American citizens from Russia alone. Last year, Americans adopted 5,865 children from Russia, putting the country second on the US State Department’s list of issued orphan visas. Kazakhstan placed fifth with 826 children, Ukraine sixth with 723 children, and Belarus eleventh with 202 children.
• Core volunteers donate a minimum of 3,200 hours each month. Our volunteers are primarily corporate professionals, medical professionals and educators.
• We operate with minimal overhead expense. Over 97% of contributions are used to make a direct, positive impact.
• Our website receives an average of 110 hits per day. Our hot line receives an average of 35 phone calls per week. We process approximately 90 new requests for information each month.
• FRUA’s PR Task Force is in contact with the media to present balanced stories about our kids. Credits of the task force include CBS Sunday Morning, ABC’s Nightline and NPR’s Diane Rehm Show.
• Our conferences in Washington DC (‘96), New Brunswick (‘97), New York (’98 & ‘99), Wisconsin (‘98) and Houston (’99) had 75-100 people in attendance. Topics covered were international adoption issues, medical concerns and family life.
• FRUA distributed approximately 1,900 copies of our booklet series and over 1,000 reprints to date.
• In 1999, 258 baby houses in Russia and 141 baby houses in Ukraine received a pediatric physical therapy book and staff training materials, as arranged for in conjunction with Russian Orphanage Association (ROA). Plans are being made for the distribution of additional training materials.
• FRUA sponsored 175 cases of food, formula and vitamins for 98 children living in Kolomna, Russia. The items were received by the orphanage director on Christmas Eve, 1998. This project continued throughout 1999. FRUA is scheduled to expand this program to additional orphanages in 2000.
• 30 cases of over-the-counter children’s medicines were delivered to orphanages in Novgorod, Russia and Zaporoshye, Ukraine in 1997.
• An orphanage in Tver, Russia has repaired plumbing and heating systems and an orphanage in Georgia has a new hot water heater thanks to FRUA’s fundraising efforts.
• Over 125 large boxes of supplies have been hand delivered to orphanages by traveling families through our Grow Bag Program. In addition, 17 boxes of new and gently used clothing and blankets were sent to a runaway shelter in Siberia and a refugee center in war-torn Georgia.
• Build orphanage playgrounds in Russia and Romania in 2003.

PO Box 2944 Merrifield, VA 22116

phone: 703-560-6184 fax: 301-474-4516

email: fruausa@aol.com website: www.frua.org