Children's Home Little Red Stocking

Give Now to Support Children & Families

For 134 years, Children’s Home has been making a difference one child, one family, one generation at a time. The Little Red Stocking was established in 1909 to help community members like you be a part of this work. Through the generosity of our donors, we’ve helped more than 30,000 children join loving, permanent families.

Read Lindsay & Ryan's Story

Lindsay and Ryan began their adoption journey as many people do, envisioning an infant who would transform them from a couple into a growing family. But within months of starting the adoption process, they both felt a calling that changed the initial vision.

“I looked in my heart,” said Lindsay. “Knowing how many older kids, especially siblings, were waiting to be adopted, that felt like the best option for us. I felt compelled that was our path.”

In late summer 2020, while looking through the Children’s Home website of children waiting for permanent homes, Lindsay and Ryan were drawn to a posting for three siblings – two sisters and a brother, ages 7, 8, and 9. Coincidentally, their social worker also knew of the children and contacted Lindsay and Ryan about them. “Knowing us, she had a feeling these kids might be a good fit,” said Ryan.

In mid-October, 2020, Lindsay and Ryan were introduced to the children in a video meeting. After two in-person meetings and a weekend overnight, the three children moved from Mankato into their Saint Paul home in time for the holiday season.

“One of the kids’ concerns was that Santa might not find them in their new home,” said Ryan, “so we reassured them that wouldn’t be a problem.”

Their first holiday season together was spent building family traditions – making cookies, watching holiday movies, singing Christmas carols, and decorating the artificial tree that Lindsay decorated as a child. “Now they want that every year,” said Lindsay. “They especially like the heritage of our tree. And since their love language is gifts, Christmas is extra special for them.”

While this family’s story is heart-warming, Lindsay and Ryan are both quick to say that adopting older children is complicated. In the space of three weeks, in the midst of a pandemic, the children had moved to a new home, in a new city with new parents.

The transition started off a bit rocky. There was a disconnect between the new parents and the children about how families operate. “There were big feelings all around,” said Ryan. “There were conflicts, and our inexperience as parents only added to the difficulties.”

The couple eagerly accepted their social worker’s suggestion that they enroll in Children’s Home’s Family Support Coach service, which included 12 sessions with a family coach.

The couple says their coach, Kelly Tronstad, provided invaluable insights into what their children were experiencing. “She helped us understand that the kids’ behaviors were simply communicating that they were missing something,” said Lindsay. “They were acting in a way that was to be expected, given their situation.”

Today, the family is thriving. The oldest child is sensitive and artistic. The middle one is outgoing with the mind of an engineer. The youngest is joyful and adventurous. And Lindsay and Ryan are flourishing as parents. They are deeply grateful for the guidance they received from the Family Support Coach service.

“We learned so much from Kelly about how to be parents,” said Ryan. “She helped us make our family stronger.”

“She did,” Lindsay said. “We would not be the family we are without Children’s Home and Kelly.”

Your gift today helps unite children with loving, nurturing families through adoption. It ensures that people touched by adoption receive ongoing post adoption support throughout their lives. And, it helps children facing out-of-home placement find safe, caring foster homes during times of uncertainty.

This year, your gift will have twice the impact, thanks to a group of generous donors providing a dollar-for-dollar match for all end-of-year gifts, up to $50,000!

Here are examples of what your donation to our Little Red Stocking campaign can do:

$25 helps cover background check fees for foster parents
$50 helps adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents connect through support groups
$125 supplies a child experiencing foster care with clothing, shoes & hygiene products
$250 covers the education fee for an international adoptive parent
$400 funds an adoptee’s search for medical background information
$1,000 helps support a teen in finding permanency before aging out of foster care
$2,500 provides an adoption support fund grant to a family internationally adopting their relative child, who incur an average of $25,000-40,000 in total expenses

Thanks to your generosity, the Little Red Stocking Campaign has been helping children and families since 1909. Your gift in any amount makes a difference!