Zeanna's Story

Zeanna entered foster care at age fourteen. She is a happy, upbeat young lady who loves Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and all things Disney.

Because Zeanna was diagnosed with autism, her caseworkers knew they would need to find a special family to care for her. They found this family – Paulette and Keith Day – through the AICI’s Adoption Listing Service (ALS).

The ALS maintains lists of children who need adoptive families and families who want to adopt. Then it promotes matches between the two.

Paulette and Keith Day registered with the ALS when they decided to add another child to their family. They are parents who have been caring for children with special needs for more than 20 years, first as foster parents and then as adoptive parents. They have experience with challenges that range from Down syndrome to muscular dystrophy and fetal alcohol syndrome.

One day, as Mrs. Day was looking through the listings of waiting children, she came across Zeanna. “As soon as I saw her little picture, I knew this was the right girl for us,” she said.

Mrs. Day called the AICI and was put in contact with Zeanna’s caseworker, who recognized
that the Day family could be a great match for Zeanna.

The Days made several trips to visit with Zeanna, and then she came to stay with them for a weekend. The other Day children got along really well with her. “The whole family loved her,” said Mrs. Day. Soon after, Zeanna came to live with the Days, and her adoption was finalized.

Mrs. Day said she was pleased with how the Adoption Listing Service helped her in the search for a child. She found it very empowering, since she didn’t have to wait for a worker to call her, but instead could be proactive. “We like that we can look over the listings of children, read about them, and see their pictures. We know our family’s chemistry and can make a good decision about which child might be a good fit.”

Today, Zeanna is enrolled in school and doing well; she’s the only one in her class who can read. And the Days are planning a vacation to Disneyland so Zeanna can meet her favorite Disney characters in person. “Our experience with adopting Zeanna has been wonderful,” said Mrs. Day.

This story was originally published in the 2008 edition of our annual report.