THE MICHIGAN CITIZEN APRIL 26 - AY 2, 1987
3
With a little love, a lot can happen
ancy, 11, and Joshua, 10,
sister and brother were abu d
when they were toddlers. For
veral years they were shuffled
among relatives and foster
homes and longed for affection
and permanence in their lives.
Today, they are happy, enthu '-
tic children who share a
thir t for the history inherent
in downtown Philadelphia.
ancy, thought to be mildly
mentally retarded, now attends
regular c1 s in her elemen
tary hool and is doing well ...
ene, musically talented
13-ye -old comes from orth
Carolina. She a thought
to h ve learning disabilit ies
hich ere 'responsible for her
poor gr de and 0 progre
in hool. ow she proudly
di pl ys a report card with
practically all B's ...
Qwynton, a 23-month-old
toddler from Florida, wa born
to a young, immature mother
who w not able to take care of
him. Hi younger ister, an
infant, created additional pro
blem for her mother who
wa overwhelmed at the thought
of being respon ible for two
young children.
ancy, Joshua, Rene, Qwyn
ton and hi sister, Tiffani, are
luc y ... they have been dopt
ed by families who are giving
them what they need most
. '. . a permanent home ith
love and st bility to help them
gro up into productive, ful
filling adulthood.
But there re more than
35,00 children throughout the
United St tes who are still
WITII A LOT OF WVE - QwyntoD (second from ri ht) and Tiffani (in highchair) are happy in the'
De doptive home with the Armstead family. P' tured wi h the children their parents, J cqueline
nd John Ann d nd the' . er, Kaneene.
waiting for familie of their
own. They are not the healthy
infants traditionally associated
with adoption. Rather, they are
children with physical, emo
ti nal, and mental disabilities
or brothers and sisters who
need a home together. any
are older; approximately 13,000
. are Black.
Consider Carlo , age 9 who
is still waiting for a family
of his own. Born with cerebral
palsy, Carlos is. considered a
child with "special needs." He
receives physical therapy and is
now able to get about with or
without the help of his crutch
es. Despite his disabilities,
Carlos' friendly and talkative
manner makes one forget about
his problems.
Fourteen-year-old Patricia is
waiting too. A frightened and
confused teenager, she attends
weekly counselling sessions for
emotional problems. While she
is functioning in the slow
range intellectually, it is felt
that her potential is higher ...
if she has the proper stimula
tion.
Rodney, 10,Tracy, 12, and
Derrick, 13, dream about their
tomorrows. But what these
siblings think about most is
o
position mounts against Reagane
orts 0,
ASH GTO A)
The Minority Bu sine s Enter
pri Legal Defen nd Edu
cation Fund, Inc. of Washing
cation Fund, Inc. of Washing
ton, D.C. announced a major
resolution urging Congress to
defeat Pre 'dent Reagan's 1988
bud et proposal transferring the
inority Busine Development
gency to the Small Business
dmini tration.
Parren J. it chell , the
Fund' founder and chairman,
id the Reagan Administra
tion' transfer proposal ill have
a negative affect that will
prove deva ating to the
minority business community
and the economic progre of
thi nation."
itchell a former Congre •
man and Chairman of the
Hou Small Business commit-
tee, the special resolution
urge Congre to defeat the
transfer proposal and to pass
I i ati n trengthening BDA,
whi i pre ntly located with
in the U.S. Department of
Commerce.
itchell said the fact that
BD i located within a
C binet-level federal department
uch the Commerce Depart-
ment i critical to the continued
federal effort to assist the
creation and expansion of heal
thy minority busine s.
The Reagan Admini ration's
specific proposal i to transfer
MBDA from the Commerce
Department to SBA effective
October 1, 1987. An estimated
140 of MBDA's 240 employee
would be transferred, along with
the agency's largest program -
the inority Busine Develop
ment Centers Program. The
remaining 100 employee will
probably 10 their job ,Mitchell
said.
"The nation can ill-afford to
10 the momentum which has
been established the past two
dec des to expand economic
markets for minority busine
participation," Mitchell id.
" illions of American today
lead productive lives as employ
ee of minority-owned firms,"
he noted. " eighborhood urban
and rural communitie, once
blighted by poverty and high
unemployment, are now being
rejuvenated because of the
emergence of cce sful
minority-o ned busine il-
lions of dollars in
t revenues have been gener-
ated by minority firm - dollar
th t might otherwi have been
lost to the nation - had tho
firms not existed.
." ow is certainly not the
time in our history to turn
back the cloc on federal
effort to develop minority
businesses that enhance our
nation's industrial productivity
and overall economic growth,"
Mitchell said. "It is imperative
that Congress enact legislation
granting BDA statutory.
authority to strengthen the
agency's minority business de
velopment program." Such
legislation would give MBDA
stronger operating authority, far
greater authority than the cur
rent presidential Executive
Orders 11458 and 11625 which
authorize the agency's opera
tions.
having a permanent famil.
Derric is a little behind
academically, but hi biggest
problem is a lack of motivation.
Tracyis just beginning to blos-
m into a young woman and
is interested in fashion and
cosmetics. Rodney yearn to be
a policeman.
In the past 14 years the
ational Adoption I Center has
found families for more than
3000 children. But its wor is
only beginning and the Center
is committed to the belief that
"there are .no unwanted chil
dren,ju t unfound parents."
The Philadelphia-based
organization maintains a nat
ional computerized registry on
which are li ted children waiting
for families and farnilie appr v
ed by licensed adoption
agencies to adopt. In thi ay,
a child from e VOT. f r
instance, can be ' matched' ith
a family from Minneapolis. For
children for wh m no 'match
es" can be made, extensive
recruitment - both generi and
for specific children - is con
ducted. The registry i funded
partly through a grant from the
.S. Department of Health and
Human Services and is the only
such national re urce.
Families interested in addit
ional information may contact
the ational Adoption Center
1218 Che tnut Street, Philadel
phia, P A 19107 or phone 1- oo
TO-ADOPT.
BDA has a sisted min rity
firms to receive 100 billion in
finan ing $50 billion in
government procurements 0
billion in tate and 10 al govern
ment procurements, and $60
billion in purchases from m [or
U.S. corporations since the
agency was established 18 years
ago.
AACP ta es stand for minority
business administration
BALTIMORE - The AACP,
in a resolution pa d by its
Board of Director on February
21, 1987, expressed opposition
to a proposal by President
Reagan to transfer the Minority
Business Development Agency
(MBDA) from the U.S. De
partment of Commerce to the
Small Busine Administration
with a reduction in both staff
positions and funding.
The resolution noted that
over a period of 18 years, the
BDA ha isted in the
creation of over 300,000 of the
600,000 minority owned firms
in existence, a si ted minority
owned firms in obtaining $ 10
billion in financing, $50 bil
lion in U.S. Government pro
curements, and $60 billion in
purch s from major U .. cor
porations and created millions
of jobs.
The resolution said that the
"current situation in SBA is
not conducive to positive con
tinuing operation of minority
busine s focu d programming"
and the a ency it If is the
target of attempted elimin
tion."
The proposed transfer
according to the AACP
'signals the abandonment of a
rious program leading to
economic empowerment of the
minority communities through
minority business development
and the inclusion of the minor
ity business community in the
mainstream of the dome tic and
international marketpla es of
this nation."
Support wa al given to
"an immediate con re . nal
initiative to pa legi ation imi
lar to that introduced by former
Con ressman Panen J. it chell
e ablishing the in rity Busi
ne Development dmini tra
tion, headed by an Assistant
-Secret ry of Commerce.