#columbusphotographer Archives - Page 2 of 16

Another day, Another scam going around – FLAUNT Magazine

My fellow photogs, beware of another scam going around:

I received the following emails from Clarabel Ward (clarabelward85@gmail.com) this month. The first one seemed legitimate, but they quickly turned a bit fishy, so I contacted FLAUNT directly who confirmed they do not solicit photography in this way and have never heard of Clarabel Ward.

The email chain reads (8/21):

“Hello,
   I saw your photography portfolio online and would like to learn more about your services. I’m looking for an experienced photographer to work with on an ongoing blogging and articles.
clarabel”

My response (8/21):

“Hi Clarabel:
I would be very interested in working with you to create some wonderful cutting edge images for Faunt.
Please let me know more details about the shoot and I can work up a quote.
THANKS!!
Jim”

This is where it gets fishy – it is almost a copy and paste from the same sort of email I got last year that I blogged on HERE

Her resonse later in the day (8/21):

“Hello James,
I’m compiling shots for Flaunt magazine “fashion page” segment and the online fashion magazine is looking for professional and reliable photographers who want to create stunning images to feature on our website- Flaunt is particularly looking for outdoor and urban looks.

If you’re interested this project, it is important to understand few details about the project. These are:

You will be required to work with 2 models.
There will be 3 outfits per model, 5 looks for each outfit, which totals 30 looks/images.
Outfits/Wardrobe will be supplied by us.
Location, date, and time will be fixed by you.
We want 30 professionally taken pictures in High Res Digital Copies.
Delivery date: latest Sept 10th 2018.
Compensation: $2500 ($700 upfront and $1800 final payment).
You will hold full image right (Licensor)
As the photographer we want you to handle other aspect of the gig and dictate the creative direction. If you can handle this, please reply with your full name/Business name (to be written on your payment and contract), phone number, and address (if it is different from the one above). I will forward a contract to be signed by both parties.
Regards”

My response on August 24th:

“Hi Clarabel:

I have a few questions about the shoot:

When can I expect delivery of the clothes?
Sizes of clothing?
Accessories provided?
Are you paying the models directly?
What talent agency are you using?
HMUA provided?
Any particular looks that you are going for?
Any examples of the work you are expecting?
Your contract specifics?

Right now the weekend of September 1 & 2 is open and I could shoot then to meet your deadline.

Can I get your full billing address, contact phone number, and two business references.

My contact information is listed below in my footer and on my website.

THANKS!!

Jim”

Note that I asked for HER full billing address, contract phone number and two business references as well as information about the talent agency she is using.

Her response later in the day (8/24):

“Hi Jim,

Thanks for the reply and the interest to work with us on this project.I would like to work with you on this project. There are few details you need to know:

Wardrobe will be picked by our stylist based on urban trends for the season. We expect you to shoot in an urban gritty or/and natural outdoor look with clean product focused images; I'm attaching some pictures as samples.

You will have to do little retouching if pictures can be taken with natural lighting. Final images will be 300dpi or larger, mix of rectangular and verticals, to be delivered via file share. Images will be used as an editorial content on flaunt.com for 12 months.

An agency will provide a male and a female fashion model, makeup and hair stylists.You will be paid $700 upfront plus the talents budget while your balance payment will be paid after sending us proof that the job has been done; usually watermarked images.

Photographers we hire usually take on the responsibilities of coordinating the shoot, selecting location, and disbursing fees. An advance payment of $5300 will be issued prior to the shoot; this covers your $700 upfront and fee for talents’ fee payable to their manager.photographers pay and disburse fees so as to create a great working relationship and be in charge of the whole shoot and crew(photographers use discretion and personal experience in producing a good and quality shoot)

Attached is a sample of the contract.When is the best time to chat about the shoot?

Regards
clarabel Ward”

This is where it gets really interesting because she actually took the time to find images and draw up a contract (you can find a copy of it HERE).

But note that they have not given me ANY information about themselves – ever. They also did not give me ANY information about the MUA or talent agency that I asked for, nor do they give me the business references I asked for, and the contract reads like something I would put together with the names changed – WAY too many rights given to me – actually come to think about it – it seems like a wedding contract sample that Honeybook was offering for free sign-ups. Hmmm :-0

My response (8/24):

“Hi Clarabel:

Thanks for the email and the ideas.  I would love to move forward with this.

Only sticking point is the payment - While I would love to work with you, I will not make payments to the modeling agency or the HMUA.

Simply pay me for my part of the project and pay the talent directly for theirs.  That is industry standard.

THANKS!!

Jim”

I didnt hear anything for several days and then sent this email to poke the bear, figuring I wouldnt get a response.

My response (8/28 6:45 AM EST):

“So are we doing this or is this the scam that I thought it was from the start.
If I don’t hear from you I will post it to my blog to warn others as I have with many of these in the past.
THANKS!!
Jim”

But she immediately shot back (keeping in mind she is supposedly west coast and is up at 3:45 AM in the morning – but its the afternoon in Nigeria :-):

Her response (8/28 6:51 AM EST):

“Hi James,
Thanks for your mail,this is not a SCAM,FLAUNT finance dept issues a single check/budget for shoots and projects like this,I am sorry but I am not in a position to influence or change the position of the finance section of the magazine,the budget check is ready if you can take charge of the whole shoot and disbursement of funds as contained in the CONTRACT. We can clearly still do this if the terms are OK by you,will only ask that the agency rep (supplying Models,MUA ,mobile studio etc) contact you to work out date and location that you choose fast and any other necessary arrangements since it is only a day's shoot. sorry for my late response,i have been off work(office) for a few days to attend to a personal health issue (Ear infection minor surgery) .
please let me know if we can run this shoot together as i am still on a tight timeline to deliver the pics as the magazine will be using them in their content starting from October.
regards”

And then another quick follow up from her (8/28 6:52 AM EST):

“Hi Jim
kindly send name and address for check to be issued to so i can forward to the Finance Dept for prompt disbursement so we can make this work ”

She is still sticking to it at this point, so I actually reached out to FLAUNT.
Keep in mind that I already gave her my address and contact information – its even in the contract she sent me and in the footer of every email I send out, but she doesn’t seem to remember that, or isn’t able to look two lines further down the email.

My email to FLAUNT (8/28 AM):

“Hello FLAUNT:

I am writing to you to confirm that the attached emails are true or false.  It seems like the typical Nigerian money scam, but the emails are very well written and the contract that they sent seems convincing.  Further when I called her on it, she fought back, so I am reaching out to you for confirmation.

Clarabel Ward reached out to me several weeks ago to produce photographs for your October edition.  She included a contract in one of the emails, but insists that one check will be issued and I have to pay the talent and MUA from that one check that will also include my payment.

Is this legitimate??
THANKS!!
Jim”

8/29 – I thought this was dead a buried:

I received a wonderful call from Scott Cook Photography in Orlando Florida today. It seems that Clarabel Ward had been emailing him as well with the same offer to photograph fashion for FLAUNT. Scott smelled the rat right away, especially when Clarabel sent him MY contract – LOL. He reached out to me to see why MY contact information would be on HIS contract.

We had a good laugh about it all and compared notes about the business briefly. If you need a photographer in Central Florida, Scott’s your man.

What tipped me off that this was a scam?

This was one of the better written scams I have seen – very good english with little to no grammatical errors. My first inkling of the scam is that this is not the type of work I normally do – while I would love to do more of it. 🙂 The second email from her looks almost identical to the scam that was sent to me last year involving a supposed shoot for HypeBeast, and gives a specific description of what you will shoot, how much you will be paid, and that they are up fronting you $700 without ever having worked with you is a warning sign. There is much more negotiation than this for any legitimate assignment.

Second tip is that they are paying you, but you get to keep full image rights. Almost all work for hire jobs require you to relinquish some or all of the rights for a period of time

Third is the quick turn-around. They want to pressure you to make payments out of your pocket quickly before their check bounces.

They have never worked with me, but want to cut me a check? “Give us your full name, phone and address for the check”.

People in some of the Facebook groups that I posted this in have been asking what the scam is with this since Clarabel is paying me.

The scams are all a bit different, but I’m sure if I followed thru – they would send me the $5,300 check (or some other amount greater than the agreed upon amount) and then ask me to pay a ‘stylist’ or another photographer in another city with the excess. They hope that I’m stupid enough to pay out before their check clears (or in this case bounces) and my pay-out is actually going back to them thru a third party.

I used to play with people like this and have about a dozen fake checks and money orders from these type of scammers. What I loved was when I refused to pay out before their check cleared and they would threaten to contact the police and played other heavy handed tactics the were just hollow threats.

The response from FLAUNT:

Hi James,

We have never heard of Clarabel Ward and any legitimate photography assignments would not come from a gmail account, but instead be from a flaunt.com address.

This is likely an attempt to steal your personal or company information and cheat you out of money.

FLAUNT staff

August 29, 2018/13 Comments/by James

DTFA – The Corley Family

Features, Images, News, People

This is the thirteenth of an ongoing series of assignments that I had for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. This has been a very meaningful project for me, as I too was adopted, but I had found a forever family when I was only months old. Many of the children I have documented in this series were not so fortunate, spending years in a system that passed them from one home to another until DTFA stepped in and helped them find a stable home life and loving forever family.

OUR CHILD IS PERFECT, EVEN WHEN HE ISN’T

By Sadie Marshall-Corley

Sadie and her husband, Cody, adopted their son, Latrell, through the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption’s Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program. The Corleys, who live in Louisiana, want to raise awareness about the importance of foster care adoption, and specifically, the critical need to find permanent, loving homes for teenagers in foster care.

People often say that our son is ‘lucky’ to have us, but they could never understand that we are the ones who are truly lucky and blessed to have him.

My husband, Cody, and I had thought about adoption for a while. But adopting a teenager was never the plan, until it was. Cody is a middle school teacher and had a 14-year-old student named Latrell. Cody and Latrell formed a bond that extended from class to extracurricular activities. And it was during this time that Cody learned that Latrell was in foster care. Months later, I met Latrell.

Latrell spent eight years in foster care. He needed a family. Before we finished the certification process, Latrell was moved to Monroe, Louisiana, which was about two hours away. Frustrated, but not deterred, we pressed on. We exchanged phone numbers, became Facebook friends and traveled to Monroe to take Latrell to dinner so we could see him and continue getting to know him.

In October 2016, Latrell asked us if we were interested in adopting him. Prior to that, we had just been getting to know one another and hadn’t made any solid plans or promises. My heart almost burst when he asked that one question. It took a few more months, but Latrell moved into our home in February 2017.

During this process, Kerri Byrd, our Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter, was our guardian angel. I can’t tell you how many times I called her crying. The process was slow, and I felt like it was robbing us of time with our son. He was already 15, and we had limited time before he’d be off to college or living on his own.

By December 2017, Latrell was officially a Corley. He says he is now “living his best life.” What a compliment from a now 17-year-old boy!
While Latrell was already a teenager when we met, his experiences had been so limited. It was heartbreaking at first, but we realized that it allowed us to experience a lot of the typical “firsts” with him that are often missed when an older child is adopted. We got to teach him how to drive and give him his own room for the first time in his life. We bought him his first plane ticket for his first trip out of state. We gave him his first dog, helped him secure his first job, and more. It has been an incredible journey.

The biggest change for Latrell has been his grades. When he came to us, he was nearly failing. Today, he has a 3.5 GPA. He is now confident. It has been more amazing than I have the words to describe watching him blossom and develop a sense of self.

To anyone considering foster care adoption, a teenager can bring out the most love and hope a person can have in their heart. We are so lucky to have met Latrell and be given the opportunity to bring him into our family. He is the light of our world, and we couldn’t imagine life without him in it.

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption’s Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program provides grants to adoption agencies to hire and train recruiters in our Child-Focused Recruitment Model to find loving, permanent homes for the nearly 155,000 children waiting in foster care across the United States and Canada. The model is up to three times more effective at serving youth who have been in foster care the longest.

Considering adoption? Please check out this guide

Also, please prayerfully consider your financial support of this great organization.

June 9, 2018/0 Comments/by James

DTFA – The Patterson Family

Features, Images, News, People

This is the twelfth of an ongoing series of assignments that I have had for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. This was a very meaningful project for me, as I too was adopted, but I had found a forever family when I was only months old. Many of the children I have documented in this series were not so fortunate, spending years in a system that passed them from one home to another until DTFA stepped in and helped them find a stable home life and loving forever family.

WHO KNEW A GAME OF UNO COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE?

By Jacquelynn Patterson

Jacquelynn and Kevin Patterson are adoptive parents from Kevil, Kentucky. They have three daughters. Their oldest, Haylee, was adopted through the Foundation’s Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program.

Our daughter, Haylee, came home to us at age 13. After living a life of uncertainty, growing up in homes that were deemed unsafe and foster homes that were not permanent, our daughter is finally home.

We met Haylee in September 2016. We weren’t sure what we were getting into, but we knew the need for foster-to-adopt families in Kentucky was critical. We also knew that teenagers were being overlooked and that thousands of teens needed loving parents. We wanted to be that family for a teenager.

During our first meeting, Haylee was shy, and it was hard to get her to talk to us. Everything changed when we learned that she likes to watch professional wrestling. Kevin loves the WWE. That was our in. From there, we moved on to playing what can only be described as the most epic and memorable game of Uno ever played. It took 90 minutes, and we laughed the entire time. Haylee began opening up and started making jokes. In the end, she won the game, but we had broken the ice. Leaving that day, we knew we had met our daughter, and Haylee says she knew she had met her parents. “I thought they were so weird, but deep down, I knew they were my family.”

When Haylee came to live with us, it was easy to see she was broken, lacked confidence and couldn’t see all the beautiful things about her. It’s hard to blame her, she had been through a lot. As she once said, “no one wanted a child like her.”

We try to instill in Haylee how much opportunity she has ahead of her. She takes joy in now being a big sister, oldest child, oldest grandchild, friend, cousin and daughter. Not everything has been smooth, but we work through the obstacles together. Every moment of resistance and frustration has been worth it.

Haylee didn’t smile in photos before. Now, she loves to smile and loves life, herself and her family. Today, when she is asked about being adopted, Haylee says, “It just feels great to be wanted and to be home.” We have a hard time remembering life without her. It’s like she’s always been here.

Considering adoption? Please check out this guide

Also, please prayerfully consider your financial support of this great organization.

June 3, 2018/0 Comments/by James

Jefferson Series Presents Elizabeth Vargas

Events, Images, People

The New Albany Community Foundation presents the Jefferson Series with Elizabeth Vargas Wednesday, May 9, 2018 at the McCoy Center in New Albany, Ohio. During the 90 minute program Vargas talked at length about her struggles with anxiety and alcoholism and talked about her book Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction, which discusses those struggles.

Elizabeth Vargas is an American television journalist who is the lead investigative reporter/documentary anchor for A&E Networks. She began her new position on May 28, 2018, after being an anchor of ABC‘s television newsmagazine 20/20 and ABC News specials for the past 14 years. She was previously an anchor of World News Tonight.

May 9, 2018/0 Comments/by James

DTFA – The Broom Family

Features, Images, News, People

This is the eleventh of an ongoing series of assignments that I had for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. This was a very meaningful project for me, as I too was adopted, but I had found a forever family when I was only months old. Many of the children I have documented in this series have not been so fortunate, spending years in a system that passed them from one home to another until DTFA stepped in and helped them find a stable home life and loving forever family.

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK

By Kameca Broom

Kameca and her husband, Jamar, adopted Elias and Niyah through the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption’s Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program. The Brooms, who live in Mississippi, hope that anyone considering foster care adoption sees it as a higher calling.

Adoption is choosing to love someone who you will teach how to love others unconditionally. My children are not biologically mine, but my heart doesn’t know the difference. I’ve always wanted to fill my home with children, and while we didn’t take the path that I originally thought, it’s taken us to an amazing place.

My husband, Jamar, and I first learned about foster care adoption from a high school friend who was working for the Mississippi State Department of Health. She opened my eyes to the great need for foster-to-adopt families. There was so much to learn and do to prepare our hearts and minds for bringing children into our home.

During our journey, we decided that we would be open to adopting more than one child. That’s when Elias and Niyah came into our lives. Just three and four years old at the time, they had spent three years of their young lives in foster care. We also met a woman who would change our adoption path for the better. Kenyata Wells, our Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter, has helped us beyond what words could ever repay, from supporting us through each transition to being present at our adoption finalization.

Elias and Niyah lived with us for a little more than a year before the adoption was final. During that time, we grew together and learned from each other. So many challenges presented themselves as we started to become a family. We had to work hard to heal the behaviors that are expressed when a child has experienced significant trauma and inconsistency. We started a behavior chart and taught them self-control. They have both grown socially, mentally and physically.

If you are considering foster care adoption, follow your heart. I believe our adoption was heaven-sent and the most precious gift I’ve been given. Jamar and I always wanted to be parents, and we are so blessed that God found a way to help us find the children we were always meant to have.

It wasn’t all easy. In fact, most of it was hard. But it’s all been worth it to hear our little boy and girl say, “Mommy and Daddy, we want to stay with y’all forever, because we love y’all.”

At the end of the day, we all want what is best for each other. And as we say almost every day, “Teamwork makes the dream work! Team Broom!”

Considering adoption? Please check out this guide

Also, please prayerfully consider your financial support of this great organization.

May 5, 2018/0 Comments/by James

Cap-City Half Marathon

Events, Images, Sports

The 15th running of the Ohio Health Capital City Half Marathon photographed Saturday, April 28, 2018 on the streets of Columbus and the Columbus Commons. It was a beautiful crisp morning for the race – a wonderful contrast on the previous years race which was called just after the first runners came in because of drenching and dangerous thunderstorm that moved thru the area. Once again I was in the Cap City Half Pace Truck with WBNS-TV‘s Dave Holmes doing live updates thru-out the race. I joke with people, that every year I finish first in the race because of this, without even breaking a sweat – LOL.

Hometown favorites Evan Schwartz and Molly Bookmyer captured overall titles at the 15th Anniversary Edition of the OhioHealth Capital City Half Marathon.

Evan Schwartz, overall winner of 2018 OhioHealth Capital City Half Marathon
Schwartz and Joshua Park, an Amherst, Ohio native who runs cross country at Ohio U., were a pack of two for the entire 13.1 miles, with Park leading nearly the entire way before Schwartz made a last-second move as he approached the finish line to win in 1:07:55. Park, 20, in his first half marathon, finished in 1:08:01.

“Breaking the tape felt good,” Schwartz told The Columbus Dispatch after the race. “It felt really, really good.”

Schwartz, 24, who represents the Columbus Running Club, was the pre-race favorite after finishing 18th in the 2017 USATF Half Marathon Championships held in conjunction with Cap City.

Bookmyer, a member of Fleet Feet Sports Columbus, was never challenged in winning the women’s half-marathon in 1:19:05. Minori Minagawa, of Dublin, Ohio and a CRC Elite member, was second in 1:21:15. Minagawa was making her half marathon debut after winning the OhioHealth Quarter Marathon in 2017.

Nathan Seamans, 26, of Monroe, Ohio won the OhioHealth Quarter Marathon in 41:46, while Michelle Clark, 26, of Amherst, Ohio was the women’s winner in 42:18. CRC’s Dustin Hall of Columbus won the Commit To Be Fit 5K in 15:29, while Holly Archer of Columbus was the top female in 20:21.

More than 14,000 runners and walkers took part in the OhioHealth Capital City Half Marathon, OhioHealth Quarter Marathon and Commit To Be Fit 5K. The event featured a new combined Start / Finish Line at S. High and W. Town Streets and was followed by the Byers Xtra Mile Finish Line Party in the John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons.

WBNS 10TV televised the event LIVE for the third straight year.

Evan Schwartz and Joshua Park lead the 2018 OhioHealth Capital City Half Marathon
The 2018 OhioHealth Capital City Half Marathon again featured “best tour of Columbus on two feet” with a focus on the city’s best neighborhoods and entertainment districts with brank-new courses that took runners and walkers through and highlighted Downtown, German Village, The Ohio State University campus, the Arena District and Italian Village.

This year, in honor of the event’s 15th anniversary, the celebrate all that makes our city special and unique with new partnerships with two local companies that were “Made In CBUS.”

Every participant received a HOMAGE Official Event Shirt and a limited 13.1 Wheat Beer from Land-Grant Brewing Company that was specially made to celebrate Cap City and its 15th anniversary.

After the race, every participant received a Land-Grant Beer, Papa John’s Pizza, Patrón Chile Verde Margarita, Chandon Sparking, White Claw Hard Seltzer and Hartzler Dairy Chocolate Milk. The Land-Grant Post-Race Concert featured SWAGG and FBA.

April 28, 2018/0 Comments/by James

Ohio History Day

Events, Images, People

Ohio History Day competition photographed Saturday, April 21, 2018 at Ohio Wesleyan University. Ohio History Day is an affiliate of National History Day (NHD), an exciting program that makes history come alive for students. Students learn history by doing history. Students conduct historical research that leads to imaginative exhibits, documentaries, original performances, websites and scholarly papers. NHD reinforces classroom teaching by rewarding students of all abilities for their scholarship, individual initiative and cooperative learning.

April 21, 2018/0 Comments/by James

Ares Gear LE Duty Belts

Images, Products, Things

Product images for Ares Gear LE Tactical Duty belts photographed Thursday, April 12, 2018 in the Dƒw Studios.

April 12, 2018/0 Comments/by James

OSU Center for Aviation Studies Annual Awards

Events, Images, People

The Ohio State University College of Engineering Center for Aviation Studies Annual Awards Ceremony photographed Thursday, April 12, 2018 at COSI.

April 12, 2018/0 Comments/by James

DTFA – The Kean Family

Images, People, Personal

This is the tenth of an ongoing series of assignments that I had for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. This was a very meaningful project for me, as I too was adopted, but I had found a forever family when I was only months old. Many of the children I documented in this series were not so fortunate, spending years in a system that passed them from one home to another until DTFA stepped in and helped them find a stable home life and loving forever family.

Maci Kean came through the The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, and with over 100,000 children in the U.S. foster care system, organizations like the Foundation can play a crucial role in placing kids, especially considering 20,000 children in foster care will never be adopted. Older children and those with special needs often face difficulty finding adoptive homes. A recent survey taken by The Foundation revealed that 80 percent of Americans considering adoption would look at kids foster care.

Maci lost her father when she was two, and her mother at 11, both to addiction. Growing up, her life was anything but stable. Continuous drug use and domestic violence marred her life for years. A high fever took her hearing as a toddler, leaving her deaf. School was an additional source of stress for Maci, where she was constantly bullied. She missed days of school at a time, as her mother was rarely awake to put her on the bus—much less feed her breakfast or get her dressed. Placed in the temporary custody of her aunt while her mother served a jail sentence for drug-related charges, Maci’s life began to unravel. Life with her aunt lacked the love she had known from her mother, and she quickly began acting out as a result. After Maci’s mother completed her sentence, she went into a half-way home where she died of a drug overdose. Suddenly, Maci’s temporary placement with her aunt became long term, and the grief over the loss of her mother created a downward spiral—and compensating negative behaviors—that her aunt was not willing to work through.

When Maci was 15, her aunt released her into the foster system, a move that only increased her feelings of isolation. She was placed in a strict group home that provided the basics for life: food, shelter, and medical care. According to her adoptive mother Gigi, what it didn’t have was more important. “Even though she had safety and medical care, she didn’t have love. If these children don’t learn to function in a family with love, they will be forever impacted,” she told Reader’s Digest. Maci’s adoptive father, Chris, adds, “It was a top-notch group home, but group homes are made to address the needs of all the children—not as individuals. At an emotional level, they cannot meet the bonding needs of each child.” There are many things adoptive parents wish others knew, because the process of adoption is so complex.

A junior in high school, Maci was quickly nearing what is called “aging out” of the system; when children turn 18, they are no longer considered to be adoptable by the state. Maci had already given up hope of being adopted, and redid her paperwork to reflect her dashed hope: Maci changed her permanency plan to include only foster care, not adoption.

Maci didn’t know it at the time, but her future mother was already in her life on a daily basis. Gigi Kean worked at Maci’s high school office. “We all knew her story,” she says. “I never saw her as a pity case—I always saw her as this fiery, bright, and intelligent girl. I was ignorant about foster children, I never even considered that she might want parents, or to be adopted. I admired her strength, and talked to her whenever I could.”

It was only when Maci showed Gigi her Forever Family video—she made the video with the help of the Dave Thomas Foundation to assist her in being placed—that Gigi understood the depth of Maci’s yearning for a real family. “She told me, “I just need to be realistic, no one wants to adopt me. Who would want me?,” Gigi recalls. It was then that the wheels in Gigi’s mind began to turn, and adopting Maci was all she could think about. After speaking to her husband Chris, the plan to adopt Maci was officially set in motion, and it was only a matter of time before they became a family of five. The Keans’ two biological children, Carolyn and Christopher, were completely on board with gaining a new sister.

Initially, Maci was hesitant to trust that her dream of having a family would come true, but on June 8th, only six weeks before turning 18, she officially took the last name Kean, and was adopted. Maci’s new mother is quick to point out that adopting a child at any age is important. ” A child’s need for love, acceptance, and the knowledge they will never be given up is the same at 7 or 17,” she explains. “Age or special needs should never be a deterrent, people just need to understand that these children come with trauma, and love is the most healing thing you can offer,” she says.

A video of her life’s story can be found on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6mU9hQbC1E