During the third annual bicycle tour across the state of Tennessee, 50 cyclists delivered a message of hope for children who need a permanent home and a loving family.
The tour, which departed Memphis on October 8 and arrived at the World's Fair Park on October 12, was created to draw attention to the need for adoptive families, to pledge support to those who choose to adopt, and to celebrate the families who have adopted.
The forever home is a precious gift to children. Through adoption, they have been claimed by a family.
Welcoming the riders to Knoxville and commending them for their efforts were U.S. Representative Jimmy Duncan; City Councilman Joe Bailey, representing the City and County Mayors; Juvenile Court Judge Tim Irwin; Tennessee Department of Children's
Services Deputy Commissioner Bonnie Hommrich; and DCS Regional Director Cynthia Chapman. "With this event, we want to celebrate our children who have been waiting for adoption and these wonderful families who have given them a place to call their own," said Hommrich. "We want people across the state to know how much we need loving families to take children, especially our teenagers, into their homes and into their lives."
This year, 50 bicyclists pedaled 433.7 miles across the state in honor of 50 families who have recently adopted or actually finalized their adoption during the Adoption Tour.
Currently, more than 7,500 children are in state custody, and more than 1,300 of those children are eligible for adoption. They remain unclaimed. The Adoption Tour highlights the efforts of Adoption Support and Preservation (ASAP), a program that supports adoptive and foster families.
Services exist to help such families. Harmony Adoptions of Maryville, AGAPE Child and
Family Services in Memphis and Catholic Charities of Tennessee in Nashville provide ASAP programs for Tennessee's Department of Children's Services. ASAP supports adoptive families with services such as crisis intervention, support groups, counseling, mentors and individualized care. "We want families to know they are not walking the adoption journey alone. Support will be there for them long past the finalization of their adoption," says Pam Wolf, executive director of Harmony Adoptions.
The Adoption Tour's bicycles represent the ultimate symbol of carefree childhood, and the many hours spent pedaling represent each child's journey to their forever home. All of the riders have a personal connection with adoption, either as a parent or a caregiver. Each of the 50 children adopted were given bicycles of their own.
The Adoption Tour was made possible through the generous support of DCS, Youth Villages, Agape, Catholic Charities, Harmony, Camelot Care Centers, Omni Visions, HHC, London & Auburn, Wilson Bank and Trust, Threads, Parker PBC&A, Cedar Bluff Cycles, Mahoney Outfitters, Helen Ross McNabb and Partnership for Families, Children and Adults.