Encompass Adoptees
Serving individuals and families with experiences in
ADOPTION - FOSTER CARE - KINSHIP CARE - DONOR CONCEPTION
Our Mission
Encompass provides quality resources and services for individuals of all ages with adoptive, foster, kinship care, (AFK) or similar adverse childhood experiences, as well as their families. Encompass has recently expanded to include services for donor-conceived people (DCP) with the understanding that DCP have started to speak about having some similar and overlapping issues related to their donor parent. Our goal is to help create bridges to encourage awareness, facilitate discussion, provide educational resources, and build community among individuals with these experiences, within families, and throughout the local Columbus area.
Our Commitment
Lived experience is a unique feature of Encompass: we offer programming designed and facilitated by those with lived experiences with adoption, foster care, kinship care, and/or DC (AFK+D)- for those with lived experience. This approach is evident in all our programming, resources, and outreach efforts. While we seek to honor adult AFK+D voices in key leadership positions and programs, we also believe that to best serve them, we must include the voices of constellation members as well, to best understand the complexities involved and provide resources that address them. Additional services for professionals and constellation members, such as spouses, siblings, and extended relatives, hope to be included as we grow.
Our Name
The name Encompass was chosen to reflect our commitment to an inclusive community and to supporting each other with all the diversity found within the AFK+D community. We also aim to incorporate as many resources, viewpoints, research, and educational sources as possible to accomplish our mission. We seek to build connections and value teamwork whenever possible, within families, within our AFK+D community, and in our larger Columbus community. Encompass Adoptees seeks to network and partner with other resources and related organizations.
Our Services
For the Whole AFK Community: Adoption Specific Counseling, Educational Presentations by Adoptee Therapists and Professionals in the field, Encompass Art Show, and Other special events such as Family Picnics
For AFK Parents: Support & Discussion Groups, Peer Mentoring, Retreat, Respite opportunities, and Counseling
For AFK Adults: Community Support Dinners, Art Processing Workshops, Book Discussions, and Counseling
For AFK Youth & Teens: Monthly Resiliency-Building Program/Respite for parents, Adoption Specific Counseling (play + art based), Individual and Group Mentoring opportunities, Art Processing Group for teens
For the DC Community: DCP and Recipient Parent-Specific Counseling, DCP Community Support Dinners, Support & Discussion Groups
Our Logo
The whydah bird is one of several birds that always lay their eggs in another bird's nest. Since the whydah does not raise its own young, we have chosen this element of nature as a symbol of adoption and foster care for our organization.
Adoption and other adjacent experiences are difficult concepts to put an image to. Marketing often emphasizes the use of families with children and/or the faces of children in variations of need. Encompass Adoptees makes every attempt to honor and acknowledge that adoptees grow up and that we aim to serve both those who are adults as well as children. Therefore, we chose an image that would not reflect the adopted person as an eternal child. We also intentionally do not use adoptee children to market or for fundraising purposes, which can unnecessarily and incorrectly emphasize a one-sided or Savioristic view of adoption.
Our Space
The Terrace Ave Studio is a nurturing environment welcoming AFK+D members and their families. The vision of Encompass Adoptees and its founder, Heather Gonzales, LPC, is to offer a dedicated space where adopted, fostered, kinship, and DC (AFK+D) people can find support, explore safely, seek answers, be creative, grow, and engage with others with similar lived experiences. The space is slowly being restored and projects are often posted online to share our progress with the community. The space layout is evocative of live/work spaces often found in larger cities, inspired by Heather’s time in Chicago. The downstairs serves as an art studio and group meeting space, while the upper floor houses additional offices being renovated for client counseling and consultations. Due to demand and constellation members’ requests, Encompass continues to grow and the space evolves with it to accommodate these expressed needs. Encompass is nestled in the Highland West/Hilltop area. This location was chosen because of the diversity found in this area and as a central point which is easy to access for many of our families that travel from the areas surrounding Columbus.
Our Story
Encompass Adoptees began as a student organization at Capital University and was originally known as the Capital Association of Student Adoptees and Foster Alum (CASAFA). The two students responsible for forming CASAFA were Heather Gonzales and Rachel Dumke. Maggie Bier joined them soon after, and the three became the original core members.
Heather Gonzales decided to go back to school after recognizing a need for post-adoption resources and the difficulties revolving around finding adoption-competent therapists. She decided to change her career path after having a small woodworking business for almost ten years with her husband. She went to Capital University for a degree in Art Therapy, intending to work with adoptees, fostered people, and their families. While there, she had a desire to get involved sooner rather than wait until all her schooling was finished, which inspired her to start a student-led organization at Capital. Being adopted with her twin had a significant impact on Heather and helped form a strong appreciation and dedication to teamwork and community. In 2016, Heather began to lay the groundwork and formal paperwork for a student organization while searching for a fellow adoptee student with equal passion and energy, before officially starting. This concept of teamwork and community is still a foundational element of everything that Encompass does today and plans for the future…
“To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story”