Family Fellowship

Now accepting applications for fellowship cohort 6! Apply HERE

About The Fellowship

The process to adopt and/or foster a vulnerable child can be arduous and frustrating. Tightening state budgets and a deliberately slow bureaucracy has put many families in a devastating bind; many give up before they are allowed to foster or adopt children into their home. YATOM knows and understands these frustrations.

That is why we created the YATOM Family Fellowship, a program which is meant to inspire hope for families striving to foster/adopt. Cohort 1 began in the summer of 2016, Cohort 2 began in the summer of 2017, and our third Cohort began in the summer of 2018. Cohort 4 launched in the Summer of 2019. The fifth cohort concluded spring 2021 with two tracks: the national cohort and, thanks to the generosity of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix, a local Phoenix-only in-person cohort. Cohort 6 will have the same dual tracks, once again thanks to JCF of Greater Phoenix!

Fellows will have the chance to receive a stipend and a close-knit community to talk about the adoption/fostering process together.

APPLICANTS MUST BE AT THE OUTSET OF EXPLORING ADOPTION/FOSTERING.
THOSE FORMALLY IN THE LICENSURE PROCESS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

“YATOM is a loving organization that is at the forefront of support for adoptive and foster families. So often in an unconventional family journey we feel alone, even lost, with uncertainty and second guessing; its incredible that the Jewish community has YATOM to stand with our families as we traverse these tumultuous waters. They helped our family and I know they’d do it again if needed”

- Rabbi Chaim Bruk, Chabad-Lubavitch of Montana

Welcome Cohort 5!

MEET OUR COHORT 3 FELLOWS!

MEET OUR COHORT 2 FELLOWS!

Alexandra & Adam Kofinas ~ Atlanta, GA

Alli Goozh ~ Scottsdale, AZ

Alyssa & Andy Stern ~ Houston, TX

Allison & Alex Benezra ~ Phoenix, AZ

Jordan & Danielle Felsberg ~ Mint Hill, NC

Jennifer & Stewart Latwin ~ Rockville, MD

Rebecca Handler-Spitz ~ Saint Paul, MN

Joanie Zecherle ~ Oakland, CA

Samara Meir-Levi ~ Palo Alto, CA

MEET OUR COHORT 1 FELLOWS!

Ellen & Avram Rosen - "My husband and I are looking to adopt because I went through Chemotherapy 3 years ago and we have been trying to get pregnant without success for the last 2 years. We have a home, love, and a Jewish heritage that we wish to pass on to the next generation."

Moshe & David Ledeboer -"Family is important to us and there are children tgat need homes; we want to do our part in this mitzvah."

Shari & Gary Horowitz - "Unfortunately we have had numerous miscarriages trying to grow our family. We knew after the last loss, adoption was how we would complete our family. We know that it is a gift to be a parent but even a greater gift through adoption."

Elana & Jason Frank - "We are blessed with 2 children through IVF. We know in our hearts that our family isn't complete and we have more to offer a child. Even before we knew that we had "issues conceiving" we wanted to help kids who needed us most through adoption. Now is our chance."

Allison Borsuk: "I am a single woman who has always hoped to be a mother. I have not been able to have a child on my own. Adoption has always been in my mind and I look forward to the opportunity of welcoming and loving a child for the rest of their life."

Isaac Dowd & Elliot Holloway - "My spouse and I are unable to have children naturally and we have always wanted to adopt."

Learn more about the fellowship:

Should you apply?

1) Does your family Identify as Jewish?
2) Have an interest in adopting and/or fostering a child?
3) Have yet to start the adoption/fostering process?

Already have an adopted or foster child? We still want you to be involved!

In partnership with Valley Beit Midrash

This project is funded by a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix

To quality for the YATOM Family Fellowship stipend, certain criteria must be met to be eligible. Participants must demonstrate active participation based on stipulated criteria, provide documentation that they have been licensed by their state to foster and/or adopt by the end of the fellowship, submit an article that has been published by a Jewish news outlet, submit documentation they have hosted a community discussion regarding their experiences through the process and the fellowship, and submit a video, no more than 90 seconds in length, describing their experiences through the process and the fellowship.