Checklist updated
ByNow that we’ve received all of the info from Holt, I’ve updated the checklist to include the official dossier documents. You can check it out here:
We sat down tonight and went through all of the documents and I’m feeling pretty good about my potential ability to stay up on everything. We knocked out a few things which are either ready to go or are ready to be notarized, so that good! We still don’t have the majority of the forms for our home study application, but now that we have the info from Holt, we will be scheduling another meeting with our social worker to go over everything. That when we’ll receive the rest of the application forms. I’m chomping at the bit to get started, which is a little silly since we have so much fundraising left to do. Oh well, gotta take control of the things we CAN control, right?!
One sobering thing about being officially a Holt Ethiopia family is that the clock is now seriously ticking. Holt sent a letter to our social worker saying that they really want the home study done within three months. So that means we really only have about three months to raise $12,690+. The $3000 dossier fee is due when they approve our home study and then the $9690 program fee is due when we accept our referral (N.B.). Usually, there are months and months between the dossier fee and the program fee, but since N.B. was on the Waiting Child list, we’re already matched, so we skip that wait. So the program fee will be due pretty much immediately after the dossier fee.
It a little scary and a lot overwhelming. But I totaled it up and we’ve raised $500 in donations and selling my fundraiser products (bibs, jewelry, etc) over the past few weeks, so that good! We’re planning a silent auction/spaghetti dinner in early December that we’re hoping will be a success. We’re also going to start looking into bank loans, etc. Unfortunately, we bought our house at the HEIGHT of the boom, so we’re upside down on our mortgage, which makes it harder. But I’m sure we’ll find something.
As I told one of our ministers, I think we might be bringing N.B. home in $20 increments. =) Hey, whatever gets him home is good in my book!
I remember getting this checklist from Holt. We’ve been working on it for a month now and are almost finished with the documents we can pull together ourselves. Good luck as you start, I hope it goes fast and easy for you. Hopefully you will get that $13k raised in the next 30days!!! Sounds like sales on Etsy have been really good.
Thanks, Jennifer! We’re getting ready to kick it into high gear to plow through the paperwork. I’m going to sit down tonight and schedule out the documents. Fun!