Free Adoption Workshop for Members of the LGBT Community in Orange County, NY, on March 2, 2013

Port Jervis, NY, February 18, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church in Port Jervis, NY will be hosting a free workshop on Saturday, March 2, for members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community who are considering starting a family through adoption. Facilitating the workshop will be staff members from Friends in Adoption (FIA), a not-for-profit agency that has been a leader in serving the LGBT community for decades. Also speaking will be a successful adoptive couple and a birth mother. Participants can plan on gaining a complete understanding of the adoption process, from preparation to placement of a child, including the unique challenges that face the LGBT Community.

The workshop will be held on Saturday, March 2, from 10am to 2pm, at Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church, located at 31 West Main Street, Port Jervis, NY. A light lunch will be served. Those interested in reserving a spot can sign up via the church’s website at www.stpetersportjervis.org or by calling the church at 845-856-1033. For more information on Friends in Adoption, visit www.friendsinadoption.org.

Saint Peter’s is a Reconciling in Christ Congregation, where all are welcome to worship, regardless of marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity. This workshop is the first of many to be held as part of the church’s focused outreach to the LGBT community.

Friends in Adoption is a licensed, not-for profit adoption agency founded in 1982 by an adoptive mother, Dawn Smith-Pliner, who saw that the many needs of adoptive families and birth parents were not being met in adoption situations. From its inception, FIA has been committed to compassionate treatment for all parties involved in an adoption plan. Smith-Pliner recognized the importance of educating both adoptive and birth families about adoption and then supporting their freedom to choose the type of adoption that works best for them. These same fundamental concepts still guide this unique, non-traditional adoption agency today. Currently, FIA is a full-service agency placing an average of 40-50 infants (primarily newborns) annually. FIA is committed to equality in adoption. This means, among other things, they do not discriminate based on marital status, religion, ethnicity, race or sexual orientation.