Couple becomes parents after years of waiting for adoption

By Gina Keating, The Catholic Sun
May 17, 2007

Long before Hollywood starlets popularized adoption, Raymond and Elizabeth Camacho yearned to give a child a home.

After learning they couldn’t conceive, the Scottsdale couple added adoption to a list of 50 goals they wanted to accomplish in their marriage.

The former New Yorkers have been married nearly 30 years, but they’ve just recently become parents.

“For us, making the decision to adopt was the easy part,” Elizabeth said. “The tough part was taking action, going to the classes and filing paper work. We set milestones and we were going to go for it.”

Both Raymond and Elizabeth previously volunteered with homeless children and those who were wards of the court back east.

After moving to Arizona, the couple became involved with Tempe-based Arizona Action for Foster Children, or AAFC.

According to the organization, there are more than 6,500 foster children in Arizona.

Katie Reck, marketing and community relations manager for AAFC, said a foster parent is really a short-term care provider.

“The goal of a foster parent is to be able to return a child or children to their biological parents,” Reck said. “Every year there are more children and the need for foster parents increases. I wish I didn’t have a job.”

There are 19 agencies in Maricopa County that AAFC collaborates with, including Catholic Charities Community Services, which are all contracted through the state.

“We look for families for children that need them. We’re not looking for children for families that want them,” said Cathy Tompkins, a regional director, of Catholic Charities.

When a family expresses interest in adopting a child through Child Protective Services, Catholic Charities assists by certifying adoptive homes, matching children to families and providing post-placement support.

In spite of thousands of children in the system waiting for a home, there is a silver lining.

“Seventy-five percent of children in custody of CPS are adopted by their foster families,” Tompkins said.

Although the Camachos were never listed as foster parents, the couple grew weary of watching children they volunteered with return to a “less-than-positive” environment.

Elizabeth said her hopes were dashed each time a child they thought they could adopt became unavailable.

“I had so many disappointments. You get to know them and you bond with them. Then you get let down,” she said.

As Elizabeth spoke to the social worker to say the couple could no longer take the heartbreak, God intervened.

She was told about three siblings. The children, David, Carlos and Elizabeth, were abused and neglected by their mother and were more difficult to place because of their ages: 9, 10 and 11.

“It was love at first sight,” Raymond said of the children they eventually adopted. “There’s a big plan out there and when it’s right, God knows.”

The couple started slowly with the children, introducing basic life skills from the proper way to chew their food to doing homework.

When it came time to register the children in school, Elizabeth wanted her children to have the same Catholic foundation she received as a young girl in New York.

“I learned to give because my school taught me to do that. For me, that is more important than all the academic success,” Elizabeth said. “I want my children to have a sense of belonging to something bigger.”

A co-worker told her about St. Theresa School in Phoenix, and they met with the interim principal, Catherine Downey.

The transition from a public to parochial school was challenging.

Academically behind and struggling, the couple worked with the children on homework each night for several hours.

“The first time we read with them, we realized they were not on grade level. They didn’t enjoy reading, but that is all turning around,” Elizabeth said.

The parish and school support coupled with community resources has proved to be the lifeline for this fledgling family.

“One day it just all fell into place. It’s like God wrote the book,” Elizabeth said.

Their story is so inspiring that the family is featured in a statewide marketing campaign to recruit foster and adoptive homes for children.

The television ads developed by the Arizona Department of Economic Security-Division of Children, Youth and Families, are airing on several cable networks.

“If the opportunity presents itself, we would definitely adopt again,” Elizabeth said. “It has been a blessing.”