Raise a Child Holds Fundraiser to Help Families Adopt

Raise A Child (www.RaiseAChild.Us) helps put children in safe, loving and permanent homes and tries to help alternative families adopt children.

Rich Valenza, of Studio City, is one of the founders of the organization, and said, "We educated and encourage the LGBT community to build families through fostering and adoption to answer the needs of the 400,000 children in out nation's foster care system."

Valenza and his partner have adopted two children who go to elementary school in the area, and has seen first-hand the difficulty of adopting children.

At a recent fundraiser, some of the people the charity has helped, and some of the experts working in the field were honored—with their children.

Teri Polo, the actress of the new series "The Fosters," attended the party with Peter Paige, the actor of "Queer as Folk" who is also a producer of the show along with Jennifer Lopez. Polo portrays a bisexual mother who is also a police offer and she and her partner have a family of five children, some adopted, some fostered.

"It's a great family show that everyone can relate to," Polo said about the show on ABC Family.

Also honored were R. Christine Hershey and Susan Van Horn, who were the first two openly gay women in Los Angeles and the whole state of California to adopt their son.

Jeff Danis and Michael Waddington first started looking to adopt 17 years ago and found their boy Joe in Vietnam.

Dr. Christopher Harris, a single father, was honored by his daughter Marla. "I made the decision to adopt a child at the age of 40, and I'm an out gay pediatrician," Harris said.

"I'm glad he chose me," Maria said.

Comic Alec Mapa and his partner Jamie Hebert fostered and adopted their son Zion in 2010. 

"Straight parents, gay parents, we are the same," Mapa said. "We are always exhausted. The only thing different is that we're gay, we want nicer things."

Susan Edelstein founded UCLA Ties for Families which helps adoptions. "I believe that all foster children deserve permanency," said Edelstein, who with her brothers, were raised by a widowed dad. "Education and support services to foster and adoptive parents enhance outcomes."

Along with co-founder John Ireland, Valenza accepted donations during a silent auction and a live auction as well as presentations from the Annenberg Foundation, California Institute of Contemporary Arts, HBO and other groups.

"The mission of our non-profit organization is easy to understand," Valenza said. "We want to educate and raise awareness about the needs of children in the foster care system."

For more information go to the website at Raise A Child (www.RaiseAChild.Us).