daughter from China to their family of four. Ecstatic to finally
have their daughter in their arms, the Choate family was
completely unaware at the time of the incredibly hurting heart
Hannah carried with her. The first year of their lives together was
filled with trials and heartache as the effects of life in an
institution came pouring out of little Hannah's soul. The Choate
family struggled to meet the complex needs of their hurting young
daughter, yet soon realized that the vast issues faced by children
without homes is still an area fraught with social taboos, lack of
resources, and inadequate communication.
After a difficult year, the Choates were amazingly blessed to see
that their daughter began to not only heal but blossom and
eventually emerge as a joyful, energetic and precocious young
lady! Yet now that their eyes had been opened to the severity of
loss and the inevitable consequences emotionally to children who
face that loss, they could not simply walk away hand in hand
with their healed daughter and turn their eyes away from the
millions more left behind.
Healing Hannah started as one article, carried by several
publications, telling briefly the story of Hannah AiLi's journey to
wholeness. The response from the article was so overwhelming, the
Choate family finally realized that not only were they not alone in
what they had faced, but that many, many other families were
suffering in silence and many more children were languishing in
sub-par conditions bound to leave them as scarred as was little
Hannah. So Healing Hannah the ministry was born.
At Healing Hannah, we seek to do the following:
1. Financially and otherwise support other
established and reputable organizations working to
help heal orphans in China and around the world
physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
2. Educated adoptive families on the effects of
trauma on institutionalized and adopted children
and provide them with the tools and resources
necessary to recognize the symptoms and help their
child heal.
3. Motivate and inspire others to recognize that every
life counts, every life makes a difference, and that
by using their life everyone can save the life of
another.
