History and Mission of Children's Hope International

Children's Hope International is passionate about our mission statement:

Homes, Health and Hope for Children in Need.

Our roots go back to 1982 as an international education institute which provided assistance with adoption for its members. When China opened up to international adoption in 1992, Dwyatt Gantt along with Melody Zhang recognized this opportunity to help orphaned children find loving homes and thus Children's Hope International / China's Children began. Gantt moved from China back to the United States while Zhang worked through an orphanage located in China. As a result, fourteen children were placed with families in that first year. We are proud to say that Children’s Hope was one of the first agencies to finalize adoptions from China for American families. Today our agency works with six countries to help find homes for orphan children: China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Vietnam.

While we are able to help create families for many children, we can not forget those who are living in need everyday. Over 143 million children are without adequate parental care and because of this we partner with many individuals, churches and other organizations through Orphan Sponsorship and related projects.

Why choose Children’s Hope International?

We are respected and experienced.
Since 1992, Children’s Hope international has placed over 5,000 children in loving homes around the United States. With hundreds of adoption placements each year, about one third are from China with the remainder being divided between the countries of Colombia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Vietnam. Many countries have specific guidelines for qualifying parents, however; because we offer a variety of adoption programs, we are more able to place children with potential families.

We are licensed and accredited.
Children’s Hope International is a full service, licensed, not-for-profit 501(C)(3) adoption and humanitarian agency, accredited by the COA and Hague pursuant. Well organized in each country where we assist families in adopting. Our work is based on relationships that have been established for many years throughout the world. We are accredited by the Council on Accreditation which is the highest level possible for a placement agency. Children's Hope was one of the first agencies to receive Accreditation by the Russian Ministry of Education to legally place children from that country.

We work with families in all 50 U.S. states and have regional office in 10 areas.
Our Children’s Hope home office is located in St. Louis, Missouri with regional offices in: Arizona, Illinois, Colorado, Kansas, New York, Oregon, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas.

We have international offices and staff that will assist you while in their country.
Our international offices are located in Beijing and Guangzhou, China: Moscow (plus eight other regions in Russia), Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vietnam, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with representatives in Colombia and India. The well-trained, caring and bi-lingual staff members within these counties are able to assist in processing paperwork and more importantly, to meet and accompany the adoptive families the entire time length of their stay. We understand the complexity of adopting internationally; therefore we have chosen bi-lingual staff who demonstrates competent and caring traits. They are aware of the nuances that may occur while being emerged within a different culture and are able to serve as a link to problems and/or procedures within the U.S. In short, our international staff are people of integrity and trust!

We realize that simply visiting our website will not answer all of your questions. Therefore, we encourage you to contact us directly with your concerns. Gloria Akers handles all new inquires and she is available to speak with you directly at 314-890-0086 or by email at Gloria.Akers@ChildrensHope.net. You may also visit our location page to find a Children’s Hope Outreach Coordinator to contact within your state.