Encompass Adoptees

our mission

Encompass provides resources and services for individuals of all ages with adoptive, foster, kinship care, (AFK) or similar adverse childhood experiences, as well as their families. Encompass has recently expanded to include services for donor-conceived people (DCP) with the understanding that DCP have started to speak about having some similar and overlapping issues related to their donor parent. Our goal is to help create bridges to encourage awareness, facilitate discussion, provide educational resources, and build community among individuals with these experiences, within families, and throughout the local Columbus area.

Our commitment

Lived experience is a unique feature of Encompass: we offer programming designed by those with lived experience -adoption, foster care, kinship care, and/or DC (AFK+D)- for those with lived experience. This approach is evident in all our programming, resources, and outreach efforts. While we seek to honor adult AFK+D voices in key leadership positions and programs, we also believe that in order to best serve them, we must include the voices of constellation members as well, in order to best understand the complexities involved and provide resources that address them. Additional services for professionals and constellation members, such as spouses, siblings, and extended relatives, hope to be included as we grow.

Brief Overview of Our services

For the Whole AFK Community: Adoption Specific Counseling, Educational Presentations by Adoptee Therapists and Professionals in the field, Encompass Art Show, Other special events such as Family Picnics

For AFK Parents: Support & Discussion Groups, Peer Mentoring, Retreat, Respite opportunities

For AFK Adults: Community Support Dinners, Art Processing Workshops, Book Discussions,

For AFK Youth & Teens: Monthly Resiliency-Building Program/Respite, Adoption Specific Counseling (play + art based), Individual Mentoring opportunities, Therapeutic Group for teens

For the DC Community: DCP and Recipient Parent-Specific Counseling, DCP Community Support Dinners, Support & Discussion Groups

Our Name

The name Encompass was chosen to reflect our commitment to an inclusive community and to supporting each other with all the diversity found within the AFK+D community. We aim to incorporate as many resources as possible to accomplish our mission. We seek to build connections and value teamwork whenever possible, within families, within our AFK+D community, and in our larger Columbus community. Encompass Adoptees seeks to network and partner with other resources and related organizations.

Our Logo

The whydah bird is one of several birds that always lay their eggs in another bird's nest. Since the whydah does not raise its own young, we have chosen this element of nature as a symbol of adoption and foster care for our organization.

Adoption, and other adjacent experiences, are difficult concepts to put an image to. Encompass Adoptees makes every attempt to honor and acknowledge the adoptees who are adults as well as those who are children. Therefore, we chose an image that would not reflect the adopted person as an eternal child.

Our Space

The Terrace Ave Studio is a nurturing environment welcoming AFKD members and their families. The vision of Encompass Adoptees and its founder, Heather Gonzales LPC, is to offer a dedicated space where adopted, fostered, kinship, and DC (AFKD) people can find support, explore safely, seek answers, be creative, grow, and engage with others with similar lived experiences. The space is slowly being restored and projects are often posted online to share our progress with the community. The space layout is evocative of other live/work spaces often found in larger cities, inspired by Heather’s time in Chicago. The downstairs serves as an art studio and group meeting space, while the upper floor houses a residential apartment with additional offices being renovated for client counseling and consultations. Due to demand and constellation member’s requests, Encompass continues to grow and the space evolves with it to accommodate these expressed needs. Encompass is nestled in the Highland West/Hilltop area. This location was chosen because of the diversity found in this area and as a central point which is easy to access for many of our families that travel from the areas surrounding Columbus.