Fran Campbell
Filipina community member & “Courageous Conversations”
program founder
I started with HCAF in 2000 as a cultural community presenter at the Filipino
Heritage Camp. I have always been active in the Filipino American community,
so there was a cultural connection to HCAF. More importantly, my two
youngest brothers were adopted from the Philippines, so there was also a
personal connection to HCAF. I joined the HCAF Cultural Advisory Board
in 2009, and soon after that I developed the “This Is Me” program for high
school adoptees and parents. Now known as “Courageous Conversations”,
the program has been presented at every Heritage Camp since 2010.
Adoption was a pivotal moment in my family history. My brothers were adopted at ages 8 and 13.
Adoption in our family was all about assimilation from third world poverty into American culture.
My brother’s understanding of the culture they came from and the culture they were dropped into
was so contradictory. They had lived in poverty but had never before endured discrimination and
bigotry. They didn’t know how to react when bullies hated their skin color or insulted their accent.
They were miserable – and we missed it.
Culture, to me, is why HCAF is such an important
piece of the transracial adoption experience. HCAF
strives to dene culture as more than just food,
language and art. HCAF breaks down assumptions
so that adoptive families can see the realistic
challenges and beauty of the journey. At HCAF,
I am able to share my culture, to learn about
other cultures and to honor my families’ adoption
experience.
”
Sam Severns
Korean adoptee & board member
One of the truly amazing aspects
of camp is the nurturing of the
Counselor-Kid connection. This
mentorship is not something
specically planned but something
that organically occurs over
the course of camp. It’s those
relationships that ultimately drive the
kids to come back and want to be
counselors themselves, and that cycle
continues. I’m denitely a product
of that. I especially enjoyed growing
up with the same counselors and
ultimately being able to be a counselor with them. That’s
where I’ve made the best connections.
OUR HCAF COMMUNITY
Yoselin Corrales
Honduran adoptee & sta
member
I think it’s been so valuable to have had
the opportunity to be connected with my
culture and with adoption in a positive way,
in a way of leadership and mentorship, and
now as sta. Seeing the development of
my identity through the lens of adoption
has been really exciting. I think I gained
a lot more comfort around talking about
adoption. I think it also allowed me to gain
a community of people that have similar
experiences to myself, and that are still
some of my lifelong friends. I think the
relationships that you build through that
collective experience can be incredibly
valuable.