Empowered Voices. Brighter Futures.: Enough Joins C.A.S.E. in Celebrating the Power of Community

On April 11, 2026, Enough Adoption Foundation was honored to attend and support the Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) at its annual gala in Washington, D.C. 

For Enough, showing up at events like this is about more than attending a gala. It is about standing alongside the adoptees, families, professionals, advocates, and organizations doing the work to make adoption-informed support more accessible, compassionate, and responsive to the lived experiences of those impacted by adoption.

C.A.S.E. Gala Backdrop with Gala Theme

When Voices Are Heard, Change Becomes Possible

The theme of this year's gala—Empowered Voices. Brighter Futures. —deeply resonates with Enough's mission.

C.A.S.E.'s work centers the voices and experiences of adoptive, foster, and kinship care families while advancing adoption-competent mental health care. The organization provides direct services, trains professionals, and works to create systems-level change across the permanence ecosystem. Its approach recognizes that adoption can shape experiences of loss, identity, trauma, belonging, and connection.

Supporting people impacted by adoption requires more than good intentions. It requires understanding. It requires professionals who recognize that adoption is not simply an event in someone's childhood, but an experience that can intersect with identity, relationships, medical history, grief, belonging, and well-being throughout a person's life. It also requires listening to the people who have lived it.

At Enough, we believe adoptees should not have to navigate those experiences alone.

Celebrating the People Doing the Work

One of the most meaningful parts of the evening was seeing so many different parts of the adoption community represented in one room—families, professionals, advocates, donors, organizational leaders, and people willing to share their stories.

C.A.S.E. recognized its 2026 Star Awardees to include, John Reardon, The Flynn Family, and Kayla Blietz, alongside its Emerging Leaders. Their willingness to share their experiences reflects something powerful: personal stories can create connection, challenge assumptions, and help move conversations forward.

That is something Enough believes strongly, Adoptee voices matter.

The voices of adoptive, foster, and kinship families matter. The voices of clinicians, social workers, educators, researchers, advocates, and other professionals matter. And when those voices come together with humility and a shared commitment to doing better, we have an opportunity to create meaningful change.

C.A.S.E. Gala Dinner at the National Association of Home Builders in Washington, D.C.

Investing in Access to Adoption-Competent Care

The gala also highlighted an important reality: even when adoption-competent services exist, access to those services can be a barrier.

Thanks to the generosity of gala supporters, C.A.S.E. raised $180,000 for its Fund-a-Family Scholarship Program, which helps families access adoption-competent mental health services when they need them. The program also supports stipends for C.A.S.E.'s Master of Social Work and Clinical interns. For Enough, this is the kind of investment that can have an impact well beyond a single moment.

Access to knowledgeable, adoption-competent care can help families better understand and respond to the unique experiences that may accompany adoption, foster care, and kinship care.

It also helps build a stronger network of professionals equipped to serve these communities.

There Is Room for All of Us in This Work

Enough was created with a simple belief: adoptees deserve to be empowered.

Our work focuses on supporting adoptees' well-being, bridging gaps in access to medical history, and providing support around biological search and reunion. But, we also recognize that no organization can do this work alone.

There are therapists developing adoption-competent practices.There are social workers supporting families through complicated transitions.There are researchers studying the experiences of adoptees and families.There are advocates pushing for better policies and access to information.There are organizations creating peer communities and practical resources.And there are adoptees using their voices, stories, experiences, and expertise to make space for the people coming behind them.

This is what community looks like.

Different organizations may have different programs, approaches, and areas of expertise, but there is tremendous value in finding the places where our work intersects and choosing

to support one another rather than working in isolation.

Photobooth with C.A.S.E. CEO, Debbie Riley and Enough Adoption Foundation Founder, Mia Dickerson and Enough Adoption Foundation Director, Brandon Dickerson.

Continuing the Conversation

C.A.S.E.'s gala was a celebration, but it was also a reminder.

There is still work to do.

There are adoptees searching for answers about their identities and medical histories. Families navigating questions they never anticipated. Young people trying to understand where they fit. Adults processing experiences that may take on new meaning over time. And professionals seeking the knowledge and tools to support them well.

We believe the future becomes brighter when people have access to the information, resources, relationships, and support they need to navigate those experiences.

And we believe those futures become even brighter when lived experience and professional expertise sit at the same table.

Enough is grateful to C.A.S.E. for creating space to celebrate the people doing this work and for continuing to invest in adoption-competent care, professional education, and stronger families.

We are honored to be part of this growing community, and we look forward to continuing to listen, learn, collaborate, and empower adoptees.

Because, empowered voices don't just tell stories. They also help shape what comes next.