Financial Reality sets in.
Market Forces At Work.
A new era is here in the international adoption sphere. It’s no longer 1998. Eleven years have passed since we ourselves began “our journey”. Nearly overnight, Americans’ easy credit has dried up. No longer can we can get quick home equity lines of credit to finance an adoption. Gone are the days of second mortgages spent to pay outlandish, nonrefundable fees. Many extended families can no longer donate $10,000 for an international adoption. Nor can penny-ante fundraisers raise $25,000 from churches and well-wishers to cover adoption expenses.
The credit crisis is not only hurting individual families wishing to adopt, its effects are being felt all over the international adoption industry. Several agencies have ceased to exist: Project Oz Adoptions, Genesis Adoptions, Elina Adoptions, Illien Adoptions, Russian Adoption Family Service (RAFS), Main Street Adoptions, Adoption International Program, Adoptions Abroad (out of Texas), Finally Family, the trashy Commonwealth Adoptions International, not to mention Adoption Blessings Worldwide and Small World Adoption Foundation in Missouri. Some of these declared bankruptcy and many of the above have had to deal with lawsuits by disgruntled clients. One director now sits in a jail cell. One of the founders of these agencies killed himself.
As the financial and regulatory tide turns, small agencies are uniting with larger agencies with long-established programs. Especially those large agencies with Hague accreditation AND established programs. In 2008 it happened with the following: International Adoption Guides & World Partners Adoption, Buckner & Dillon, Mandela Adoption & Carolina Adoption Services.
Financial stresses are pushing down on and laying on Denise Hubbard and Richard J. Marco, Jr’s spines. BBAS is no different from the competition. They are competing with merging agencies for a shrinking pool of applicants with less money to spend. Not only has the money dried up, but the sea of “available” orphans shrank. More countries closed, creating fewer souls for export.
Romania. Vietnam. Cambodia. Guatemala. The list lengthens.
Contrary to what BBAS writes on its website about “fast” Russian adoptions, babies are harder to obtain and costs have escalated. An additional trip coupled with the increased wait for young children, made Russia a gold-plated option.
Yet, BBAS hasn’t lost its capacity to offend and surprise. They now admit that they partner with Beacon House for their Russian program, (as updated on July 1, 2008)
Building Blocks assists in the adoption of children from the Russian Federation through an agreement with Beacon House Adoption Service, Inc. Beacon House is an agency located in the United States that has acquired its accreditation from the Russian Federation to facilitate adoptions. Building Blocks and Beacon House work together to complete adoptions from Russia. Building Blocks assists primarily with the domestic requirements while Beacon House provides the assistance in the Russian Federation. Families adopting through Russia will execute agreements with both agencies so that there responsibilities are clear. 7-1-08
Shouldn’t this have been on their website in 2001? They would have appeared a little less shady, calculating and underhanded. Why is Anne Hughes at Beacon House continuing to associate with Denise Hubbard? Is there a kick-back option between the two directors? Must be – only Denise & Anne know how much BBAS clients have generated since 2001. Especially those BBAS clients who lied in Russian court about using Building Blocks as their “accredited agency”.
China’s infant Non Special Needs program is nearly at a standstill although to keep PAPs content, older “healthier” children and those with Special Needs are being offered.
BBAS strung along some Guatemalan clients. What their prognosis is, we cannot say.
BBAS pushed its Kazakhstan program hard since Guatemala sank. There were several active Kazakhstan clients (don’t ask us how the Krulls are doing – they took their blog private, as we predicted ). Like Guatemala, Kazakhstan is falling on hard times, again, contrary to what Denise claims on BBAS website.
Who does BBAS use for its Kazakhstan facilitators? It was Amrex in the days prior to the bankruptcy. To our knowledge, BBAS didn’t place many children from Kazakhstan with Amrex. Pat Langhals was the only active BBAS Kazakhstan AParent we knew. Langhals, thankfully, has moved on and faded from the scene.
The Kazakhstan process became more difficult, arduous and costly. The “healthy” children are not there like they had been.
Currently, Denise, like almost every child pusher, is relying on Ethiopia to pull her through.
The cloying biblical reference to Sarah is over the top. God didn’t tell Sarah to sell Isaac to passing baby brokers. Then again, even with God’s help, adopting with BBAS is going to be near-impossible. Whichever agency has Building Blocks piggybacking on their program better check their Bibles better.
BBAS “Christian“ angle is insipid, given Richard J. Marco Jr is a Catholic. We are not sure what religion the Hubbards are, but we thought they were Catholic too.
As for BBAS efforts at obtaining clients, Denise & Rick are losing their touch. In the past year we received emails from could-have been BBAS clients sharing troubling information. The tid-bits we received from the could-have-beens are notable. One email stated they contacted Denise regarding an unnamed adoption program. They had a question which four other agencies answered directly. Denise, instead of giving a quick response, told them Richard J. Marco, Jr. needed to look into it. Yet, in order for him to look into it, it would cost them $5,000. No questions asked, nor responses given.
Another could-have been stated she got a bad vibe from Denise and never sent in her application fee. We’ve heard that before – Denise and her greed vibes never fail to repel.
There’s the obvious staff reduction at the agency. But what else can we add to that?
We’ve saved the most thrilling update for last. In January 2009, we found a link to Trulia.com, a real estate site. That’s right people. THE GIANT SUCCOTASH IS FOR SALE.
In January the Succotash was listed for $354,850. Obviously, in today’s market, that price is out of sight for ANY buyer. It was listed by The Russell Realty company. Mr. Bill Valentine was the Realtor. Apparently, he couldn’t sell the house Coldwell Banker Hunter Realty. Yet, before the listing was pulled from Russell Realty’s site, we saved the photos of the Succotash’s interiors. When she jumped realty companies Coldwell Banker Hunter’s site gave us some more!
All which Denise bragged on can finally be seen. The hardwood floors. The kitchen. The amazing office space (which she no longer uses). The stairway. The dining area. We are happy to share these interior photos with you, for we did pay for most of it, after all.
By February 2010, however, Denise was back to her old tricks. Trying to sell the house on her own, like she did for Remsen Road. The Hubbard’s dwelling is now down $6,737 to $348,113. She’ll need to come down lower than THAT if she wants to sell the place.
The Hubbards, like so many other Americans, bought into the credit-fueled delusions in building their McMansion. Their faith in Denise’s sales abilities pushing BBAS blinded them to economic reality. Had they believed BBAS income would only go up up up to the sky?
This is our schadenfreude moment. Denise having to sell her dream home, the house built on the nightmares she made real for so many.
Once the Giant Succotash sells, trust us. We will be posting it from one end of this website to the other. Stay tuned. (If someone wants to buy it and demolish it, that would be a wonderful gift. The only better gift would be giving it to us so we could demolish it. Or convert it to a museum of international adoption corruption.
We are going to be proven right in the end. It won’t be this website or even other disgruntled, angry BBAS clients who will be Denise and Rick’s downfall. It will, in the end, be market forces and the credit crisis which does the business in. Our money is on the market forces. But we won’t know until the Blocks Crumble.