The Rhode Island Coalition for Adoptee Rights and Equality (RI-CARE)

​ was mostly comprised of RI adoptees who came together for the 2011 legislative initiative with the foresight and understanding of the importance to change RI General Law to allow adoptees to access their Original Birth Certificates (OBC). This initiative began with many people but the adoptees who were the inspiration and the driving force of legislative change were Bryan Conti, Regina Zimberlin, Marie Baguchinsky, John Greene, Nicole Watts, Kara Albano, Ray O’Conner, and Diana Hiipakka & others.

 

All of us having unique perspectives and life experiences combined with the commonality of being adoptees proved to be the key ingredients to be an effective team as we tenaciously emerged through many many faces of adversity and opposition during 2011. Together we helped correct history, and with a sense of unity we found and inspired attributes within each other such as strength, creativity, and above all, integrity. All of these ingredients allowed the opportunity for personal and group achievements while never losing the most important goal on the horizon, unconditional advocacy on behalf of all RI adoptees and the relentless pursuit to succeed for adoptees and ourselves.

 

Many will never fully know the lengths of adversity we each encountered and overcame, but that is not nearly as important to us to what mattered most. The most meaningful element, beyond the accomplishment of this goal, was the support by all of our families and friends. Without the support of family and friends this initiative would have presented additional enormous challenges which would have certainly brought different meaning and subsequently this initiative may not have found success.

 

Looking to the future, RI-CARE, created exclusively for purposes of legislative advocacy, officially handed the torch to its counterpart, RIARG. RIARG still largely consists of the adoptees who pursued the original birth certificate legislative initiative. We now strive to present a resource group to continue to meet the needs of adoptees once adoptees obtain their OBC. RIARG has many functions and capabilities, primarily the opportunity for adoptees to pursue self-discovery. Self-discovery has many forms and is a series of complex dynamics interwoven on multiple levels. For this reason it is important for RIARG to be able to meet adoptees on as many levels as possible. RIARG’s motto: Helping Adoptees Explore, Discover, & Solve the Mystery. RIARG will primarily provide group support via monthly meetings and offer guidance and work shops as it relates to the search process, finding, and reunion. RIARG welcomes adoptees to be a part of this historic group, with integrity we can honestly say we did this for all RI adoptees, this is for you!