For more than two decades, Wayne Kezirian and Elizabeth Paroli have supported Children’s Friend through annual donations, the Investing in Our Children Luncheon, and the Spirit of Giving Holiday Drive. They are proud to give back to an organization that has remained steadfast in its commitment to children and families for nearly 200 years.
“The quality of the programming, services, and communications—it’s exceptional,” said Wayne. “Children’s Friend walks alongside families and children without judgment, and it has grown to be one of the most comprehensive human service nonprofits in the state.”
Wayne and Elizabeth are proud to support such a worthy cause. They are also grateful to Children’s Friend for something profoundly personal: their daughter, Amanda.
For years, Wayne and Elizabeth longed to become parents. After fertility treatments ended, they hoped to adopt locally but adoption lists across Rhode Island were closed. Undeterred, they broadened their search and began the process with an agency in the South. As Rhode Island residents, they needed a local organization to complete their home study, so they reached out to Children’s Friend.
They were connected with Camille Hardiman, a social worker who was handling the adoption program at that time. They learned that Children’s Friend was opening its adoption list. Wayne and Elizabeth mailed their application that very same day and soon found themselves attending sessions with other prospective adopters.
Though they were told a call could come at any time, they were not in a hurry to finish the nursery. After years of waiting, they did not expect that a baby would suddenly arrive. Then one night Wayne felt a need to finish the baby’s room. He stayed up until 4 a.m., carefully pasting the final strip of wallpaper and went into work tired and bleary-eyed. That same morning, “the call” came.
It was January 25, 1989. Wayne was at his office when the phone rang. Having recently installed a new phone system with then-cutting-edge technology, he was able to conference Elizabeth into the call at the push of a button. Camille, who by that time had become a trusted advisor and friend, was on the line sharing life-changing news: a baby girl would be joining their family within days.
“It was like having the whole nine months of preparing for a child condensed into just two days,” Wayne recalled.
“We bought a crib and went to Vincent’s children’s store on Federal Hill,” Elizabeth added. “We bought clothes and anything else we could think of.”
The next day, Wayne and Elizabeth met their daughter, Amanda, at Children’s Friend with the foster mother who took care of her after she was released from the hospital.
On January 27, just two days after “the call,” Wayne and Elizabeth brought Amanda home.
She was seven weeks old, tiny, and born prematurely. Her birth mother had not known she was pregnant when she went to the hospital with severe pneumonia, and she gave birth soon after she was admitted. Despite having no prenatal care and being born during a hospital strike, with the support of a remarkable foster family, Amanda had gained weight steadily and weighed in at nearly seven pounds when she finally arrived home.
Beyond helping them become parents, Children’s Friend made a lasting impact through the care and support they provided as Wayne and Elizabeth built their family.
Camille retired soon after Amanda was placed, and Wayne and Elizabeth made a point of saying that every person they have worked with at Children’s Friend through the years has been equally caring and professional. Through the organization, they found a community of fellow adoptive parents, gained confidence as new parents, and learned how to talk with Amanda about adoption and family as she grew.
“We see our philanthropy as an act of gratitude,” said Elizabeth. “Children’s Friend made us parents. Now, we are grandparents. Children’s Friend is part of our story.”