Melissa Settle and her husband, Stephen, started their nonprofit, Extend Your Tent, in 2018. The couple wanted to start a family but faced challenges. However, they felt prompted by God to adopt and they walked through the adoption process in 2016 and 2017. Though the process was difficult, they were able to joyfully adopt their daughter and welcome her into their family.
Settle said she and her husband felt called to start the nonprofit as a way to offer much-needed support to other families walking through the adoption process. Extend Your Tent, which gets its name from Isaiah 54, helps families by offering financial, educational and spiritual support.
Settle and her husband speak at churches and share their adoption story and information on adoption including open and ethical and moral adoptions. They have a compassionate community that offers prayer and support as couples walk through this often-overwhelming season.
Financially, the nonprofit offers grants and interest-free loans for various adoption situations. Settle shared how expensive and stressful adoption can be, but she “never wants finances to be a roadblock,” for those who are willing to open their homes to children who need them. Adoption on average costs families $60,000, but Extend Your Tent is able to help with the various expenses thanks to their generous donors.
Each October, the nonprofit hosts a kickball tournament to raise money to sponsor a local family walking through the adoption process. It’s a fun-filled event for the entire family to enjoy and includes bounce houses and games.
Settle said that, this year, they were able to sponsor two families. The nonprofit also hosts a conference each year that helps encourage and equip families. They want to offer support and show adoptive and foster families that they are loved, especially as they walk through a difficult season.
Extend Your Tent brings awareness that adoption is an option, supports families all over the United States and supports international adoptions as well. The heart of the nonprofit is to meet families where they are in the adoption process and encourage them as they welcome a new child into their family.
To learn more, go to https://www.extendyourtent.org.
