1. Tell us more about your family.

I (Holly) have a 16 year old son named Jakob, and for a while it was he and I against the world as I was a single mother. In 2011 Ronnie tripped me in Walmart, and I fell for him. Literally. Three years later I married him! Together the 3 of us built a beautiful little family. Then in 2015 we added Genesis. In 2017 we added Alexander and Thomas. In 2022 we added Andrew, Charlie, and Benjamin. In 2024 Ronnie adopted Jake. We thought our family was complete, but coming in 2026 we are adding Jesse and Lily. We are from upstate New York, but we currently live in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

2. Tell us more about your heart for adoption. 

I (Holly) had always wanted to foster and adopt, having spent many years in the foster care system myself, (eventually aging out without getting adopted). Many of Ronnie’s family had been adopted, both internationally and domestically. We both had a heart for adoption!

3. Tell us more about your adoption journey so far.

This adoption started with someone sharing a picture of Lily with us, commenting about how much she looked like our son Charlie, and how they had such similar needs. Looking at them side by side you would think they are biological siblings :) We couldn't stop thinking about her and how she looked like she was part of our family already. We assumed God placed her in our path for a reason. Then we were "introduced" to Jesse who has all the same needs as our son Benjamin. Like it was meant to be for them to be brothers as well. They also resemble each other!

4.  Tell us more about the child you are adopting.

Lily is 7 years old. She has Cornelia De Lange with both respiratory and cardiac comorbidities. She is non verbal, non ambulatory, incontinent of bowel and bladder, is tube fed, has seizures, short stature, and has global cognitive and developmental delays. 

Jesse is also 7 years old. He is blind, tube fed, has seizures, is incontinent of bowel and bladder, and has arthrogryposis from the chest down. He is non verbal, non ambulatory, and has global cognitive and developmental delays

Prayer Request:

The beginning of our process was very drawn out because Charlie was turning 18 and in our state a minor can not be fingerprinted. We had to wait until he was 18 to continue. It delayed us several months. We are so prayerful that the remainder of this process goes quickly and smoothly. We also pray for Jesse and Lily's safety. Many times when the orphanages are informed that a child has a family from the United States coming they will begin treating the child poorly out of jealousy that they will get to go to the United States and have a better life. I pray that their caregivers don't retaliate against the children in jealousy, and that God keeps them safe until they can come home.

We will be donating $1 from every bag of coffee sold this month to the Braddock's Connected Hearts Ministry fund and we'd love for YOU to partner with this family to adopt their precious children! You can donate directly to them through their Connected Hearts Ministry link, where 100% of the donation will be used for adoption-related expenses: https://give.connectedheartsministry.org/campaign/braddock-family-adoption-fund/c699678