50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 535 The Career Prepared for Tong Jiajia

This is essentially legal child labor, because social welfare cannot support too many orphans. Allowing them to enter society earlier can significantly reduce the burden on social welfare.

However, minors can only work part-time in non-dangerous industries such as retail and catering, and their working hours are usually limited to no more than 20 hours per week.

Of course, this last rule is not strictly enforced.

Mrs. Kelly, however, would prefer that the children be adopted by families so that they could have a complete childhood.

However, the threshold for adopting children in the United States is very high. First of all, adoptive families must undergo strict screening, such as comprehensive background checks, home visits, and adoption education training. The procedures are very troublesome.

Even if everything goes smoothly, the adoption fees are exorbitant, typically around $3 to $4. This is more than the average American family's annual income during that period.

In addition, the United States has an open adoption system, which allows the biological parents of adopted children to "change their minds" within a certain period of time, making adoptive families feel uneasy.

Then there's the issue of discrimination. Although the United States is a country of immigrants, high-income white families are generally unwilling to adopt Black children.

Furthermore, due to declining birth rates and increasing public emphasis on planned parenthood, the number of healthy children available for adoption in the United States is decreasing significantly.

On one hand, there are only about 1 children waiting to be adopted each year, while on the other hand, there are as many as one million families who want to adopt children.

However, many of these million families do not meet the strict screening requirements, with the majority failing to meet the income criteria.

A conflict arose, but the problem remained unresolved. Sun Zhiwei saw an opportunity to act as a go-between.

Historically, this event occurred in 92 when the Adoption Law was enacted, allowing foreigners to legally adopt orphans.

In 95, we joined the Hague Convention on International Adoption, which made the process of cross-border adoption smoother.

In the thirty years that followed, nearly 100,000 abandoned infants and orphans with disabilities or illnesses were adopted by American families.

Of these adopted orphans, about 88% are girls, and about 80% suffer from congenital disabilities or diseases.

Later investigations revealed that the vast majority of the adopted children were living well, and those with illnesses received effective treatment.

This is a stroke of luck for these children.
Sun Zhiwei felt that this seemingly beneficial matter should be brought forward a bit.

It just so happens that Tong Jiajia has come over now, but she doesn't have a suitable job yet. If we could set up a non-profit organization to take charge of this matter, I believe Jiajia would be very happy.

'Annie's House' is just a transitional place and cannot fully utilize the leadership skills that Tong Jiajia has cultivated over the past decade.

During a date, Sun Zhiwei told Tong Jiajia about his idea, and Tong Jiajia was very interested in it.

She had seen similar problems in Beijing, but she had never thought of using cross-cultural adoption to solve them. Sun Zhiwei's suggestion immediately opened her up.

With a shared goal, their dates were no longer all about being affectionate; instead, they spent most of their time brainstorming ideas for the new charity.

Because this involves two countries, their first task is to conduct thorough investigations. The first step is to investigate the compatibility of their laws. Currently, neither country has explicitly denied this, so there is a possibility of success.

The second step is to investigate data from both sides: domestic children's data and data from families in the US waiting for adoption. Once the supply and demand relationship is clear, the general direction and goals will be clear.

The third point is to investigate the acceptance level of both parties, and to see if they are willing to accept it. It would be awkward if only one side was enthusiastic.

Time quickly moved to 1983. On February 14th, St. Valentine's Day, Mr. James Roberts, dressed in a white suit and holding roses, proposed to Ms. Gabrielle Austin on the lawn of Anne Frank House.

Witnessed by many neighbors who came to volunteer, and amidst cheers from a large group of children, Ms. Jiajiali Austin accepted Mr. James Robert's ring.

After confirming their relationship, the two officially moved in together, and Tong Jiajia began to redecorate their new home at No. 206, Central Park North, Block 81.
It turns out that this place was just a temporary stop for Sun Zhiwei. The decorations, furniture, and appliances inside were all provided by Daisy, and he had never used many of the appliances.

Now that Tong Jiajia has arrived, this place naturally needs to be decorated like a home.

Just like back then, Tong Jiajia was in charge of design and decoration, while Sun Zhiwei was in charge of purchasing the necessary items. It took the two of them a week to redecorate the small white building.

The week after the proposal, Sun Zhiwei and Tong Jiajia applied to their superiors to join the church.

In the United States, non-religious people face a lot of exclusion and inconvenience. Most public figures, such as the White House occupant, are religious, which helps them win votes from believers.

Given his current status, Sun Zhiwei would be better off having a religious faith if he wanted to integrate into American society; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to attend some gatherings that are only open to believers.

Although he has a special status, he still needs to apply for permission from his superiors and cannot make decisions on his own.

This isn't a big problem. Ordinary people in China have relatively free choices in this regard. It's just that Party members are atheists, and even if he and Tong Jiajia were to join the religion under a false identity, they would still need approval from above.

A few days later, news of the approval came back from above.

Sun Zhiwei then took Tong Jiajia to the largest church in the vicinity, St. John's Cathedral in New York.

The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York is the cathedral of the Episcopal Church in the United States.

Located on Amsterdam Avenue at 110th and 113th Streets in Northwest Manhattan, New York City, it is the third largest cathedral in the world and currently the largest Gothic cathedral in the world.

Construction of the church began in 1892, but was halted for 41 years before resuming last year. It is now two-thirds complete.

Its main building is basically completed and can be used without any problems.

Sun Zhiwei came here because this is the main church of the Episcopal Church, which is the main church of faith for all the White House owners in the United States.

He believed that this choice would bring him convenience in his future work. He figured it didn't matter who he believed in, so he chose to join a church that would benefit him.

(End of this chapter)