History

Adoptive Families Support Association was founded in 1972 as Project Orphans Abroad (POA). Moved by the plight of children left homeless by the Vietnam war, Johanna Spicuzza organized POA and dedicated her life to finding adoptive families for these children in the United States. In just over two years, she succeeded in placing more than 90 Vietnamese children in new homes.

After the fall of Vietnam, POA turned its attention to El Salvador, where Johanna established a program to aid Latin American children. Through her efforts, more than 200 children were adopted by families in Ohio
and surrounding states.

As the years passed, POA expanded its services to help families adopting children from India and Korea, acting as a liaison with well known agencies as Dillon, Holt and International Mission of Hope.
The group continued to grow and expand its services to meet the needs of an ever increasing number of adoptive families.

Today, the organization serves northeast Ohio families who have adopted children both internationally and domestically. In 1991 the group’s name was changed to Adoptive Families Support Association to better reflect both its mission and membership.