b'Dear Friends,We are pleased to share The Barker Adoption Foundations 2021 Annual Report, which includes pictures and stories of a few of those who have been touched by our services and who have had deep and multi-faceted engagement with Barker. This Report recognizes those who helped to make our life-changing work possible.2021 was remarkable. We entered a second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, with all the worry and uncertainty it entailed. Yet, as Barker has for nearly eight decades, we remained dedicated to and focused on the needs of the children and families we serve and continued to adapt to make certain our services remained accessible and relevant to the communitys needs. We significantly increased our mental health counseling services and engaged in a strategic planning process, resulting in a renewed and unwavering commitment to ensuring that women have access to no-cost supportive adoption counseling. We committed to increasing our efforts to recruit and train families to adopt the most vulnerable children in our society, and then to support families that do. And we pledged to expand and enhance our post-adoption services to address the increasing mental health concerns throughout the metropolitan community. Finally, we committed to developing and enhancing partnerships to increase our positive impact on those we serve.The pandemic continued to cause delays in state courts, international border closings, and immigration processing problems, resulting in fewer children being able to join their adopted families. But Barker persisted in its commitment to ensuring that families remained supported and prepared to welcome their children. Forty-eight children were adopted by Barker families in 2021, and a record number of families applied to Barkers Project Wait No Longer program, dedicating themselves to adopting a teenage child in foster care.The 2021 Financial Statements indicate the agencys financial strength. Of particular note is the impact of significant and much-needed support from community and family foundations and individual donors, allowing us to sustain and expand our services. We are grateful for your trust and your investment in Barkers programs and services continuing to grow and evolve with the ever-changing needs of the community.We would not be able to do this important work or make the impact we do without the significant support, dedication, and talent of our donors, grantors, board, staff, and volunteers, and the broader Barker community. We are incredibly grateful for your commitment to ensuring that Barker remains a source of hope and services for children and families and a model for excellence in adoption counseling, education, and support. We are grateful for the privilege of leading this remarkable 77-year-old agency and of sharing with you the impact of our work, made possible by your support.- Sue Hollar and Adrian WashingtonANNUAL REPORT 2021 3 3'