Advocating for Children with Special Needs with Brady Murray

Open Adoption Project

In this episode, we hear from Brady Murray of RODS Heroes, a nonprofit organization aspiring to give voices to children in foster homes and institutions in international countries. Brady and his wife Andrea became parents of a son with Down syndrome in 2007. Over the following months and years, they discovered what a blessing it is to experience life with someone who has Down syndrome. When Brady and Andrea learned it is common practice in many countries for special needs children to be abandoned and generally placed in orphanages, and then when reaching age five or six are usually transferred to adult mental institutions, where many die within just a few months, the couple felt moved to act. They founded RODS (Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome), and now focus on sharing voices of children and helping them join families with grants. RODS Heroes’ ultimate vision for the future is that families, communities, and nations will see the light that individuals with special abilities have, and will choose to keep these children and allow them to thrive in their home communities. Their current goal is to help children find loving homes where they can thrive and achieve their potential.