About Us
Funding Love was started by our founder, Malorie Elrod, after walking through a domestic infant adoption journey alongside her husband and their three biological children in 2016. She found that throughout their home study and waiting period, they felt supported and celebrated by the community around them, but after finalization, all support dropped off and they were left to navigate the unsteady beginnings of a life-long open adoption all alone. Feeling the sudden weight of struggling to bond with her two month old baby, paying off final adoption fees, and questioning how to move forward in an open adoption, left Malorie feeling lonely and confused, with nowhere to process or glean wisdom in what to do next.
But Disney.
Walt Disney World had always been the place where Malorie and her family loved to vacation. When immersed inside the magic of Disney, she was able to break away from the hard things going on back home and truly connect and build bonds with her husband and kids. Those memories were like little treasures they took back home with them that they could pull out and admire, remembering that love and joy are stronger than any hardships they face.
But God.
One afternoon, while working in her garage, Malorie clearly heard God speak to her. He said, “I want you to send adoptive families to Disney World.” As an avid Jesus follower, she knew she had to obey the call.
In 2017, Malorie and her husband Tim paid for one adoptive family to go to Walt Disney World on an all-expenses-paid vacation - to bond, experience joy, and find restoration. Little did they know, that small act of obedience would snowball into a community of generous donors and volunteers helping to launch Funding Love as an official 501c3 nonprofit in August of 2018. Funding Love started with our Adoptive Family Program, and added on our Magic Maker Program two years later to better serve the adoption community. We have seen, firsthand, how intentionally curated vacation experiences with other families that have walked the same path, felt the same struggles, can not only heal adoptive parents, but adoptee children, as well. And we know that strong families create strong futures - for everyone.
In 2020, after four years of growing an open and loving adoption with her son’s birth mom, Malorie knew it was time to expand the mission of Funding Love. Malorie invited her friend and fellow adoptive mom, Katelyn Duckworth, to join her in launching our Funding Love Birth Mom Program, where women that have placed a child with an adoptive family can feel seen, loved, and worthy of post-adoption support, too. Birth moms are often figuratively celebrated for choosing life for their children, but not genuinely supported in the pain, trauma, shame, and isolation they are left with in the aftermath. At Funding Love, we proclaim that women are worthy - of love, support, care, community - not because we say it’s true, but because God says it’s true.
Malorie and Katelyn, lovingly known to us as Mal and Kate, now lead Funding Love side-by-side with passion, humility, and grace. Their heart for the whole adoption community shines through as they daily strive to push Funding Love to new heights in supporting adoptive families, adoptees, and birth mothers post-adoption. In 2022, they released the Funding Love Podcast, where they share the mission of Funding Love while bringing education and awareness to those both inside and outside the adoption community. They invite you to join them in this mission to bring awareness and support to families and women, post-adoption. When you listen, share, volunteer, or donate - you are Funding Love!