Elise Crum
A Junction City High School grad, Elise Crum majored in poly sci at Lewis and Clark and spent her senior year working on a biology field study in Kenya. "I stayed with host families," she says. "As a work project, we raised money and built a room onto a school." Back in the US, Crum lived in California for a while, then moved to Eugene, pregnant with her son Shabir. She was a single mom for three years before she married Adam Wendt in 1998. Crum and Wendt have since adopted two infants, Ramyia, now seven years old, and Kahlil, who just turned four. When Ramyia was a baby, Crum joined the board of Adoptive Families of Lane County, a support and education organization for families and anyone interested in adoption. She is currently president of the non-profit group, now known as Adoption Connections of Oregon. "We have play groups once a month and four main events per year," she says. "Almost 60 people showed up for our hayride this fall." ACO's 7th Annual Conference, with a workshop for adults and playshops for kids led by adoption educator Jane Brown, is set for this weekend, November 7-9, at Meadow View School. Call Elise Crum at 345-4209 for details or visit adoptionconnectionsoforegon.org.
happening people
photograph and story by Paul Neevel
Eugene Weekly / 6 November 2008
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