I have been looking into this question for the best part of a decade, and the answer to this question is an emphatic Maybe.
Let me explain. I think I can do this best by starting with a quote from Richard S. Victor, the founder of the national nonprofit Grandparents Rights Organization. “Remember, if death takes a grandparent from a grandchild, that is a tragedy, but if petty vindictiveness and hostilities within a family amputate a grandchild from their grandparents, then that is a shame.” .
This quote comes from a nationally decorated Divorce and Family Law attorney, an excellent Grandparent, and a man that dedicated decades to making this world a better place by creating the possibility of More Love for children rather than less Love. Richard Victor sought to right some misdirected, mean-spirited wrongs in many broken families perpetrated by some angry and spiteful parents at the expense of their helpless children.
From their website: grandparentsrights.org
HISTORY AND PURPOSE OF GRO:
The Grandparents Rights Organization is a national volunteer nonprofit organization founded in 1984 by founder and executive director, attorney Richard S. Victor. It has been qualified as a tax-exempt organization under section 501 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code as an organization described in section 501 (c) (3). Its purpose is to educate and support grandparents and grandchildren and to advocate their desire to continue a relationship that may be threatened with loss of contact or amputation, usually following:
- Family acrimony.
- A child being born out of wedlock.
- The death of one of the child’s parents or the divorce of the grandchild’s parents.
Initially started in Oak Park, Michigan, the Grandparents Rights Organization (GRO) moved to Birmingham, Michigan, where it remained until the national headquarters moved to its present location at 1721 Bellwood Court, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302. In 1991 Newsweek magazine called GRO, “the nation’s largest” organization, is supporting grandparents’ rights.
One caveat I will add is that this is a serious organization and is not for Grandparents who are not acting in “The best Interest of their Grandkids.” Enough said.
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