we may not be
their parents
we want to offer
each child in Romania
a place they can call home
for 27 years, we have been taking children out of orphanages because their lives can return to normality only in a space of hope, where they can feel at home.
years after years of research have shown that orphanages have a negative impact on the children’s physical, social and intellectual development.
this is why our priority is to close down all orphanages in Romania until 2027.
- for some, reunification with their birth families was possible
- for others, foster care or adoption were appropriate
- for young adults exiting the system, we offer support so that they become independent by securing a job and a place to live
- for others, we built family homes, to re-create an environment as close as possible to the family one
each story and each child became part of the huge community of souls for whom we know we made a change for the better
nothing can replace
the love of a family
for the children from poor communities, the only wealth and assurance is the love of their parents and when poverty leads to family breakdown, their whole universe falls apart.
did you know
that the vast majority of the children in orphanages have at least one parent alive? It is even more painful to know that love was not enough to keep them together and that poverty overcame their need to be with their loved ones.
it takes less than you can imagine to keep a family together. maybe we repair a roof that would otherwise have rained through, maybe we donate a dairy cow, maybe we build another room or furnish the child’s room, maybe we connect the house to the utilities – maybe we do all this for a family, or a part, or more . all we know before we support a family is that we look at each child as a universe in itself.
the hope and homes for children prevention programme addresses the causes that lead to family separation through financial support provided to families and counselling.
this program is complementary to the orphanage closure one, because when we work to close an orphanage, it is important to ensure that no more children will enter, separated from their families.
we support young adults
exiting orphanages who take
their first steps toward independence
taking the first steps toward independence was hard for all of us. but imagine how difficult it can be to leave the orphanage at the age of 18 with a small luggage of goods and completely alone in this world: no family, no backup plan, no resources and no hope.
we stand by young people who leave the protection system and offer them help for independent living, through counselling and material support
the youngsters leaving state care at the age of 18 are extremely vulnerable.
the reform of the child protection system
cannot be completed
without training the staff
at national level, we started an educational curriculum and set up a training centre in Baia Mare. Up to this point, over 10,800 staff members from the child protection system in Romania benefitted from our training programmes.
we have become, in the 27 years of working on child protection reform, an organization specialized in personnel training.