Our Mission
Exciting things have happened in the last few months at A Child’s Hope Foundation. Here’s what Executive Director Kent White has to report about the new mission the Board of Directors has formed and why this development in our vision is so important.
What is changing at A Child’s Hope?
A Child’s Hope has always been centered on lifting orphans from surviving to thriving. Over the last few years, as we assessed children’s homes and helped directors see what they needed to do to improve, they kept saying the same thing. They wanted more training! We realized something vital—you can’t help kids without helping their caregivers.
There are lots of caregivers, therapists, social workers, foster parents, and others that are working in the space that feel overwhelmed and alone. They must gain the skills they need if they are going to help their children and not quit when it gets hard.
While A Child’s Hope continues to train on the Thrive Program to help children’s homes on the ground level, we are working to find additional courses and training that can help individuals achieve their goals for the kids. We’ve already seen immense success partnering with Cabaña por la Infancia and Oak Life in Mexico, organizations already training caregivers.
In February, Cabaña held a workshop on child development. José Carlos, an experienced caregiver and director, led the workshop. He focused on the significance of movement and language as children grow. Caregivers, tutors, teachers, and directors from 7 homes in Mexico joined. One director shared, “We weren’t listening to just anybody give a training, we were listening to someone who had the experience, knowledge, and who could relate to our day-to-day challenges.”
This is the hope that we exist to share! Caregivers and directors that have the training, the resources, and the community they need to support their kids so they can also gain skills!
Why is there a shift in the first place?
People that are involved in the orphan care space already have an appetite to help kids transition into families. The biggest gap is that policies are legislated without the ability to implement them. Care providers need a way to bridge the skills gap.
Most governments do not have the resources for trainings. They have high turnover in their staff because individuals feel alone and unsupported. We’re not the experts on every aspect of child care, but we can connect professionals to individuals that want to learn. Since last year, a major focus has been to make it even easier for them to collaborate.
Advances in AI and other communications technologies allow for rapid development and deployment in training. The Collective, our global community, just held a virtual conference with 28 people all over the world to connect two professionals (Sandhya Mishra from Miracle Foundation India and Hazel Cedeño from Casa Viva) to caregivers that are eager to improve and learn how to get children into families. Accessibility has never been greater. We want to be at the forefront of these innovations and see them benefit children.
What should we expect in the future?
Our Board debated how to best encapsulate the focus for A Child’s Hope now and in the years to come. This mission statement is the result: Because no child should be abandoned to raise themself, A Child’s Hope Foundation exists to equip orphaned and vulnerable children with skills, resources, and community so they can improve the trajectory of their lives.
In order to help these children, we are increasing the focus on equipping their caregivers. With caregivers, government officials, therapists, and social workers feeling engaged and fulfilled, the kids will have the support they need to prepare for life as healthy and happy adults.
As we keep pushing for growth and connection, we are seeing story after story about people that work in this space feeling like they are starting to get the resources they need. We are seeing the children in their care living successful lives when they leave the homes. Erika Charles’ story illustrates well what this means for caregivers and children.
“[In March], caregivers at Casa Hogar Sion participated in a workshop about how to be a safe base for children. The caregivers were very attentive and shared many personal experiences. They especially appreciated the variety of interactive parts of the training, including videos and discussions.
One caregiver shared, “I can apply what I have learned on a daily basis with the children in my care, learning to create together, talk, laugh and cry together, and always having an environment of connection which can help them throughout their lives.”
This caregiver is seeing how small actions and connections today can make a lasting positive impact on the children in their care.”
As caregivers learn and gain skills, the kids in their home are starting to thrive!
We are so excited for the recent changes here at A Child’s Hope and what it means for the future of global child care. Read more about your impact this past year or get involved below.
