How You’re Lifting Orphans from Surviving to Thriving

Have we met yet? I’m Kassidy, the Communication Design Manager here at A Child’s Hope. I wanted to make sure we could communicate how your donations are actually being used. This video helps explain how we do what we do, and why we couldn’t do it without you. 

I’ve been working on this project for the last 6 months, and I am so excited to share it. Feel free to share this video to help your friends and family find out more about what we do, and how we’re lifting orphans from surviving to thriving. If you would like to help contribute to our mission, you can support orphanage directors here.

View the full transcript below:

How do you know that your donations are really lifting children from surviving to thriving?

Orphanages come in many sizes – from large to small and everything in between. But they all face similar problems. For example, the homes we work with don’t receive any funding from their government, struggle planning for the future, and find it hard to give personalized attention to each child. Directors are often so overwhelmed with the day-to-day that they never get around to really helping their children prepare for life on their own as young adults.

These challenges can lead caregivers to feel isolated and desperate. Because they are stretched so thin, they struggle to make long-term improvements and build relationships with partners who could help. Without that help, many children end up aging out of those orphanages without the skills they need to support themselves, leaving them to a life of poverty, crime, and hardship. 

That’s where A Child’s Hope Foundation comes in. We accelerate a relationship of trust with quality orphanage directors and with those donors who want to help. After we have validated the leadership abilities of orphanage directors, their financial transparency, and their results improving the lives of children, we agree to begin the orphanage certification process. 

Orphanage certification begins with the Thrive Assessment. The Thrive Assessment measures the orphanage in 15 areas, such as nutrition, education, financial accountability, and others. Each area of focus gets a score along with the next steps which will allow their children to thrive. After meeting together with the directors, plans are created with attainable, measurable outcomes and deadlines. We call this prioritized plan the Orphanage Improvement Roadmap.

To help a director progress through their Orphanage Improvement Roadmap, donors contribute to the Lift Fund. The Lift Fund is used to implement their plans and helps the orphanage move from “surviving to thriving”, one area at a time. After granting funds, we continue to train and coach directors so they can overcome their challenges. We are there to help them achieve their goals and stay certified. 

And the most important piece of getting certified is that each child gets personalized help to succeed through their own Child’s Hope Plan.

Because each child has different needs and dreams, each child helps build their own Child’s Hope Plan. Because of donors like you, each child can receive tutoring in math and reading, training for careers and family life, and personal counseling with licensed therapists. Donors are helping these children progress towards a hopeful future where they can look forward to someday raising happy families of their own.

Through regular audits of each certified orphanage, A Child’s Hope ensures that resources, projects, and information are aligned, so we can all keep lifting orphans from surviving to thriving. We report back the results so you can see how your donations are changing their lives. We exist to ensure that orphanage leaders, volunteers, and donors are all able to see the measurable progress of each child. Donors like you are steadily lifting orphans from surviving to thriving.