EDUCATE disabled Romanian orphans DENIED EDUCATION

Challenge

In rural Vaslui County, where Delia's Friends Learning Center is located, 2,489 kids are registered as disabled. Only 171 receive educational support. Most are denied an education. Teachers don't have the experience or time for individualized instruction.Children growing up in foster care or in an orphanage without gaining life skills/education become adults who are institutionalized or turned to the streets. At age 18, special needs kids often end up in institutions with psychiatric patients.

Solution

Each of the 40 children attending Delia's Friends Learning Center benefits from individualized teaching and a safe environment to learn to socialize with other kids. Through education and learning to socialize, we will prevent children from growing up and being placed in an institution because they have no life skills/education.Unusual for this area, both our speech therapist and one of our teachers have autism training. We also provide nutrition support to improve wellness and academic success.

Long-Term Impact

Wherever possible, our goal is to integrate children into mainstream schooling. We estimate growing to 50 children in 2023. In 5 years, we will impact 150 children who are denied an education due to disabilities including medical, autism, intellectual, and developmental. Many also have emotional trauma. Long-term impact includes overall health and well-being. This winter we started a new life skills program for our kids who are now teenagers. The program will take the kids into the community.

Additional Documentation

This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).

Resources

• http:/​/​www.deliaslearningcenter.org
• Delia's Friends Learning Center information
• Video about our Delia's Learning Center
• The Delia Foundation Facebook page