Provide Foster Families in Brazil

Dear Donor,

We share with you news about the project that has contributed to the full development of babies and young children who need to be separated from their biological families due to a court decision.

Our project offers family foster care to children between the ages of 0 and 6, who have had their rights violated in some way. In its seven years of existence, our project has taken in 104 children. The context of foster care is temporary and we try to minimize the impacts that institutionalization can cause in the lives of these young children. When they are in foster family care, their development is greater and the family environment, combined with the care of adults who are prepared to receive them, makes all the difference in this very difficult moment of their lives.

We work to protect children and to strengthen their biological families, which are also marked by countless forms of violence. This work is possible thanks to people like you, who believe in humanity and in overcoming situations of abandonment and neglect. Today we will share the story of a mother assisted by our project who, even after losing custody of her children, has been able to give new meaning to her own life, and her child´s life and rewrite their own story.

Inspiring stories

At 48 years of age, Carla lived on the streets for over thirty years. During this period she gave birth to eight children. Three were taken away from her while still in the maternity hospital, and others were taken in without her being able to understand why. She never knew the fate of any of them. During the fostering of her ninth child, Carla was heard in her pain, and over months of work and support, she has been able to rescue and record her own story in an album. In the narrative she created, she chose to recover the stories lived with the parents of each child. Supported by the team, she created her "healing story", recorded in a booklet in which the character is a mother rabbit who loses her babies in a very dangerous forest.

For each of the rabbit puppies, Carla created and performed a farewell ritual. For one she offered a prayer, for another a balloon filled with messages, for a third she wishes to plant a tree. She symbolized each loss that burned like an open wound that, little by little, she was able to elaborate her grief. At this point, Carla is already aware that she will not be able to regain custody of her ninth child, but faced with the elaboration of the loss, a choice was produced. Something has moved from the inevitable repetition: she no longer lives on the street and holds a job that brings her dignity and pride.

Thank you for your generosity.

Our best wishes,

Instituto Fazendo História

Dear Donor
We would like to share news about the project that has contributed to the full development of babies and young children who need to be separated from their biological families due to a court decision. And all this has been possible because we have counted on your support over the years.
Our project offers family foster care to children between the ages of 0 and 6, who have had their rights violated in some way. In seven years of existence, our project has already sheltered 99 children. The context of foster care is temporary and we seek to minimize the impacts that institutionalization can cause in the lives of such young children. When they are in foster families, their development is greater and the family environment, allied to the care of adults who are prepared to receive them, makes all the difference in this very difficult moment of their lives.
Despite all the difficulties, we continue strengthening ourselves and acting in our mission to protect and ensure the rights of children in such a challenging phase of their lives. This work is possible thanks to the help of people like you, who care and contribute to the search for a better life for our children.

Inspiring Stories
When her three children were taken in, Sheila was in her fourth pregnancy and had been using crack for over 20 years. She said she started smoking as a teenager, together with her mother, in downtown São Paulo.
She showed a great desire to take care of her children and get off the streets, but in the beginning of the support program she was resistant to the team's interventions, she couldn't organize herself to arrive on time for the visits, and didn't accept the sheltering measure.
One day she commented that she loved to paint napkins, so the following week one of the staff started painting a napkin next to her. Sheila soon became interested and started to come to the service twice a week to teach the social worker how to do the napkin painting. Little by little she opened up and told us her story.
Some time later she lost her partner, her main support network, who was run over by a bus, and she became very fragile, started to abuse psychoactive substances again, and stopped attending the service.
With the help of the street outreach team, the technicians managed to find her and brought to her a notebook that told her story: "Once upon a time there was a beautiful little girl with curly hair who was born in São Paulo. Her mother said that the baby was born standing up, because she was the daughter of the world. Her dream was to be a delegate and a ballerina, she loved to dance and sing. When she was five years old, her mother lost her job and ended up living on the street...." At the end of the story Sheila was thrilled. After that, she started visiting her children again, began treatment for drug use, started working, and was able to rent a house. Today, Sheila lives with her four children in the East Zone of São Paulo, went back to school to become a delegate, and says she still has her notebook with her story.
Sheila's story was transformed thanks to the caring eye of people who cared about her. The work of these people is possible thanks to your contribution! We can't change the world, but we can certainly contribute to change the story of more people like Sheila!
We are grateful to count on you!

Kind wishes,

Instituto Fazendo História team