Shade for Children is building a private small group home, called "Blossom Cottage", for 8-10 orphaned children in Ukraine. Small Group Homes are the newest form of family-based care approved by the Ukrainian government as part of its efforts to reform its antiquated soviet-era orphanage system. We expect ground-breaking in late Spring. Fundraising kicked-off November 1, 2023. As of April 2024 we have approximately $218,000.
One of the worlds most recent studies regarding orphan care concluded 1) Institutionalization is harmful across multiple domains of child development, 2) Moving to family-based care can help repair some of the harm done by institutionalization, and 3) Timing is critical, the longer children spend in institutional care, the greater the likelihood of negative impact and the smaller the chance of recovery.
The Ukrainian government is promoting the creation of Small Group Homes (with 8-10 children) as part of a global shift away from institutionalization to family-based care. Shade for Children will provide nurturing environment with better care and attention while advocating for permanent solutions like adoption or family reunification for the children.
Small Group Homes represent a step toward dismantling the broken, soviet-era orphanage system in Ukraine. Additionally, studies show that family-based care is more cost effective than bloated, bureaucratic institutions. Shade for Children's goal is to see 50% of the children in our custody adopted or returned to family each year. We can break unhealthy cycles, and reduce societal cost.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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