Ukraine | Orphan's Hope

Orphan’s Hope Ukraine is working with many orphans in government orphanages, bringing love and working to give them a future with hope. The typical orphanages shelter about 250 children, who face great challenges. These children have a tremendous vacuum, missing the love and care of a family. Our focus is currently on orphanages located in the Kiev region. Typically about 20% are orphans whose parents died and 80% of the children are social orphans. Social orphans come from abandonment, abuse, and violence, with parents who were drug addicts or alcoholics. The stories are tragic and the children are beautiful.

We have a tremendous need for monthly supporters for Orphan’s Hope. Could you help us in meeting this need? You can “Click Here to Donate” and become a monthly supporter of Orphan’s Hope.

The cost to the life of an orphan in orphanages is hard to grasp unless you ex- perience it firsthand and realize the needs of the children. You can start to appreciate the depth of their needs, the hurt, and often despair, when you understand that an estimated 10% of these children commit suicide after leaving the orphanage (at about fifteen sixteen years old) and before their eighteenth birthday 40-60% of the girls end up in prostitution, and 60-70% of the boys in crime.

There are 750 different kinds of orphanages all over Ukraine with about 10,000 orphans leaving the orphanages every year.

If only you could see how beautiful and normal these kids are in so many ways, the impact of loss beyond their control, and the power we have to make a real difference for them. The more time you spend with them, the more you love them and have compassion for them.

Showers for the children come once a week, and all they have in the world could fit in a small drawer if they only had one. People who should protect you commonly steal what is given to help you. Add to this loneliness, a deep sense of rejection, and the lack of adults with much time for you or to be a model in the normal things of life. Most of all they need love and caring families. Families are the very best place for them.

You can see the tip of the iceberg in the young teenagers who are pushed into the world, unprepared for life and often hurting. They often don’t know how to do basic things like tell time, cook, shop, budget, bank etc.. Without love, real help, and the light of Christ in their lives, they become tragic statistics ravaged by the corruption of the world and sin. We have seen how we can make a real difference together, and are giving our lives to love these children. Can you help us?

The purpose of Orphan’s Hope Ukraine is to give these children real hope and a better life. During the years we have been working with these children we have seen some excellent results, in the face of the many challenges.

  • Weekdays our staff are working in the orphanages loving the children, mentoring, providing humanitarian assistance, tutoring, counseling, offering camps, special programs, and much more.
  • We have a great model of a transiton home where Orphans are fostered and those who have just left the orphanages, are mentored and helped to make the transition.
  • We also teach practical life skills and character development in the orphanage.
  • OH computers classes have helped develop children intellectually, as well as give practical skills.
  • OH summer camps are the highlight of the year for many orphans, which God uses in wonderful ways to help them grow.
  • Children are taken to hosting homes on weekends to experience family life and give them chance to know the love and example there.
  • On Sundays we take them to children’s church where they can hear God’s Word and learn more about Jesus. Also on Saturdays we have different clubs for kids in a holistic approach for their healing and development.
  • OH staff build close, one-on-one mentoring relationships with children.These relationships allow us to meet both basic and deeper needs, and better prepare them to have a successful life at those who love God and please Him.
  • Orphan’s Hope has a great team working in the Ukraine, with a passion to see these beautiful children’s lives saved from tragic ends.
    Can you help us? Any help you can give will be used to make the greatest difference possible.
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Thank you for your interest and support for our ministry.

Need:

The most critical stage of an orphan’s life in the Ukraine, (where the statistics are so tragic), are at the ages of 15 to 18, just after they have left the orphanages. As we noted, the statistics on orphans during this time of their lives is very sad. They are extremely vulnerable, alone, and unprepared for life in the world. When Steve Cassidy, Orphan’s Hope President, visited a vocational school in the winter, the orphans were living in conditions with no heat in below zero weather, no shower or bath facilities, no lights in halls or toilets, and very bad moral conditions. Such situations are not uncommon.

Solution/Goal:

Orphan’s Hope has some great programs to help young people who are in or have left the government orphanage system. OH seeks to provide quality relationships and an environment with love, mentoring/discipleship, warm housing, hot showers, healthy food, life skills development, training in subjects like computers and English. The difference it has in the lives of these orphans, is like night and day, in giving them a spiritual foundation and skills to build their lives on.

Results:

We see a significant difference in the lives of teens in our program. Some who left the government orphanages at age 15-17 with a fifth to ninth grade education, will be going to university to this year! Sadly in the whole of Ukraine only 1-2 percent get to go to university. This is something they never could have dreamed of without our Orphan’s Hope programs. For orphans who have no one to help them, there is nothing like having someone who really cares about you, taking time one to one, and help fill in so many gaps from life in an orphanage. We love helping these young people find God’s way, where He can smile on a life redeemed and being lived well. With you our partners, we are making all the difference in the world for some of these young people.