Mission Statement
We believe the greatest need for at risk children in Romania is self-worth. High risk children - institutionalized orphaned, abandoned, ethnic Roma, severely abused girls, and special needs children - are in desperate need of a sense of self esteem, of self-worth.
Self-worth leads to hope . . . hope fosters personal effort in education and in learning vital social skills . . . which in turn leads to successful re-integration from institutions into Romanian society. Education is essential, but requires student effort, hope fosters such effort.
Thus, our mission is to instill a sense of self worth in the children participating in our programs while providing for their basic emotional, nutritional, health and educational needs.
Overview of Ministry Activity
In partnership with Missio Link International, a Romanian NGO, USAffairs co-founded and sustains three Children-at-Risk Ministries - Deborah House, Aspirations and Harmony.
Deborah House is a multifaceted residential center for girls suffering from posttraumatic behavioral disorders resulting from severe abuse. Deborah House Center maintains two Christian homes and intervention treatment programs for severely abused girls. Rescuing unwanted girls from the street, the sex trade, and from abuse and exploitation at the hands of family and strangers, Deborah House provides a continuum of specialized intervention and treatment programs. Providing much more than residential care, Deborah House assesses and treats physical and sexual abuse, and related behavioral disorders. The goal of Deborah House is for each Deborah girl to reclaim her life by turning hurt into hope.
Aspirations - a transitional counseling program for assisting Deborah House girls, as well as other formerly institutionalized youth, to re-integrate into Romanian society. Aspirations provides psychological, social skills and family counseling, basic family unit financial/budget counseling, and limited financial assistance. The program also includes job application/interview tutoring and job search assistance. The end game for each Aspirations participant is to become functioning, independent and self supporting adults, fully integrated into Romanian society, within a certain timeframe.
Harmony – a Christian music ministry that impacts the lives of hundreds of marginalized children in government orphanages, ‘special needs’ children’s schools, and the recently opened young offenders’ prison. Harmony also identifies individual youth within these government institutions who evidence potential for our Aspirations program. This ministry identifies and reaches out to at risk children and their families most in need in the communities surrounding these institutions.
Plans and Goals
We are currently in the planning stage to build and open our third building which will allow us to locate Deborah House Center in two buildings on one campus. Our first Deborah House building will then be converted into Aspirations House, a transitional residence for participants in our Aspirations program.
We are also in the planning stages for a mirco enterprise finance program for Aspirations participants.
Our goal is to increase our donor support base in the U.S. in order to insure the long term sustainability of our programs.
