What we're dreaming of . . .
We love what we do at Shade for Children, but there's so much more that can be done.
A Drop-in Day Care Center
What if we operated a drop-in day care center for families in crises? Maybe even a Center especially for special-needs children...kids most at risk for being shipped off to an orphanage because their parents lack the time or skills to care for them full-time.
A Small Group Home for Children
While serving on The World Race back in 2007, Clinton wrote a letter to himself describing a point 10 years in the future. At the time, he though he might be operating a private orphanage by 2017.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. Among other things, he put the thought of operating an orphanage out of mind because no orphanage is as good as a family. We don't need more orphanages.
Rght now the Ukrainian government is promoting small group homes (no more than 10 children) as a way to reduce the numbers of children in the large State operated institutions. There appears to be an option to create such a home as a private entity (with appropriate social services oversight).
Our own camp facility
There aren't many dedicated Christian camp facilities in Ukraine. A ministry from The Netherlands owns one near us and they are booked virtually every week of the summer. Right now, it is fully occupied by displaced families. It's a dream but wouldn't it be awesome- somewhere in the Carpathian foothills not far from Uzhhorod to own a camp facility?
Shade for Children's US Director, Clinton White, lived in Gulfport, Mississippi during Hurricane Katrina. He saw firsthand the rapid deployment of "Katrina Cottages". Right now, a number of ministries and organizations are building modular homes for displaced families. But the war won't last forever. Eventually, those families will return to their homes and we expect there to be a glut of those cottages. What if we can procure 10-15 of them (they typically sleep 4 people) for a camp facility?