Urzhum Orphanage is a refuge for children who have experienced abandonment, neglect, abuse and family degeneration. The town of Urzhum has a population of 10,000 and is 120 miles south of Kirov. The orphanage, founded in 1926, is located on the outskirts of town.
In the 1930s, the orphanage began to see an increase in the number of children who were entering care due to political oppression of their families. The current director arrived in 2008 and changed the orphanage to a family model. The children live as one big family with older children taking care of the little ones. They are responsible for chores such as serving meals, cleaning the tables, washing the floors, watering flowers, dusting, and picking up toys. Through the orphanage programs and the supportive staff, children at Urzhum Orphanage are given the opportunity to develop into healthy, independent, and successful adults.
With the partnership of First Congregational Church of St. Joseph, the children at Urzhum Orphanage have the opportunity to grow physically, spiritually, and emotionally while the First Congregational Church of St. Joseph community also experiences positive transformation!
The HopeChest Team Supporting Urzhum
Katya Celenina
Country Director
Orion Netsanet
Strategic Partnership Director
Nancy Fowler
HopeChest Partnership Leader
Empower a Child at Urzhum
Empowering a child is one of the most personal ways that you can make an impact on global poverty. It is more than providing for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. When you sponsor a child, you build a relationship that shows that child they are valuable, worth loving, and worth investing in.
Your sponsorship is the starting point of a journey that equips vulnerable children, their families, and their communities to create sustainable transformation. When you sponsor a child with HopeChest, you are not just supporting one child — you are helping transform entire communities.
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or Become an Ambassador
HopeChest’s approach to alleviating poverty is asset-based, because we believe that in every place on earth there are resources, not only for surviving, but for thriving and succeeding. Local leaders tell us what they do have instead of what they don’t have, and we walk with them to see their vision for their community come to fruition through development projects.
A fundraiser for Urzhum Orphanage is transformational rather than transactional. It promotes empowerment rather than dependence. Your support for these projects will go a long way as, together, we invest in holistic and sustainable solutions that address the root issues of poverty.
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