Support for Vulnerable Children & Humanitarian Initiatives
Our Granny Program connects local caregivers from the community with children living in institutionalized care. This allows children to receive dedicated one-on-one attention each day, improving their developmental growth and their ability to develop strong attachments later in life.
In 2019, Spence-Chapin launched Project Play to address the critical role of play in children’s lives. Project Play builds outdoor playgrounds with state-of-the-art equipment and play stations at orphanages, as well as supplies birthday and holiday gifts for the children in institutionalized care.
Due to a lack of vital resources, many institutions around the world are not able to provide an area for children to engage in structured and unstructured play, which is crucial in helping children reach developmental milestones. Project Play was created as a way to improve the vital play structures needed at the institutions where our Granny Program functions. The initiative has since expanded and now also supplies the presents and celebrations for birthdays and holidays for children who so often never receive recognition on these special days.
Help us grow our Global Impact with a donation today!
In 2023, Spence-Chapin launched Safe Homes, Safe Children to improve unsafe and deteriorating conditions in some of the care centers where our Granny Program operates. Through major renovations, we’ve transformed many spaces into safer and more dignified homes.
Without consistent funding, many care centers go years without the repairs and resources they need. Safe Homes, Safe Children was created to change that—repairing roofs, plumbing, and electrical systems, strengthening security, and upgrading beds, furniture, and appliances to create safer, more comfortable living spaces. Children were even given the chance to choose colors, furniture, and other items for their rooms, making each space feel more personal and welcoming. For children who may spend much of their early lives in care, these upgrades are more than structural; they restore dignity, belonging, and hope.
Help us grow our Global Impact with a donation today!
Through Step Up, children in institutionalized care get the opportunity to choose their own pair of back-to-school shoes and book bag. This strengthens their sense of individuality and allows them to start the new school year with confidence.
Back-to-school shopping is something most people take for granted. Because children living in institutionalized care typically rely on donations and hand-me-downs, they do not often get the opportunity to choose the clothing they wear or the supplies they receive. This can lead to a lack of confidence and even teasing from other school children. By getting the chance to shop for themselves, the children enter the new year feeling excited to go to school and learn.
Help us grow our Global Impact with a donation today!
In 2022, Spence-Chapin partnered with two South African institutions to support over 75 youth ages 14-21. Through the THRIVE program, local mentors provided technology, academic support, and access to internships and job opportunities to better ease their transition out of care.
Spence-Chapin seeks to respond to individual crises where children and families are at risk. By contributing to the Special Humanitarian Effort fund, you are making a commitment to children and families in crisis, ensuring that they are taken care of and provided for during the most challenging of times.
Through these special humanitarian efforts, Spence-Chapin has been able to provide health and safety supplies to orphanages during the COVID-19 pandemic, assist children and families fleeing the crisis in Ukraine through food parcels and safe shelter, provide food for children in some of the poorest communities in South Africa during their most challenging times, and so much more.
Help us grow our Global Impact with a donation today!
We believe that the hundreds of children served by our Granny Program deserve to dream of a better future. That’s why we created Dear Future, an exhibition featuring the deeply impactful stories and dreams of children living in an orphanage in Cali, Colombia. Experience the virtual tour today.
This is more than just an art exhibit. It’s a movement born to raise awareness about the urgent importance of supporting vulnerable children around the world. Supporting the dreams and futures of children living in institutionalized care not only matters—it makes the world a better place.
Dear Future does not have any in-person exhibitions currently planned. Have a space you would like to see Dear Future in? We would love to work with you. Reach out to us through this contact form.
Imagine is a donor-supported baby clothing and supplies boutique open to the public and located in Spence-Chapin’s main office. Imagine provides new, beautiful items for free to the mothers and babies we serve through our Birth & Expectant Parent Services. All proceeds go toward these essential services.
Through our Holiday Angels Program, we can offer support to families who received services from us in the past who may be struggling to provide gifts for their children during the holidays. The Holiday Angels who volunteer to participate in this special program purchase gifts for the children of a family in need to provide extra joy during the holiday season.
Since 1995, our Special Needs Adoption Program has placed over 550 children with severe medical challenges into permanent, loving homes. By offering these children lifelong support and birth parents agency in the process, the program creates bright futures for both children and families.
Waiting Children Profiles
Thank you for your interest in adopting through Spence-Chapin! We are able to share the profiles of children who are considered to be the most in need and are waiting internationally to be matched with an adoptive family. The children featured on this page have been waiting for the longest to find families and consist of children who are older, part of a sibling group, or children with a diagnosed medical condition. In order to respect the privacy of these children, this page has been password protected.
Spence-Chapin takes the privacy rights of the children that we are seeking to place very seriously, and share the profile with you under the following conditions:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF PASSWORD ACCESS
That you acknowledge and understand that
1. Misuse of the content, and/or linking to any sites that reflect practices that involve the sale, abduction, exploitation, or trafficking of children is strictly prohibited.
2. You have been given limited access to confidential information in the form of images that you will not disclose to any person or in any manner that is inconsistent with applicable policies and procedures of Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children.
3. The confidentiality obligation shall continue indefinitely, including at all times after my association with Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children.
4. You are not permitted to release, copy, distribute, or sell any of these images to third parties in any form.
5. Impermissible disclosure of the images may result in legal actions being taken against you, by or on behalf of that person.
6. You are doing this freely, voluntarily and with a full understanding of what you are agreeing to by entering/accessing this blog.
7. Thank you for your interest in providing a loving home for a waiting child! We look forward to connecting with you soon to continue discussing adoption paths at Spence-Chapin. We hope that you like us on Facebook, follow us on twitter, and keep up with our families through our adoption blog!
Warm regards,
The Adoption Team at Spence-Chapin
Phone: 212-400-8150
Email: [email protected]
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