Family-like Care

Having seen a number of different charities working with Romanian street children and also having undertaken research into the state's institutional  'orphanages' which were a legacy of Ceausescu years, Suzie knew that there had to be a better option for caring for abandoned and orphaned children. 

Suzie and the now small team worked up a vision for a small scale family-like residential centre with 3 units each being home to 8 boys, with associated shared facilities - cooking, dining, laundry, etc.  That was the initial dream however far off it seemed from the 10th floor flat.

In 1999, after some difficult times with Romanian partner organisations, Suzie became a founding board member for the Romanian registered foundation Fundatia Internationala pentru Copii, Romania (FICR) which has been our primary project partner ever since.

With a common vision for a family-like residential centre and a shared set of core values FICR and RICF set about laying the foundations to make this a reality. FICR focused on cultivating a loving family-like atmosphere in its small rented house and RICF set about raising the additional funds that would be needed to build their 'dream home' for 24.