Interviews

,,The motto of the Child’s Heart Foundation is Good does good. And we believe that the Good given every day and in various ways to those around us, to the community, makes each of us better as people, richer. Besides helping us change things, it helps us give chances, give and give ourselves as people. Let’s transform. If we only used Goodness, Understanding, Love, Wisdom, every problem would find a solution” (Ana Burtea, executive director Inima de copil)

With a history of almost 27 years, with challenges, but also with successes, the Child Heart Foundation has brought changes in the lives of more than 25,000 children from the protection system or from vulnerable families.

,,Because we wanted to support the potential of each child, many of our activities focus on education programs, access to school, support for families. We have 2 day centers for children from vulnerable families in Galați county, scholarship programs and material support for children from rural areas in Galați and the surrounding counties” (Ana Burtea, executive director Inima de copil).

In 27 years there have been many challenges: poverty, especially in rural areas, has affected and continues to affect the standard of living of families most strongly. Few opportunities, a more closed mindedness. Including the authorities, companies that have a low level of interest in supporting education or the social area. Annually, only 2-5% of the organization’s budget comes from funds provided by the authorities. Things moving slowly, too little support given to organizations. We can say that we succeeded in spite of the environment, not because of it.

Another challenge is to find the human and financial resources to reach more children, to more families, to more communities where we can take a bag full of more chances.

What would we count as success? That over 99% of the children we work with do not drop out of school. That they all end up with a level of education above their parents’ level, many of them finish with 4-6 years of study in addition. Which means real extra chances to break the cycle of poverty. We are glad that we can help children and their families to stay united, more resilient, each one more responsible, with values ​​that benefit not only them, but also the community.

We were attracted by the values ​​we share with Teach for Romania and the aspirations of the program. The desire to learn to be better. Admiration for Teach’s work. Our common mission.