One Place We Work: Charleston, SC

Organizational Expression is the way we faithfully express our enduring identity.  Organizational practice refers to the specific activities undertaken in carrying out an enduring mission. Unlike mission and identity, expression and practice is expected to evolve. We began our mission practice by supporting two orphanages, one in Sierra Leone and one in Nicaragua. But eventually…

This is a journey we are still on and we find that we are already on the cusp of another change, leading where we thought we had fallen behind. We continue to push for thoughtful, balanced alliances, with obligation and responsibility appropriately distributed, despite the inclination of some to try and exploit the power shifts.…

Unsurprisingly, balancing our alliances with existing collaborations in Sierra Leone caused other organizational expression and practice changes. We recognized there was a better way to conduct any joint mission collaboration, and we began to work to balance responsibility appropriately with all alliances, to share power equally with our friends in Sierra Leone, and have local…

Practices naturally changed over time in response to emerging needs, local leadership, strategic priorities, available resources, and organizational learning. There were a number of programs that grew naturally from the ethics of helping children – including other war-affected children in Sierra Leone. These included access to basic education, health, and nutrition, advanced educational scholarship, economic…

Orphanage to Family Care Family Care to An Institutional Model Not long after the orphanage was established, the Child Rescue Centre (CRC) outgrew the building where it began, serving now over 75 children in residence.  The residential program was never all that John Yambasu or his friends at Helping Children Worldwide had envisioned. Thinking of ways…

We return every opportunity we can to Africa to work in collaboration with the staff and leadership there, as well as bringing them here, and spending hours each week in meetings together, planning and implementing our plans. The history of the CRC is best described as courageous compassion. After ten years of brutal civil war…