Dawson Memorial Baptist Church

Shauna first traveled to Ukraine accompanied by a close friend, and was moved by what she saw and experienced. her initial interest for those she met quickly grew into a lifelong passion. Determined to help orphans and vulnerable young people–especially those aging out of orphanage life–she continued to return, working with Lifesong to share the love of Jesus by loving those she met in Ukraine, finding safe transitional housing for girls with nowhere to go.

Even when Shauna learned she had cancer, she continued to visit Ukraine, pouring her heart and soul into orphans until cancer took her life on November 4, 2015. However, one thing cancer could not touch was her legacy.

In May of 2018 Shauna's House was opened in Chernigiv,  Ukraine.  The young adults who have moved into Shauna’s House are loved, mentored, and taught the love of Christ. All of this was possible because of one woman’s incredible love for orphans and vulnerable children (even in the face of devastating cancer) and her husband’s commitment to honor her incredible life and legacy.

As we continue Shauna's Legacy of helping orphans, we have partnered with Eden House in Chiang Rai, Thailand.  Eden House is a home in Thailand for girls at-risk for human trafficking. It is established to bring transformation to the lives of girls by raising them in a Godly family environment.   Our 2021 project is to help Eden House complete a sports center for the girls. Eden House has a vision to see a sports court designed to play various sports of the girls’ choice, whether it be volleyball, badminton, basketball, or futsal, here at Eden House. We believe building a sports court at Eden House will help bring unity amongst those at Eden House by helping to create a fun environment for the girls and staff here. We hope to see positive changes in the character development of the girls that sports can help shape such as teamwork, perseverance, encouraging others, etc. that are important to instil in the girls to use in their life. It will also open the door to building relationships with those in our village, church, and community and other ministries could use it to bless those that they are targeting—whether the Body of Christ or unbelievers.

Thank you again for all of your support. It would be impossible to name the countless ways in which you all have helped realize our dreams and the ways in which you have helped realize the dreams of the children who so touched Shauna's heart. With your support we have been able to do something truly remarkable and hope to continue to do so in the future, thank you.

Shauna Yelton could not have imagined what her commitment to orphans in Ukraine would do to change lives.

Shauna first traveled to Ukraine accompanied by a close friend, and was moved by what she saw and experienced. her initial interest for those she met quickly grew into a lifelong passion. Determined to help orphans and vulnerable young people–especially those aging out of orphanage life–she continued to return, working with Lifesong to share the love of Jesus by loving those she met in Ukraine, finding safe transitional housing for girls with nowhere to go.

When a Ukrainian orphan ages out of an orphanage at age 18, there is a 70 to 80 percent chance that he or she will experience crime, prostitution, suicide or a drug overdose within two years.

Even when Shauna learned she had cancer, she continued to visit Ukraine, pouring her heart and soul into orphans until cancer took her life on November 4, 2015. However, one thing cancer could not touch was her legacy.

In May of 2018 Shauna's House was opened in Chernigiv,  Ukraine.  The young adults who have moved into Shauna’s House are loved, mentored, and taught the love of Christ. All of this possible because of one woman’s incredible love for orphans and vulnerable children (even in the face of devastating cancer) and her husband’s commitment to honor her incredible life and legacy.

In 2018 we opened our first Shauna’s house in Chernigov, Ukraine.  We are excited that Shauna’s House is open and dedicated to housing orphan grads. These young adults will know the love and care of a Christian family in a true home setting.

To those of you with whom we have we had the pleasure of working, and to those who have helped us construct the transition home in Ukraine its difficult to express the depths of gratitude we have for your support. With the success of the transition home in Chernigiv we are looking to the future, continuing Shauna's legacy and setting the initiative of building at least one home every five years.

Thank you again for all of your support. It would be impossible to name the countless ways in which you all have helped realize our dreams and the ways in which you have helped realize the dreams of the children who so touched Shauna's heart. With your support we have been able to do something truly remarkable and hope to continue to do so in the future, thank you.