Illien Global Families
Donation protected
If you ever have the privilege of visiting Ethiopia, you will undoubtedly experience the gift of hospitality in the form of an elaborate coffee ceremony. As an overriding social construct, old as coffee itself, cups of gracefully poured goodness lead to a third and final round in a custom that signifies blessing. This unhurried ritual is integral to the cultural structure as it extends friendship and community.
Now, imagine a different reality. One where you are on the outside, far from any seat of honor or connectedness. Maybe you are lifeless, under the weight of the HIV you carry. Or, perhaps, you are an orphan about to age-out of the closest thing to family you have ever encountered, your home in the orphanage. You are faced with being alone in a world you are not prepared for. Your hope wanes.
Illien Global Families exists to address and prevent these tragedies. We partner with orphanages to administer programs designed to eliminate causes of child abandonment, strengthen family structures, and tackle complex cycles of poverty. By empowering the vulnerable and impoverished, they are enfranchised to contribute to the stability and economic growth of their communities.
But we need your help. For the past 34 years, we have been a multifaceted, multinational organization. Our funding structures were mostly sustained by our global adoption efforts – bringing over 2,000 kids into their permanent families. Unfortunately, the landscape of international adoption endeavors has drastically changed in recent history.
A spike in accreditations, costs, regulations, and governmental intervention, has resulted in fewer adoption visas are issued each year, down from 23,000 in 2004 to only 5,647 in 2015, and the numbers are still falling. (travel.state.gov/content/adoptionsabroad/en/about-us/statistics.html.)
This is the backdrop for our efforts to expand our work helping the children who arent able to benefit from adoption or having a permanent family, and who will grow up in orphanages. We have a most solid foundation in Ethiopia, laying the groundwork over the past 10 years to establish good standing, good will, and good communication.
Since 2005, Illien has been licensed to promote and achieve its mission to provide permanent and safe living conditions for abandoned and neglected children and prevent abandonment whenever and wherever possible. We are crystal clear on the essential work we must do based on proven results and lives renewed with hope. Nonetheless, at present we find ourselves in critical need of donations in order to continue our work.
After the mounting fees, incurred program expenses, and a generous donation we made to bail one of our greatest partners out of a similar situation, we are in need of $20,000 in the next two weeks. We invite you to partner with us, providing a stopgap to shore up our organization and sustain our critical relief and development work into the future. Without our presence in Ethiopia, over 200 vulnerable women, children, and families will be missing an advocate with little hope for an alternative.
Thank you for your consideration and support. Together we can bring people back into the community of our global family, one life at a time. Now, just imagine the beauty of that coffee ceremony extending blessing and hope to so many.
Now, imagine a different reality. One where you are on the outside, far from any seat of honor or connectedness. Maybe you are lifeless, under the weight of the HIV you carry. Or, perhaps, you are an orphan about to age-out of the closest thing to family you have ever encountered, your home in the orphanage. You are faced with being alone in a world you are not prepared for. Your hope wanes.
Illien Global Families exists to address and prevent these tragedies. We partner with orphanages to administer programs designed to eliminate causes of child abandonment, strengthen family structures, and tackle complex cycles of poverty. By empowering the vulnerable and impoverished, they are enfranchised to contribute to the stability and economic growth of their communities.
But we need your help. For the past 34 years, we have been a multifaceted, multinational organization. Our funding structures were mostly sustained by our global adoption efforts – bringing over 2,000 kids into their permanent families. Unfortunately, the landscape of international adoption endeavors has drastically changed in recent history.
A spike in accreditations, costs, regulations, and governmental intervention, has resulted in fewer adoption visas are issued each year, down from 23,000 in 2004 to only 5,647 in 2015, and the numbers are still falling. (travel.state.gov/content/adoptionsabroad/en/about-us/statistics.html.)
This is the backdrop for our efforts to expand our work helping the children who arent able to benefit from adoption or having a permanent family, and who will grow up in orphanages. We have a most solid foundation in Ethiopia, laying the groundwork over the past 10 years to establish good standing, good will, and good communication.
Since 2005, Illien has been licensed to promote and achieve its mission to provide permanent and safe living conditions for abandoned and neglected children and prevent abandonment whenever and wherever possible. We are crystal clear on the essential work we must do based on proven results and lives renewed with hope. Nonetheless, at present we find ourselves in critical need of donations in order to continue our work.
After the mounting fees, incurred program expenses, and a generous donation we made to bail one of our greatest partners out of a similar situation, we are in need of $20,000 in the next two weeks. We invite you to partner with us, providing a stopgap to shore up our organization and sustain our critical relief and development work into the future. Without our presence in Ethiopia, over 200 vulnerable women, children, and families will be missing an advocate with little hope for an alternative.
Thank you for your consideration and support. Together we can bring people back into the community of our global family, one life at a time. Now, just imagine the beauty of that coffee ceremony extending blessing and hope to so many.
Organizer
Anna Belle Illien
Organizer
Atlanta, GA
