SOS Children's Villages-USA, Inc.

SOS Children's Villages are based on the belief that every child deserves to grow up in a safe, loving, permanent home. For nearly 50 years, SOS Children's Villages -- a private, non-profit organization founded in Austria -- has successfully provided abused and neglected children around the world a safe home. Now, with alomst 500,000 abused and neglected children in America's foster care system and a lack of available foster homes, SOS Children's Villages-USA has started programs in the United States.

The organization is based on four principles: the village, the home, brothers and sisters, and the parent. The village is a cluster of 8-15 homes, each reflecting the individual interests and culture of the family. In each home lives a family of boys and girls of different ages who grow up together as siblings. A special emphasis is to reunite bilogical siblings who have been separated in the foster care system. Children are raised by a carefully screened and trained SOS Children's Village parent who lives in the home and cares for the children unconditionally. It is the parent who gives each child a desperately needed sense of love, security and values, thus laying the foundation for the child's future.

Currently, two SOS Children's Villages in the United States are prividing hope for abused and neglected children. The villages are located in Coconut Creek, Florida and Lockport, Illinois. Milwaukee, Wisconsin will be the site for the third SOS Children's Village in the U.S. and volunteers in the Greater Washgton, DC area are also beginning preparations for a future village. Around the world, there are 371 villages in 128 countries, assisting over 200,000 children. SOS Children's Villages also provide a variety of services to the communities in which they are developed, which may include kindergartens, vocational training, medical clinics, health and nutrition education, and emergency relief.

SOS Children's Villages' concept of providing children with nurturing parents, loving siblings, permanent homes and a supportive village setting integrated into the surrounding community allows children to realize a profound dream. Children who grow up in SOS Children's Villages are given the chance to enjoy their childhood and reach adulthood equipped with the tools needed for an independent and fulfilling life.