A New Year, A New Start!

Each spring and summer, we begin the process of assessing the needs of the young men and women who are turning 18 or finishing school and are going to be leaving the orphanage.  We have to look at many different aspects.  We interview each candidate.  We look at their educational level and if they have the capacity to learn to live independently.  We look at their hopes and dreams and whether or not we have the resources or opportunities to help them achieve them.   Once we develop a list of the needs of each young person we make decisions of how we can help them.

When we started the Boys Transition House in 2000 and the Girls Transition House in 2005, we had groups of young men and women who came out of terrible conditions.  The fact that the house that they were going to live in had a tiled bathroom with water that turned off and on was mind blowing for some.  We had to start at the very basics of how to live outside of the orphanage.  Over the years the needs of the kids have changed.  The physical conditions of the orphanages are minimal, but so much better.  So now, instead of focusing on the basics, we get to start at a higher level.

We still assess each individual and look at where they are and where they want to be and how we can help that process.  We still have a program in the village of Nenciulesti, where Doru teaches the boys life skills and trades like welding and construction.  This year we have two boys in that program.
Two brothers, Florin and Eugen from Rosiori.

 One thing that I have come to love about my work with H2H and respect so much, is the fact that Jim and Jodi push us to meet needs, not create programs.  So while a program might be good, if the need has changed, the program also needs to change.  With the Transition Program, over the past few years, we have started to have young men and women be accepted to attend university.  They still need to learn to live independently but they need to do it in the context of attending university.  This year we have three new students.  Claudiu and Mariana are studying social work and Alex is studying International Business.

                                                                 Mariana

                                                                    Claudiu

                                                                        Alex

These three live inside the dorms.  We help supplement their financial and physical needs, but most of all we offer them a place inside of the H2H family.  Right now, Jenny and I meet regularly with them and I'm teaching emotional responsibility.  This includes anger management, forgiveness, conflict resolution, how the contribute positively, etc.  We are also giving cooking and nutrition lessons and spiritual discipleship.  It is a privilege to be a part of this new chapter in their lives!

The five current Transition Kids at the H2H Thanksgiving banquet.