Our activities "on the street" represent the activities which the "Joseph" Foundation started with in order to help children in difficulty.      The socio-economic reforms after 1989 caused severe disorder at the social level and children were the first victims. Finding no more support in their family life from those who should have protected them, many children found refuge and "shelter" on the streets, organizing themselves into little communities in order to protect themselves.

They soon found themselves being drawn into the lawlessness of that environment.      This "program" of ours and our mobile activities addressed to the needs of these children and represented our way of trying to change some of their destinies for the better. Despite our limitted resources, and the magnitude of the problem, our Foundation has successfully intervened in many cases of children living on the streets.

We have succeeded in reintegrating a large number of children into their natural or extended families, by counselling the children-parents relationship or the children-relatives relationship. We have also succeeded in integrating many children into foster families, which have offered them the possibility of living a normal life. However, we were particularly pleased with the success of our work in preparing the cases of children proposed for adoption. Thus, they were offered the chance of saying "mother" and "father" again, as the result of a national or

international adoption which we intermediate.
      The program was based on three components:

1. Material Help: regular provision of one meal a day in the street; providing mobile medical assistance (including de-infestation); offering items of clothing;
2. Organizing sports meetings: children in the street were given the chance to take part in activities of a recreational character, for the benefit of their physical and psychological health, and also in order to win their trust and convince them accept the third component of our program.
3. Psycho-social and spiritual counselling: which main purpose was these children's reintegration into society.

Direct intervention in special social cases is being continued by the "Joseph" Foundation through a program of donations for exceptional cases through the agency of the County Commission for the Protection of the Child, Iasi, the Iasi County Disability Bureau (J.S.T.H), the town halls in the villages with special social problems and foster families.       Our main regret is that the lack of funds hasn't allowed us to further develop this kind of social help.

      For more photos you can visit:

"The Begining" ("Photo Gallery")