By Dr. Joseph Anthony Narciso Z. Tiangco | Founder/Chairman of the Board
The Taiwan Love and Hope International Charity originally hoped to concentrate on helping abandoned Taiwanese children with cerebral palsy who are institutionalized in long-term residential nursing homes. We started the startup Children's Home because of two children who were survivors of physical abuse but were unfortunately institutionalized in a nursing home because of the cerebral palsy that resulted from the abuse. They were the inspiration for this endeavor. The tragic reality is that such children whose family no longer advocates for them because either or both parents are in prison and their relatives do not want the burden of taking care of them, end up neglected or even experience repeated abuse at the hands of residents in elderly nursing homes.
The past months have shown us that a similar plight is experienced by abandoned children with other neurodevelopmental disorders and disabilities. The Taiwan Social Welfare Bureau has asked us to provide care for 2 children with severe autism, an infant with a severe physical disability, and 2 children with intellectual disability, one of which has severe emotional outbursts. All of the children came from a background of parental neglect and abuse. Most of them have moved from one foster family to another but without any success in finding a family willing to accept them. They were about to be institutionalized in a long-term elderly nursing home when the Social Workers handling their cases heard about us.
Our startup organization is really small in terms of staff and finances. The Taiwan Love and Hope International Charity's Children's Home is generally perceived as an unstable organization because of our lack of financial resources. We are directly competing with long-term elderly care facilities that are keenly interested in the children as well because of the US$ 835.35 stipend provided by Taiwan's Social Welfare Bureau for each child institutionalized. Residential nursing homes accommodate as many as 50-300 residents. It was in this kind of system that we witnessed the unfortunate plight of the children with cerebral palsy whom we are taking care of right now. We soon learned that nursing homes heavily depend on drug therapy for children with other neurodevelopmental disorders and disabilities to keep their emotions under control. It also means that the children are in dazed states or are drowsy.
We will be making changes to some of the information about our project description. We are truly happy to announce that we are no longer limited to helping children with cerebral palsy. We welcome children with Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Intellectual Disability, Physical Disability, etc. We welcome any child who needs a loving family to help them achieve their full potential. Our Children's Home is not a dormitory or warehouse. We are committed to being their loving family, and advocating for their special needs.
We also want to report to everyone that we have received certification for Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). With your support, we aim to get more certifications that attest to our professionalism.
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