At Hands Across the Water, we believe in families staying together. Today, we bring some beautiful news regarding five of our kids.
Last month, five children from our Hands Across the Water homes returned to the care of their loving parents after spending the past few years in our custody. We are pleased to report this, as our mission is to support underprivileged Thai families by reuniting them with their children. We provide them with the tools and resources needed to facilitate a safe home and empower them with access to nutrition, education and opportunity.
Many children are only in our care for a short time, not a lifetime, while we assist their families in getting back in a position to care for them. While these kids may not grow up with us, they remain part of our Hands family and will always have us cheering them on, offering support when needed.
We measure the impact of our charity work not on the number of kids, the number of homes or the amount of money we raise. Our impact is measured on the kids' choices when it's time to leave our homes, whether it be back with their family or venturing into the workforce or higher education.
The reasons kids are surrendered into our care are not always straightforward. Some may have no known family to care for them, a family member who is known to them but unable to care for them, or they are living in an unsafe environment and placed in our care by the police or government. Everybody needs somebody, and no matter the circumstances leading to the kids coming into our care or how long they remain with us, we will be that somebody for them.
Our primary and first response is always to support families so that they can stay together. We know better than anyone that when all things are equal, the best place for any child is with their parents, grandparents, siblings or other family members. Hands endeavours to provide a solution when things are not equal, as they so often aren't.
While we have over 350 kids in our care, many of the children we look after do not live with us. These kids receive support from our Hands Across the Water outreach program designed to keep kids out of our Homes and living with their families.
To us, success is measured by how many kids aren't in our care anymore. Supporting children while their parents work on providing a safe and secure home to return to is a gratifying but often overlooked aspect of our work. In an ideal world, the services provided by Hands Across the Water would no longer be necessary and sending these five children home is one step toward achieving our goal.
As all members of our community know, we rely on donations to keep our homes and these programs running. If you are in the position to donate, sponsor a child or join a fundraiser, you will play a major part in these kids lives.
