News & Updates

04/1/21

Art Auction Starts Today

Our kids have been busy creating a bunch of awesome artwork to sell. Check it out! The auction will be live for two weeks. We also have a special painting from JA Poulsen up for auction as well. [Read More…]

03/23/21

We made it!

I just wanted to write to say that it actually happened! We raised all of the $50,000 needed to meet our matching funds goal this month, and were able to double your gifts to get us to $100,000!! [Read More…]

02/27/21

Who are you?

Take a journey with me. Stop your day, in fact just stop being you for a few moments. You are Meklit. You were born on the streets of Ethiopia. On the literal side of the road. Your mother does not know who your father was, only that she became pregnant at some point and is now going into labor. Hers has always been a life of searing struggle and you are just the next painful chapter of many. [Read More…]

02/11/21

That ugly space between “no longer” and “not yet”

It’s hard to believe that we are almost a year into this pandemic. When I think back to life in February 2020 it seems like a dream. We were already starting to see images of makeshift hospitals being built in China, and the global death toll on this day had just reached 1000. Most of it felt like a side note from a distant land on this day last year. We had no idea what was coming. [Read More…]

11/13/20

It’s been a long time since I felt like this

I don’t know if all good things in life are destined to become normal over time, or if I was to blame. Honestly It wasn’t even something that I felt happening, it was just that with the passing of years I started to notice less how the lives of the kids in our care were changed. It was almost like I had been around all of this for long enough that it became routine. [Read More…]

9/23/20

Widows + Orphans = _______________

As she stepped out of the van she had this look of pure terror in her eyes. Her hands fidgeted with the frayed bottom of the worn t-shirt that hung across her shoulders. She looked back onto her seat like as if she may have forgotten something but she had brought nothing with her because she didn’t own anything. Behind her others started to come out of the van as well, each struggling with the same mixture of fear and self awareness. [Read More…]

8/27/20

A little good news to brighten your day

Good morning! Levi here from Elevate Orphan with 4 good things to brighten your day. 1. We blew past our matching funds goal! Last month the Kemper and Gobezie families stepped up in a major way and created a matching funds pledge for $85,000, then you all went above and beyond and helped us not only reach, but exceeded that goal by over $12,000! [Read More…]