Worldwide Orphans
Worldwide Orphans (WWO) brings trauma informed programs to children and families living in fragile communities. WWO has impacted over 200,000 beneficiaries located in nineteen countries. Today, the organization has teams based in Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Haiti, The Bronx, Ukraine and Vietnam.
Our expertise is working with children who are experiencing poverty, housing instability, food insecurity, natural disasters, war, or illness. Our innovative programming breaks down social stigma while building critical life skills, helping children, families, and communities to thrive.
Our programs ensure children are introduced to safe and structured learning through play methodology that builds their social and executive function skills. When children have access to quality early learning activities and feel safe and connected, these activities have the power to mitigate the negative effects of war, poverty, toxic stress, and trauma on their early childhood development.
WWO’s mission is to educate, heal, and empower children, by embedding trauma-informed, play-based programs in vulnerable communities that lack access to early childhood and positive youth development programming.
Our Inception Story
In the early 1990s, our founder, Dr. Jane Aronson, a renowned pediatrician, and adoption medicine specialist, traveled to Eastern Europe while participating in medical missions. Dr. Aronson discovered children with profound developmental delays, attachment disorders learning disabilities, and severe failure to thrive.
Her response was to develop groundbreaking programming to eliminate these delays, and to create Worldwide Orphans Foundation in 1997. Since that time, WWO has been dedicated to supporting underserved children living in vulnerable communities around the world, addressing their developmental, psycho-social, and educational needs, expanding our reach far beyond orphans.
Dr. Aronson’s pioneering educational programs, developed from the perspective of a scientist, and pediatrician, remain the foundation of our current programs. Over the last 26 years, WWO has served over 200,000 children and caregivers and has teams in Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Haiti, Ukraine, Vietnam, and the US. We remain dedicated to supporting the healing, education, and empowerment of children in vulnerable communities.
Our Vision
WWO’s vision is a world where children are prepared to learn, youth are prepared for life, and communities are prepared to support them.
Our goal is to reach as many underserved children and families as possible and to expand our impact to 1,000,000 beneficiaries by 2033.
OUR PROGRAMS
Element of Play®
WWO was founded with the belief that play holds a transformative power for both children and adults. WWO provides local opportunities for children and youth to learn and thrive through play. Our Element of Play® program trains caregivers, teachers, and other adults to use play-based, early childhood lessons to support healthy growth and development.
Element of Play®
Element of Play® is WWO’s trademarked program developed to support early childhood development, bring about psychosocial change and rehabilitate communities in areas of extreme poverty and disaster.
Adverse childhood experiences cause trauma in children which often leads them to miss critical developmental milestones and creates lasting negative consequences in their lives. These developmental delays produce a cumulative effect on their communities.
Element of Play® reduces delays in a child’s developmental milestones, including listening, language, cognitive, gross, and fine motor skills while addressing the development of life skills including; collaboration, communication, content, critical thinking, creative innovation, and confidence.
Students accessing WWO’s Element of Play® program are 3 times more likely to be ready for 1st grade than children who did not participate.
What makes us different?
What differentiates Element of Play® is our Theory of Change. True change happens when a community works together to care for one another. The key to this program’s success comes from our foundational premise – children thrive when the adults around them engage in the play, too. Element of Play® brings trauma-informed, play-based programs to young children and our Element of Play® Professional Development Training brings the mastery of this methodology to the caregivers and professionals who work with children in the community. When children learn to overcome challenges, they make tremendous progress in becoming strong, successful adults.
Research that informs Element of Play® programming
Research over the last 30 years has shown us that a child’s early experiences affect the architecture of the brain and determine long-term outcomes in health, learning, and behavior (Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child.)
The most important period of human development is from birth to eight years of age. Play serves as a powerful tool for building cognitive skills, emotional well-being, social competence and lays the foundation for success well into adulthood. Opportunity Gap – each year, millions of children enter kindergarten unprepared to learn. Quality play-based programs, like Element of Play®, help address the long-standing injustices in our communities and are a proven solution to breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty.
In the United States, every dollar invested in early childhood programs yields a $6.30 return, improving education, employment, and health outcomes and saving on later remediation costs, according to Economist James Heckman.
Positive Youth Development
Adverse childhood experiences can cause trauma in children. Our goal is to support young people by increasing their skills and capacity to make healthy choices, cope with adversity, and develop positive peer relationships to move from merely surviving each day to actively participating in their own and their community’s positive development. As seen in our Theory of Change, our Positive Youth Development curriculum covers topics from self-care, to education, vocational training, job skills, and building healthy families.
Negative experiences interrupt a child’s ability to develop positive relationships. This trauma causes them to miss critical developmental milestones and creates lasting negative consequences. Youth and adults who have experienced significant childhood trauma are more likely to drop out of school, leaving them at risk of not reaching their productive potential. Low skills perpetuate poverty and inequality and the cycle continues. According to the World Bank, one third of the working age population in low- and middle-income countries lack the basic skills required to get quality jobs.
Research that informs Positive Youth Development programming
Adolescence is a critical period of transition. A time when society expects youth to be equipped with the tools they need to navigate the challenges and responsibilities of adulthood. Unfortunately, this is not always the reality. UNFP states that investing in the needs of youth is perhaps the single best way to bring benefits to society as a whole.
According to a report commissioned by Ernst & Young in the U.S. alone, deficits in basic skills cost businesses, colleges and under-prepared graduates as much as $16 billion annually in lost productivity and remedial expenses.
As we invest in the growth, skills and well-being of our youth, we are investing in the future of our communities and society as a whole.
Camp
In partnership with Paul Newman’s SeriousFun Children’s Network we offer camp experiences for children living with serious illness in Ethiopia, Haiti, and Vietnam.
We provide opportunity for children to access residential camp (4-5 days away from home), day camp and family weekend activities that create deep and meaningful impact, increased knowledge, and create strong and lasting bonds with peers who face similar struggles.
An outcomes evaluation, in partnership with San Diego State University, exploring the impact of camp programming in Ethiopia and Vietnam found that campers build stronger peer and family relationships, take their medication correctly and consistently (improved adherence), and show an increase in positive health and hygiene behaviors.
Monitoring & Evaluation
All activities are carefully tracked and examined by our Chief Program Officer. Global Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning assessment tools monitor usage, effectiveness, and trends over time, allowing for informed strategic planning and resource allocation. The resulting data ensures our programs remain data-driven and evidence-based.
Become a WWO Ambassador
Become a WWO Ambassador and make a lasting impact in the lives of vulnerable children. Join forces with like-minded volunteers who share your passion for creating positive change. Engage in social activities, participate in small fundraisers, and embark on exciting adventures such as the TD Five Boro Bike Ride. Your commitment will not only enrich your own life but also contribute to a brighter future for those in need. Take the first step towards making a difference today.
WWO Volunteer Opportunities
One of the many ways you can support our mission is by volunteering your time and talents to bring joy to the children and families we serve.
Element of Play® Storyboard Kit Making
Volunteer to craft and assemble the storyboard kits for our young children. They love to see their favorite books in action. Brown Bear Brown Bear, Little Red Riding Hood and The Hungry Caterpillar just to name a few. You get to cut, color and laminate the stories and we will deliver them to the countries during our next visit!
Ways to Fundraise
Facebook Fundraiser
It’s simple to create a Facebook campaign to raise funds through your network. Just click on “select non-profit” and type in “Worldwide Orphans” to get started.
Online Fundraiser
WWO has partnered with Give Lively, a platform offering peer-to-peer fundraising at no cost so that every dollar you raise goes to support our mission. It’s easy to create your own online campaign. Click here to get started!
Host a Fundraiser
Have you thought about hosting a fundraiser to benefit WWO? From a coin drive, to a bake sale, to a get together at a local venue where attendees are charged a small fee to enter, to a business gifting a percentage of their profits–the possibilities are endless.
If you have any questions, please e-mail our Director of Development, Amy Tobias at amy@wwo.org
Make a donation.
Donate now to ensure the most vulnerable children are introduced to safe and structured learning–mitigating the negative effects of poverty and trauma on their early childhood development.
DONATE: https://www.wwo.org/donate
CONTACT WWO:
WWO
244 Fifth Avenue
Suite K298
New York, NY 10001
646-604-8826
info@wwo.org
