Family Life Missions
Partnering with God to place the lonely in families
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
There are over 250,000 orphaned and/or abandoned children in Honduras. We have a three-pronged approach to this problem. First, we have a residential home village in Catacamas where children can live in a family setting and go to our bilingual school. Second, we have a Family Preservation program that works to educate families and help children be reunited with their biological family with our help and continued support. Finally, we have a Foster Care program where we train Christian families to be foster parents to vulnerable children until they can be reunited with their biological family or be adopted. All three of these programs use TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Intervention) training as well as oversite with a social worker and psychologist to ensure holistic care.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Por Los Niños / For The Children
We provide residential homes in Catacamas, Honduras for abandoned children to experience a family. We also have a bilingual elementary school on site and provide trauma-based intensive therapy for the children who have been abandoned.
Transformando Vidas / Family Preservation (Transforming Lives)
Transformando Vidas means “transforming lives,” which is exactly what we strive to do by reuniting families when it makes sense. Each child should have the opportunity to live in a functional home, where all their needs--physical, emotional and spiritual--are met. Having a family can change a child’s life, and as a result, we can achieve a better society. A sub-program is "Building Dreams" where we partner with a vulnerable family, the local church, the community, and our donors to build a safe and secure home for the family.
Creciendo en Familia / Foster Care (Growing in a Family)
Creciendo en Familia translates to “Growing in a Family” and is a reflection of the hope and light a family can bring to a child’s life. Foster care provides a child with the opportunity to grow alongside a loving family instead of in an institution. We are excited to begin this program alongside the government of Honduras and local churches. We just completed a two-year pilot program and are accredited by the Honduran government to provide foster care for children.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
CAFO Member (Christian Alliance for Orphans) 2023
Christian Leadership Alliance 2023
Center for Nonprofit Management 2023
External reviews
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of direct care staff who received training in trauma informed care
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Families, Extremely poor people, Low-income people
Related Program
Transformando Vidas / Family Preservation (Transforming Lives)
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
All of our staff is now trained in TBRI (Trust Based Relational Intervention) to better serve the trauma experienced by vulnerable children.
Number of children in foster care who have stable placements
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children, Infants and toddlers
Related Program
Creciendo en Familia / Foster Care (Growing in a Family)
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
After completion of a two year pilot program with the Honduran government, we are now accredited to serve foster children in Olancho, Honduras.
Number of children who received school supplies
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children, Infants and toddlers, Adolescents
Related Program
Por Los Niños / For The Children
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
As our Por Los Niños School grows, we are reaching more students in the community and providing them with needed supplies. as most cannot afford them. We are adding a Pre-K and 7th grade in 2022.
Number of houses built
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth, Foster and adoptive children, Orphans, Transitioning children
Related Program
Transformando Vidas / Family Preservation (Transforming Lives)
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We have plans to build 2 more houses in 2022.
Number of licensed foster families as a result of the organization's efforts
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Older adults, Children, Infants and toddlers, Caregivers, Families of choice
Related Program
Creciendo en Familia / Foster Care (Growing in a Family)
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
As an accredited Foster Care provider in Honduras, we train and accredit families recruited through area churches to be foster parents.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Care for vulnerable, abandoned or orphaned children by providing a safe place to live either in our residential program or with a trained and loving foster family. Our goal is to keep the children safe while working toward reunification of their biological family when possible. We provide parenting workshops and intensive training to all of our staff and foster families. Through our Family Preservation program we strive to educate families with a strong support system to give them the tools they need to sustain a loving, healthy and caring family. Our Bilingual School has added a Montesorri pre-school this year as we know that education empowers.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Every child has a life plan that is reviewed monthly by our Holistic Care team. The five areas of well-being that are reviewed with attainable goals include:
1. physical
2. mental
3. spiritual
4. emotional
5. intellectual
When a child leaves our care, we provide follow-up visits for at least two years.
Our Holistic Care Center provides play therapy, relaxation therapy, and other tools that are overseen by our psychologist and social worker to help and support traumatized children.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We have a social worker and a psychologist on staff. Every house parent and staff member is trained in TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Intervention) methods. They all also receive extensive training for working with and supporting children in trauma.
We also have a staff members who provide spiritual formation and physical activity for the children. Our on-site bilingual elementary school is recognized as a premier educational institution by the country of Honduras. We prepare our children to be successful as they enter secondary school and the University. Currently we provide 1st-6th grade, but plan to expand to secondary and pre-school grades.
Our staff of professionals constantly are training and updating their education with the support of our Board of Directors.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
This year we have reunited several children with their biological families. This is a tedious and detailed process that provides tools to the family as well as to the child. We provide a two-year (minimum) follow-up with each child that is placed in their biological homes.
We have 19 families from area churches who are training to become foster parents in our government pilot program. We currently have six children in foster care. We are the first organization to provide foster care for children in the country of Honduras.
We have several documented cases of children who came to us severely malnourished who are thriving physically.
Our Holistic Care Center tracks the progress of each child in their monthly review to provide the needed psychological and mental health help they need.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Family Life Missions
Board of directorsas of 07/06/2023
Alan Kelley
Retired
Term: 2022 - 2025
John Collett
Collett Software Solutions
Chuck Bennett
HCA
Carol Echols
Retired Occupational Therapist
Matt Thompson
Children's Hospital, Birmingham, Alabama
Alan Kelley
Retired Electrical Engineer
Collins Corder
Retired Physician
Chris White
Upstream Rehabilitation
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 10/21/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.