How does your donation help?

The goal of the SOS’s family strengthening program is to support families that are in a difficult situation, to enable children to grow up in a loving family with their biological parents, without having to live in a children’s village.

The experience of SOS Children’s Village indicate that prevention can help families to raise their children themselves.

The program is available in Narva, Sillamäe, Keila, Kohtla-Järve and in Lääne-Harju, Harku,  Põltsamaa. Saue, Viljandi, Põhja-Sakala, Rapla, Kohila, Toila, Saku, Kose ja Räpina rural municipalities, but there is an ever growing demand for adding new regions, because 250 Estonian children are separated from their parents each year, and thousands of children are in need of support. Taking children away from the family does not solve the problems, as those families tend to give birth to new children. A more effective way to tackle the issue is to teach the parents the skills they need to cope with child-raising and life in general.

A total of 224 families, with 517 children, participate in the family strengthening program of SOS Children’s Village in 2022.

The government does not finance in full such preventive efforts and the required funds need to be raised with the help of kind donors. The program has been running since 2008 and in this period we have been able to teach 450 families that it is best for children to grown up in their own home and not in a children’s village. As a result of the program, 1,100 children have been able to remain with their parents. All these families are now able to handle the task of raising their children and managing their lives.

Your donation will help us offer social and economic support, counselling, psychological help, speech therapy and help with buying medicines to children at risk and their families.  The families are supported and counselled by counsellors who establish a close contact with the families and speak with them face to face at least twice a week – once at their home and once outside the home. The counsellors are the most important persons for the families, offering assistance with any concerns and problems that may be encountered in family life.

• For a regular donation of €5 (€60 per year), one family can receive at least 5 hours of psychological and/or social counselling or one child can receive 5 hours of learning assistance, speech therapy or other types of therapy.
• For a regular donation of €10 (€120 per year), two families can receive at least 5 hours of psychological and/or social counselling or one child can receive at least 10 hours of learning assistance, speech therapy or other types of therapy. 
• For a regular donation of €25 (€300 per year), two families can receive at least 12.5 hours of psychological and/or social counselling or one child can receive at least 25 hours of learning assistance, speech therapy or other types of therapy. 

Additional information: www.sos-lastekyla.ee

The organisation is included on the list of income tax incentive non-profit organizations. Read more about taxes here: Donations and taxes.