My Nonprofit Reviews
Cecile R.
Review for Solace for the Children, Mooresville, NC, USA
Our family hosted a child for the first time this summer. Our child had dental and orthdontic needs and was served by some wonderful dentists and an orthodontist who all volunteered their time and seemed to love being a part of the program. The administrative volunteers who coordinated the medical and dental communities, the fun activities, the interpreters, the travel arrangements, the respite families and all of the other support provided to the host families were phenomenal. It made being a host family much easier to know all of the "details" were taken care of so that we could focus on our child's needs for love and emotional support. It was challenging at first to find foods my child liked to eat, and to communicate with each other due to the language barrier, but as the days went by, it became easier as we each learned important words in the language of the other and as we learned to gesture and demonstrate more. There were also "apps" (of course-- there's always an app) on my daughter's Ipod that helped with some translations. My 11 year old was so important to the process-- since our child was very modest, but was comfortable with another child showing her how things worked in the bathroom, for example.
More Feedback
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
My 11 year old learned about being a servant and having empathy. Sometimes, especially in the first week, our child would rebuff my daughter's efforts at kindness, so she had to stretch herself to be loving and kind. She learned that our role was to provide love and a safe home and if her "giving" was not returned in kind, this was not "about us" and our needs, but was about us serving another. To quote my daugher, "sometimes people who are harder to love, need the most love." Great life lesson!
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
I was very impressed with all aspects of the organization. It would be nice to somehow make a way to encourage relationship with the kids and their families beyond the 6 weeks. We were told to not make any promises about seeing them or communicating with them after this time. That was hard for all--since we all grew to love our "families"and wanted to be able to communicate again somehow. I think it would help further the organization's purpose of building peace .
Would you volunteer for this group again?
Definitely
For the time you spent, how much of an impact did you feel your work or activity had?
A lot
Did the organization use your time wisely?
Very Well
Would you recommend this group to a friend?
Definitely
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2011
