My Nonprofit Reviews

I am more than impressed with this organization as they have been able to fill a niche serving the hardest-to-place children who often languish in the foster system. The hardest-to-place foster children are over the age of eight, are part of a sibling group, have been in foster care for an extended length of time, or are of an ethnic minority group. Many of them also have severe physical, emotional and/or developmental challenges. The shrinking Oregon Department of Human Services budget often results in these special-needs children being forced to the back of the line to receive support—simply because they require more attention, assistance, and care than the majority of other foster children.

They have gone beyond the basics to serve needs as they arise: mentoring, advocate services, family building services (including a new Adoption Agency).

As a start-up organization that does not take public funds, and operates with a full-time volunteer executive director (who herself has 12 children, 9 adopted) on a shoe-string budget, to serve as many children as possible is commendable. I have noticed some employee and/or volunteer complaints (on this site). As someone who has been a nonprofit consultant for 20 years, I am sure the need to tirelessly serve the 500,000 children in foster care nationally, focusing on the 13,000 in Oregon and 9,500 in Washington is taxing. This is hard work, and not for the faint of heart.

As a consultant, I see too many college graduates and/or early career professionals with misguided expectations: Working in a nonprofit is not a cakewalk! Good nonprofits are forever evolving... Good employees (who are the "right fit") are able to rise to this challenge, and those who do not forward the organization's mission will fall away. Guaranteed salary and benefit packages, even for large government organizations, are a thing of the past. Still, in working with the AFFEC board, I know that it is their goal to balance the urgent need for services and intentionally grow a stable organization with a well-compensated, trained, and creative staff on board the long term.

I applaud A Family For Every Child for being a leading edge innovator with an entrepreneurial approach to doing business. It is obvious their donations are increasing while other organizations that have become passive in their approach to the urgent needs of children are flailing. Why? Positive Results!

More Feedback