About Dream Home
Dream Home is located in
ShenYang , Liaoning Province, China. We are able to
minister to Chinese orphans through our cooperation
with the local government orphanage at the ShenYang
Social Welfare Institute. The SWI provides Dream Home
with building space and up to 45 orphans along with
their food. The rest of the orphan’s needs, including
their clothes, shoes, all daily supplies as well as
the salaries of our staff (two teachers, numerous care
givers and a driver) are provided by contributions
made to Dream Home.
Three populations are currently being served at Dream
Home. The first is two physically handicapped
intelligent boys who are ambulatory. They are
progressing in public school while living with a
foster family and we hope to see them through college
or a trade school some day.
The second population is
our “youth”: orphans from 14 years of age on up with
the oldest being in his thirties. Most are minimally
mentally retarded but ambulatory. Three are in
wheelchairs because of cerebral palsy or, in one case,
rheumatoid arthritis. Several are deaf. They are
progressing through the efforts of their two teachers
and others such as visiting teams and therapists.
Through the use of activities in and out of the
orphanage and various outings to venues around the
province, they are becoming comfortable with their
place in Chinese society and acquiring some of the
skills and interests that will serve them for the rest
of their lives.
The last population is
made up of small children from eight months to 14
fourteen years of age, most with multiple handicaps
such as cerebral palsy, autism, blindness, deafness,
seizure disorders, spina bifida, hydrochepalus, club
feet and other conditions that might not even have a
name! In this population, it is often our first goal
just to keep them alive through innovative nutrition
and careful monitoring and then after they are
stabilized, move into therapy mode to improve their
mobility. This is the population that benefits most
from visits from professional therapists.
Though these children
were abandoned by their parents, they are chosen by
Dream Home. In an effort to improve their state in
life, Dream Home provides special education and seeks
to meet their social and emotional as well as physical
needs. Migyeong Kang, Director of Dream Home and
Elaine Hennessy, Assistant Director, have helped
handicapped orphans since 1999. They started Dream
Home in October of 2004. The future hope of Dream Home
is to have its own facility some day so the orphans
can raise plants, vegetables and animals as well as
learn the job and life skills necessary to assume
their position in society. It is most people’s desire
to be able to take care of their own needs and be
thought of as useful members of society by being able
to contribute to the greater good. That is also our
dream for our kids.
See
our Dream Home Christmas cards here
Dream
Home Introduction
We, Migyeong Kang from South Korea, a social
worker, and Elaine Hennessy from the USA, are able to
work within the Shenyang Welfare Institution because
of the work Migyeong has done there since
1999. The orphanage provides the living
space and 3 meals for the orphans and we provide the
rest of their needs including their clothes, all
supplies (i.e. diapers, snacks, clothes washing
detergent, education bill, etc.) as well as the
salaries of our 15 member staff which includes 15 care
givers and a massage therapist as well as a special
caregiver for the three school boys that live in an
apartment, also paid for by us, near our apartment in
the city.
There are currently 34 disabled little kids and
four disabled students at the Dream Home.
The handicaps represented include cerebral palsy,
mental retardation, autism, blindness, Spinal
bifida, deafness, Down syndrome, hyperactivity and
several suffer from seizures. They range
in age from a little over a year to 18 years of age.
Four handicapped boys live near us and are in
university , high school and primary school now.
We rented an Apartment for them and hired a family who
is living with them. One of high students
is using a wheelchair and has to climb stairs to get
his second floor class room every day. He really is
overcoming his suffering to see his future someday. We
are paying for their education bill and anything they
need. Once they complete their university
they will be responsible for the expenses incurred
there.
ZhiLei who is the first grade in the primary
school was born with a brittle bone. He is a
super smart and doing very well in the class.
We are very grateful for the opportunity to love these
Chinese children and help them grow physically,
mentally and spiritually. We believe
that the rewards for helping those who are less
fortunate than us are great, not the least being the
development of a sense of thankfulness and awe for the
blessings God has given us. It’s easy to forget
our aches and pains (or our age, in my case, Elaine
speaking) when we are helping a child that will never
walk and, in some cases, might not even survive to
adulthood. Every day counts with these
kids. Their future is brighter with every kind
visitor that shows them that they are special and
worthy of
love.
March 29th, 2015
|
