About Hope for the Future
Hope for the Future was founded by two Romanian-American women (Rodica Lack and Monica Brackett) with the simple goal of improving life for children living on the streets of Romania.
Since it’s founding in 1998, their work has expanded to include homelessness prevention, after school programs for at risk children, and work with NGO’s doing outstanding work with children in need.
We are based out of Sacramento, CA and are registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
EIN: 74-3040161
The organization operated under the name “A Better Future” from 1998 until 2002 when it was incorporated as the non-profit “Hope for the Future”.
Family Assistance program
Our Family Assistance Program is working towards preventing child homelessness, alleviating child poverty and breaking multi-generational poverty in Romanian families.
This is accomplished when monthly assistance of food, clothing and financial support is coupled with tutoring to prepare children for a university education and vocational training.
Romanian orphanages are filled with children who were abandoned by their poverty stricken parents. We are preventing this type of child abandonment by giving families the hope and support they need to exist.
There are approximately 45 children in our Family Assistance Program.
The Mentoring Program
Poverty not only ravishes the comforts of life but strips away the confidence a person needs to mature. Growing up is hard enough even in a comfortable positive environment.
The children in our Family Assistance Program have a lot of catching up to do. Because of past hardship the children often missed school and are years behind their peers. With hard work and tutoring the children reach their peers academically but often emotionally are a lot harder to repair. The list of reasons for the children’s lack of confidence differs from case to case and often includes the lack of a strong parent figure, hopelessness, poor self-image, and constant financial insecurity.
Our volunteer mentors spend time with the children and show them through example a better attitude and approach towards life. The children share experiences and the mentors show them how past obstacles can become stepping stones that will push them harder in being better people and more successful. Amazingly, as soon as we started this program, parents and children are asking us if we can find a mentor for them. This program is not expensive but it takes a lot of time, and in a country and economy where poverty is prevalent and life demands every minute, qualified volunteers for this program are scarcest. We have approached church youth groups and university students and as of now we have few already mentoring and few in training for being mentors. Our program director in Romania is an enthusiastic adolescent that sees the potential of this program and is excited of the opportunity of being part of a program that may give someone the gift of their life, the gift of confidence.