RCE brings help and hope to poor families and abandoned children with special needs through its education, poverty prevention and placement programs.

Here is how we do that:

Prevention: Alleviate Poverty and Restore Dignity

1. Restoration for Orphans Begins at Darius House & Sunshine School

Children, who suffer from mental or physical illness and have emotional scars from neglect and abuse, come to live at Darius House. All have been abandoned by their families! Some come as young as three from state institutions while others come from the street.

RCE has three Darius Houses, and in these loving homes children can begin to heal. At Darius House:

Kids have fun! RCE takes fun seriously for kids who have suffered so much They enjoy pizza parties, summer camp, lots of outings
Kids have the professional care they need. RCE’s Counseling Department, led by psychologist Cara Bolos, provides counseling, speech and physical therapy. Counselors see the kids at Darius House, at Sunshine School, and in families after placement.

“The Scriptures uniformly call us not so much to reflect on justice as to do justice.”

Miroslav Volf

Sunshine School

The right to live with dignity means the right to learn. There are very few options for the disabled to go to school in Romania, so RCE developed a special education school modeled on the best in the U.S.

Principal Neli Fatu leads a dedicated team of Romanian teachers at Sunshine School:

There are 66 students in 10 small classes
Full time speech & physical therapists
Students come from Darius Houses & families in the community
Students enjoy music lessons, cooking, swimming, weekly outings
Sunshine School is the only private special education school certified by the Ministry of Education

2. Restoration Continues with a Life Plan for Everyone after Darius House

Orphanages are no place for children! RCE works to find Christian families for every Darius House child.

Mihai and Carmen Bocsa have led the Domestic Adoption & Placement Program since 1996. Today over 100 previously abandoned children are sons & daughters – more than half are special needs children.

love house families

RCE helps parents with willing hearts but limited means take a Darius House child into their families for life!

Families provide love & care & Christian nurture
Limited financial support is provided by RCE- if needed
The Counseling Team supports parents & kids
Summer Bible camp & other support group activities help families bond

A life plan for every Darius House child — Even kids who are not adopted have a pathway out of institutionalization and that path begins at Amy’s House:

Amy's House

Amy’s House is part of the RCE Campus Community - along with Darius Houses, Sunshine School, chapel & playground. At Amy’s House:

Residents live in a family environment with private rooms
Learn life skills (shopping, cooking, cleaning) independence & responsibility
Vocational & Job Training begins in a RCE micro-enterprise
When residents are ready (around 19) they move to semi-independent apartments at the RCE Enterprise Center

RCE Enterprise & Job Center

RCE’s Enterprise Center is a beautiful facility with semi-independent apartments for young people with disabilities where they live in dignity and enjoy fellowship.

8 apartments + house parents
A farm and garden micro-business
Other micro-businesses include a thrift store & Seeds for Life snack packs

Sorin’s House - A Place for Everyone

A life plan for everyone includes a ‘forever’ house on the RCE Campus for young people who are unable to live independently. Like Sorin (20), who is autistic, and does not speak but communicates through his art. Sorin and his friends will live in the RCE community for life.

Opened in March 2018
Home for 6 young people 18 and over
‘Best Buddies’ program will provide one-on-one friendship for residents

3. Restoring Poor Families & Preventing Abandonment

“People have needs and people have problems. RCE helps families solve their problems so they can one day take care of their own needs.”

Ovi

Ovi and Doina Martin and the RCE team work in partnership with 20 local churches caring for impoverished families with vulnerable children. They bring the light of God’s love and programs that work to restore dignity and stability.

Emergency Relief For Immediate Needs

“If you spend yourself on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed then your light will rise in the darkness...and the Lord will guide you always...”

The Prophet Isaiah

Everyone who asks receives - at least one time
Relief assistance includes food, fuel, firewood, medical care

Developmental Assistance

Every family is different. So are the problems causing their poverty. Helping families help themselves requires an individualized approach. It also requires willingness on the part of the family to put in their ‘sweat equity’, take responsibility, and be accountable.

Educational support (tutoring, scholarships, books, clothes, transportation)
Job training & work opportunities
Housing construction – repairing or rebuilding unsafe, inadequate homes
Farm animals for food & income (See Gift Catalogue)
Small no-interest loans
Micro-savings plans

Summer Camps & Afternoon Bible Clubs

Working with local church partners, and other Christian organizations, RCE offers summer camp for hundreds of children every year and afternoon Bible Clubs in remote villages. The kids have fun. They also learn spiritual truths, and much needed socialization skills.