Together Foundation

When they traveled to the Russian orphanages back in February 2000, Mary Geehan, volunteer, and Jennifer Agee, Executive Director of ABC, along with Natasha Osipova of Ivanovo City, Russia, decided to create a way to better help or prepare the children for life outside of the orphanage. Thus, "Together" was born.

Currently over 640,000 orphans are warehoused in the system in Russia. Every year orphans, who have spent years as wards of the state, are "Graduated" into the world. Mr. Zykov of the Associated Press in Moscow said, "Often at age 15, you're thrown into this world without moral values or even elementary skills like how to live for a whole month on the money you receive today. To say nothing of how to build a relationship with a partner, how to form a family or how to behave at work."

In November of 2000, a Russian prosecutor general said, "20% of children released from orphanages every year will develop criminal records, 30% will become addicts to alcohol or drugs and 10% will commit suicide within a year." We are anxious to prove these statistics wrong. The four 'graduates' from May 2001 are all doing quite well and are still being aided by Together, when the need arises.

Working with the Education Department in the Ivanovo Region, we have embarked on a new adventure. Through generous contributions from family and friends, Together has started a foster care system. We began with eight children in the Fall of 2001 and will monitor their progress. Our hope is that this will be the answer to the roughly 1,000 orphans currently in the Ivanovo Region who have no place to go because the orphanages and hospitals are all full. In addition, we are planning to develop a computer lab and a clothes closet to be placed in orphanage #1. Our goal here is to have all six orphanages in the region participate in computer classes on a weekly rotating basis. You can help by donating either a new computer or a monetary donation to be used to purchase new computers. US and Russian customs officials have recommended the new computers be donated to avoid potential problems.

Together would like to thank Andrews McMeel Publishing of Kansas City, Missouri and Brodfordville First Baptist Church Adult Sunday School Class of Tallahassee, Florida and the many friends of Together for their generous donations that made it possible to begin the foster care program.

If you are interested in helping the Together Foundation, please contact us.

Learn More

To learn more about the Together Foundation, please view the below presentations:

Together Foundation Power Point Presentation 1

Together Foundation Power Point Presentation 2