Our primary focus is working with disadvantaged children.
When Warm Heart was established in 2008, listening to the local communities we identified the need for a Children’s Home for disadvantaged children as the first priority.
There were many ethnic minority hill-tribe children living in mountain villages that had no school. The only opportunity for an education was down in the valley.
Children who were able to come to the valley for an education often couldn’t speak Thai, making it hard to keep up with class work, leading to failure. They also struggled to find places to stay after the closure of a hill tribe children’s home by the government in an effort to ‘boost educational performance’.
Warm Heart Children’s Homes was established, and provides a loving environment for more than 45 kids. We offer family-style housing, clothing, balanced, nutritious meals, school uniforms and supplies, medical care – and most important, lots of hugs and unconditional love.
Today, Warm Heart’s main operation is providing a safe, extended family environment for disadvantaged children from low income, disrupted families at our Children’s Homes.
Warm Heart is registered as an orphanage for Thai legal social care reasons, but not all of the children are necessarily “orphans”.
Some of the children have homes and families that live in remote villages in the mountains surrounding Phrao. A handful of our kids don’t go home because they have no family to return to, or the home situation is too dangerous for them.
In any case, we try to take the kids up to their local village so they at least have the ability to connect with their cultures and traditions.
Sponsor a Child
A portion of our funding is generated through our Sponsor a Child program, where individuals, organizations, or groups of friends sponsor one of our children. We always have a list of children in need, waiting for their very own sponsor. Learn more about what it means to be a Sponsor, visit our FAQ page to find answers to questions you may have. Still have questions? Please contact us, we are always happy to work with new sponsors.
In addition to the day to day operation of the children’s homes, we are faced with expenses of vehicle replacement, due to funding cuts there is no school bus service in Phrao.
On Giving Tuesday 2020 we raised enough money to fulfill a dream and bought an actual school bus, one that is reliable and can carry all of the kids in one trip! We are so grateful to everyone who chipped in the help make this happen!
Another major expense we face each year is when the new academic year begins and school’s open. Getting 45 kids ready for the school year is a monumental task!
Success is Expensive!
We are very proud of all of our children and their strive for a better life through an education. Our children are succeeding, which means we have a growing need for Higher Education funds! We currently support 15 young students pursuing their dreams at University, College and Technical Schools.
Unmet needs
Over the years Warm Heart has grown, our campus is able to accommodate up to 45 children. But there is more need. Warm Heart also sponsors 20+ children that live at a government run weekday boarding school, Ton Roong.
While most community kids attending the school go home for the weekend and holidays, our kids have no place to go, so we provide weekend care, including extra tutoring, to help those kids. Many of our current Warm Heart kids have come to us after graduating from the 6th grade.
Barb’s Place
Funded by Building Futures Thailand, Barb’s Place houses our library and computer center. It is used by our children as well as members of the community. We are working towards establishing a computer programming class, an extensive career training program, and an entrepreneur training program.
Encouraging the Arts
When all is said and done, our kids work extremely hard. They come to us sometimes with broken spirits, most unable to speak Thai, separated from their culture and what families they may have, And we push them. When they return from school they go directly into tutoring, helping them with mastering Thai, learning English, help with math.
Our Art Contests were begun as a way to offer a creative outlet for these hard working kids. A way to have fun and express themselves.
The participating children have had a chance to explore different mediums, from Nagomi Art to Photography.
Funding
As you can imagine, it is not easy raising funds for a small non-profit organization working in a remote part of Northern Thailand with disadvantaged children! But the need is here. Our Children’s Sponsors do help, but they do not cover all of the expenses. We also apply for grants, do fundraising events, apply for scholarships for the kids going to college and technical schools, but there is always a shortage of funds.
Our goal is to become self sufficient, so we know where the next dollar is coming from to help us keep the lights on. We are working on building a sustainable source of income to fund the Children’s home and their education, but we are not there yet.
You can help us in many ways, if you shop at Amazon add us as your charity, and Amazon will make a donation to our organization every time you shop. Share our story with friends and family who may be interested in our project and accomplishments. Help us reach more people. Every dollar helps. Make a donation now!
