Providing one-on-one attention, care, and love to the world’s most vulnerable of children.
Without loving human interaction, children living in orphanages can lose one month of linear growth for every three months they spend in institutionalized care.
Spence-Chapin created the Granny Program in 1998 to address this problem and improve the lives of vulnerable children around the world. The Program brings loving caregivers, or “Grannies,” to help the children they work with overcome significant developmental delays, learn what it is to trust and love, and receive the attention and care they deserve.
Spence-Chapin is currently running Granny Programs in Colombia, Ghana, and South Africa.
The Granny Program is only able to operate and expand through the generosity of our supporters.
More than 5 million children around the world reside in orphanages. The majority of these children have been exposed to significant trauma, neglect, violence, and loss in their short lives. When they arrive at an institution, the group environment and lack of resources too often mean that they become deprived of consistent, nurturing human interaction. Without someone in their corner to advocate for their needs, and provide them with nurture and support, children experience lifelong detrimental effects, including developmental delays, challenges with healthy attachment, and struggle with mental health. The Granny Program is there to change that.
The Granny Program utilizes a simple yet effective model to create profound change in the life of children residing in institutionalized care. The Granny Program model screens, selects, and trains “Grannies” from the local community to visit individually with their assigned children five days a week with a focus on speech and language development, motor skills enhancement, and relationship attachment skills building. Grannies receive extensive training in general child care, secure attachment, bonding, supporting a child who has experienced loss or trauma, and play therapy models. Unlike traditional volunteer models, Grannies are paired with their child long-term, often for their duration in the children’s home.
Over 90% of children experience marked improvements in their developmental milestones and emotional and mental health within six months of being paired with a Granny. Children who were significantly behind in learning to speak, walk, or write, begin communicating, take their first steps, and hold their crayon with confidence. Those who had been labeled “problem children,” who exhibited emotional outbursts begin to play well with their peers, communicate their needs and feelings, and learn tools to help them manage their emotions. The Grannies also experience profound transformation, feeling a renewed sense of purpose, and gaining skills and knowledge that they share with their families and communities.
Be a hero to a child by giving them a Granny Program. Spence-Chapin needs your help to expand this life-changing program. You can help!
The Step Up initiative empowers children in institutionalized care by allowing them to choose their own new pair of back-to-school shoes and bookbags each year.
Project Play is a program dedicated to building new structured outdoor playgrounds and providing birthday and holiday gifts for children in institutionalized care.
Learn about Spence-Chapin’s domestic and international initiatives aimed at providing targeted humanitarian aid and sustainable solutions to address community needs worldwide.
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