Nobody's Children - An International Children's Relief Organization

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Click here to see December 2008 followup article about Ioan Tomsa's follow-up visit to the US and his surprise news.

Click here for previous entry about Ioan and his plastic surgery.

WHAT IS NOBODY'S CHILDREN?

Nobody's Children provides medical and humanitarian resources for needy children throughout the world, with active programs in Romania and Bosnia, and now in Botswana.

Our organization was founded 17 years ago, in 1991, by Edward and Elaine Yourtee after experiences in Romania while adopting their son Jonathan. Moved by the plight of orphans in Romania, they organized their friends to make a limited contribution to improve the conditions they had seen. They also sought to leverage their efforts by working directly with Romanian doctors to improve their abilities to care for children. When a key volunteer from Romania moved to work in Bosnia, opportunities arose to help children from all factions who were left homeless by war.

Nobody’s Children is an IRS approved 501(c)(3)(a) tax-exempt organization that relies primarily on small private donations, local fundraising events, and support from churches and community organizations. Because of exposure through national media and international visitors to Bosnia, about 30% of our support comes from sources outside New England. About 85% of funds raised go directly to program services (See our profile in Guidestar, a web-based national database of non-profit organizations, by searching for Nobodys Children - without an apostrophe.)

Programs and Staffing

Elaine Yourtee is the sole US-based staff of Nobody’s Children; she works from her home in Windham, NH, without compensation.
Our program in Bosnia is managed by an international volunteer, with local personnel operating the dental program.
Dental care is provided in the Nobody's Children Arlinghaus dental center in Mostar, Bosnia .
Our program in Romania employs local personnel for child care and education, and is overseen by a Romanian volunteer.
Nobody's Children owns and operates Casa Katarina, a group home for orphans in Craiova, Romania.
Our doctor-to-doctor program in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania AIDS program in Botswana, brings AIDS physicians from Botswana to the United States for training and education.

2008 Activity

During the first 5 months of 2008, we hosted Ioan Tomasa, a young man who came to the USA for dramatic plastic reconstructive facial surgery. Healing the Children of Connecticut arranged for his surgery by Dr. George Chatson at the Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, Mass. Nobody's Children provided his visa, housing, logistics, and emotional support in our family environment. We also provided for Dr. Cristina Patru to accompany him from Romania for medical translation and liaison during the acute phase. In May, Ioan returned to his village in Romania to start a normal life. Click to see news coverage of Ioan's story, Elaine's work, and an interview with slide show published March 23rd in the Lawrence Eagle Tribune.

Romanian International Adoption Ban

Since 2006, true to its roots in Romanian orphanages, Nobody's Children has worked intensively to improve the plight of Romanian orphans ever since the Romanian government banned all international adoptions from Romania. Many hours have been devoted to conversations with US diplomats in Washington and in Bucharest, with the European Parliament and the European Commission, with a variety of humanitarian organizations in Romania, and with the highest levels of the Romanian government. Although the adoption ban remains in place, our efforts to improve the opportunities for Romanian orphans continue.

Updated 12/10/2008