Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's Jolie-Pitt Foundation has donated $150,000 to SOS Children's Villages.
SOS Children’s Villages take action for children as an independent, non-governmental and non-denominational social development organization by providing family-based care for children who have lost their parents or can no longer live with them.
“I am truly thankful that Angelina and Brad understand the power of family – the kind of stable family that SOS holds as an essential part of healthy child development,” said Dr. Heath Paul, CEO of SOS Children’s Villages, USA. “Together, Angelina and Brad have been eye-witnesses to the great work of SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia, Jordan, a Darfur refugee camp in Chad and Haiti. Angelina and Brad know that children’s need for a family is universal.”
The money provides support for a foster family with four children.
The donation follows last year’s gift of $100,000 – made just two days before the new year began – to the organization.
“We have seen first-hand the remarkable job SOS does to raise orphaned and abandoned children and keep families together,” said Jolie at the time. "No one “ages out” of an SOS Village: vocational training, advanced education, living assistance and moral support are there forever."
In the US, SOS Children’s Villages is a haven for a foster child, a haven from the storm of multiple placements, abuse or neglect. SOS puts foster children back together again with their brothers and sisters, and strengthens them for a bright future – a future that can include reunification with a biological parent, adoption, or success as an independent adult.
Through this donation, The Jolie-Pitt Foundation will provide support to an SOS foster care family for a number of years. This long-term approach is crucial to transforming a child who has suffered years of abuse – healing cannot happen overnight.
SOS Children’s Villages in the US have achieved impressive results. Less than 50% of foster care children in the US complete high school, while SOS youth have a completion rate of almost 100%. Over 300 foster children now call SOS home in Illinois and Florida, including many groups of biological brothers and sisters.
SOS Children’s Villages operates under these core principles:
- Siblings should grow up together in a family-based environment.
- Children should be re-unified with their biological family whenever possible.
- Foster care children should never “age-out” of the system. Post-high school support is critical to a young adult’s long-term success.
SOS Children’s Villages in the US receive public support for the basic needs of their foster children. The additional services needed to transform a child’s life are provided by private donors. The $150,000 donation from The Jolie-Pitt Foundation will fund numerous services such as full-time, professionally trained caregivers, counseling, intensive support toward family reunification, vocational training or college preparation.
Follow Brad and Angelina’s lead and make your own donation here.
