Mission Milestones 1971-2000

San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance:

-Provided nurturing, effective residential care to abused and neglected children in an extended family home situation on 147 acres near Taos, New Mexico. Known as San Felipe del Rio, the home included on-site residential facilities, an off-site residential treatment center for severely disturbed children, and a ground-breaking off-site transitional home to help young men and women pursue higher education, job training, and, ultimately, successful, independent lives. Dr. Karl Menninger, of the famed Menninger Foundation, wrote, “The San Felipe ranch is the finest group home in the world and should be the model for all the country.”

-Developed a national model for group home child care standards through a program assessment of 19 Menninger Foundation “Villages” in Indiana and Kansas.

– Organized and funded a national conference in New Mexico to advocate child welfare issues.

– Allocated funds for and assisted in developing a transitional housing program in Topeka, Kansas, to be implemented as a national training model for independent living.

– Assisted in writing and developing a policy manual for Blueberry Treatment Centers in New York to create a national model for the care of schizophrenic and autistic children.

– Co-Founded Northwest Advocates for Children in Portland, Oregon to improve standards of care for at-risk children and youth in the region.

– Directed and organized a national conference to improve training and education of children and youth providers in Portland, Oregon.

– Worked in alliance with Northwest Advocates for Children to establish standards of quality care for dependent children by developing a Marshall Plan for Children.

– Wrote and published a training manual, “Cross-Cultural Training For Foster and Adoptive Children,” to guide child care workers and foster parents.

– Conducted a major international conference in New York titled “Children in Distress” in conjunction with Blueberry Treatment Centers. World-renowned speakers included Oliver Sachs, Bruno Bettleheim, Kita Hara, Mira Rothenberg, and Teddy Kennedy.

– Sponsored a joint-collaborative child and youth conference for the Northwest States in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

– Produced a series of five training films on foster care titled “The Ultimate Challenge”. The series ran 200 minutes in length and won seven major film festival awards for excellence. Today, the film is used throughout the world as a model for foster and adoptive parents, social workers, and educators.

– Completed a 300-page manual on foster parenting to complement “The Ultimate Challenge” film series. The manual and films were debuted before an international audience in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia.

– Directed a comprehensive survey of homeless teens in the United States. The published findings helped focus international attention on addressing the problem of homelessness in America.

– Co-sponsored a national child welfare conference at the University of San Diego with The Menninger Foundation.


Mission Milestones 1971-2000

The San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance:

– Worked with the L’Arche organization to develop a national conference in Kansas City, Missouri, to help advance the care of developmentally disabled children and adults.

– Organized film workshops throughout the United States to share paradigms of quality child care with foster parents.

– Served as a consultant to the Child Welfare League of America on the development of a curriculum to improve national standards for foster and adoptive care.

– Presented workshops in Budapest, Hungary, to help improve the care of institutionalized children in Eastern Europe and initiated plans for a workshop/conference for ten Eastern Block countries to demonstrate innovative child care methods.

– Consulted with Croatian Social Services in the development of foster care and adoption programs in Croatia and supplied training materials to assist their efforts.

– Through a 15-state consortium, produced two films on effective strategies for the recruitment and retention of foster and adoptive parents titled PRIDE Model of Practice to Develop and Support Resource Parents as Team Members in Child Protection and Trauma informed Care of Children. PRIDE standing for Parent Resources for Information, Development, Education. The film highlights common problems that caregivers may encounter as a result of past sexual abuse, adolescence, bi-racial adoption, etc., and provides insights into how to best address each situation. Today, the film serves as a model for parents, social workers, and educators in all 50 states and has been translated into four languages.

– Developed a comprehensive training and policy manual for Zagreb-based Suncokret, a grass roots social services organization, and assisted them in the recruitment and training of international volunteers to work in refugee centers in Croatia and Bosnia. The manual for Suncokret helped them become the first non-profit social services agency in a post-Communist country and has since become a global model to assist communities in disaster relief efforts. San Felipe continues to support the efforts of Suncokret and other organizations in Eastern Europe.

– Renovated a former Serbian military post in Toposka, Croatia, to serve as a recreational facility for refugee children. With the help of local and international volunteers, a summer recreational program was developed to help children regain a sense of childhood. The ultimate purpose of the program was to integrate children from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds with the hope of promoting cultural tolerance, personal respect and future peace in the war-torn Balkan region.

– Raised money for refugee relief services in Bosnia and Croatia by writing and distributing over 100 funding proposals.

– Assessed residential programs for homeless tennagers nationwide and compiled the most successful approaches to help develop a model for New Avenues for Youth, an outgrowth of Northwest Advocates for Youth in Portland, Oregon. New Avenues for Youth is a comprehensive wrap-around program for homeless youth that provides everything from shelter and education to transitional services that ensure independence.

– Worked with community groups in San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Kansas, and especially, Portland, to develop innovative approaches to meeting the critical needs of homeless children and their families.

– Contributed to the production of “Street Talk and Tuxes,” a documentary film on the plight of homeless teenagers in America.
 


Mission Milestones 1971-2000

The San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance:

– Responded with timely, targeted relief in the aftermath of hurricane Mitch, the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record.

– Established a permanent medical clinic in Nueva Vida, a relocation camp outside of Managua, whose needs were being ignored by the international aid community and the Nicaraguan government.

– Provided emergency medical assistance, food, clothing, and shelter to thousands of people living in refugee camps in Albania after being displaced from their homes in Kosovo.

– Assisted in the development of social service programs that reached upwards of 300,000 people uprooted from their homes as a result of the conflict in Kosovo.

– Established a resettlement plan to help bring refugees back in their own communities and recruited and trained workers from the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, and Japan to work in relocation camps in Kosovo that San Felipe organized following the peace settlement.

– Delivered hygiene supplies and toys to several hundred families evacuated from their homes as a result of the Cerro Grande fire near Los Alamos, New Mexico.

– Current outreach projects include the development and planning of a therapeutic camp in Southern California for emotionally disturbed children, teens, and their families.

– Current educational projects include another joint film project with the Child Welfare League of America that focuses on adoption. Also in the works is a CD-Rom on foster care and adoption to help educate social workers, students, and parents.

– In the aftermath of the crisis in Kosovo and the devastation of Hurricane Mitch, hundreds of thousands of victims remain displaced and impoverished. San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance continues its ongoing work in these regions with long-term rehabilitation efforts focused on helping families rebuild their lives and communities.
 


Mission Milestones 2000-2017

The San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance:

-First Things First. This program teaches literacy, ESL, and life skills to refugee mothers resettling in America.

-Wilderness Adventure-partnered with Wilderness Adventure program to send 60 inner city kids to a wetlands/ocean program. The trips promote persistence, endurance, and courage in young people.

-Sri Lanka- Built a community center and school in Batticaloa that provides a safe and welcome environment for families affected by the conflict in Sri Lanka

-African Women’t Shelters- Opened two shelters in the Darfur region of Sudan to help survivors or gender based violence.

-Thailand Women’s Shelter- Opened a shelter in the Mae Hong Sun region of Thailand for the Burmese refugees, helps to protect victims of domestic abuse.