Inspiring a change

Miracle Foundation was born on Mother’s Day 2000 by founder Caroline Boudreaux.  Having set off on a trip around the world and found herself at an Indian orphanage in a remote village in Odisha, she was haunted by the conditions in which the orphaned children lived, but captivated by their strength, beauty and untapped potential.

Finding a family for every child

Since those early days, Miracle Foundation has gone on to flourish and has now improved the lives of more than 15,000 orphaned and vulnerable children at more than 300 orphanages in India. Caroline and her team have developed our revolutionary methodology called the Thrive Scale. Based on the UN Rights of the Child this tool allows the team to track a spectrum of health and wellness factors to give every child the chance to reach their full potential.

Miracle Foundation is now using its expertise to lead a global movement focusing on prevention, to address many of the underlying reasons for children ending up in an orphanage. This includes working with social workers to find alternatives to orphanage care, reaching out to communities to strengthen child protection, and identifying vulnerable families long before the need for child placement arises.

Priya’s Story

Priya was born in rural India in the state of Maharashtra. Her father died when she was only 6 years old and her struggling mother could not support the family. In an act of desperation and self-less love, she placed her three young girls in an orphanage, hoping they would have a better life.

Priya and her sister lived at this orphanage for seven long years until a Miracle Foundation staff member asked them one critical question “Is there anyone you would feel safe going home to live with?”

Of the 70 children at the orphanage, all 70 could name a safe individual and–once contacted–all 70 had relatives come to discuss the next steps. In Priya’s case, it was her grandmother who showed up, eager to have the children home again. Home studies from social workers evaluated the state of Priya’s living environment. From the quality of the school to the location of the nearest hospital, no area of health, education or wellness was overlooked.

In Priya’s case, her grandmother’s home needed a new roof, beds,  mattresses,  and furniture,  and support paying for school transportation fees, access to wi-fi, and school supplies. On average, it costs $1260 to complete this process for and support a child as they return home. Ironically, it costs four times that to keep a child in an orphanage.

Happily settled, the Miracle Foundation sent social workers to follow up with Priya on a quarterly basis, taking note of successes and working with her family to enhance areas that need improvement. Priya is one of the lucky ones, but Miracle Foundation is working hard to bring all the children home.

Watch Priya tell her story

The power of collaboration

The knowledge and technology Miracle Foundation has gained are also bringing benefits closer to home, by adding measurement skills to the US Foster Care System, connecting families to vital services through an easy-to-use app and streamlining the complex reporting requirements that foster families face.

The team at Miracle Foundation believe in collaboration as they know this work is bigger than any one organization.  They are part of a global network of nonprofit organizations leading the worldwide movement to end the need for orphanages in our lifetime.

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Miracle Foundation is an international nonprofit for children, headquartered in Austin, Texas with offices in New York City and New Delhi.