Projects We Support

All funds raised by the Inspire Children Foundation directly support nonprofit projects and other initiatives that prevent and resolve early childhood traumatic stress caused by adversity. Our goal is to inspire bright futures for children faced with adverse life experiences such as poverty, maltreatment and loss.

Current Initiatives

Silent Victims of Crime (www.SilentVictimsofCrime.org), which assists children of incarcerated parents, received a donation from the Inspire Children Foundation in support of their work to break the intergenerational cycle of incarceration by helping at-risk children deal with life challenges in positive, proactive ways.

Research has shown that poverty is related to increased trauma and poor maternal and child outcomes. Along the Way (AlongthewayPA.org) is a nonprofit program that empowers single mothers to achieve economic career success by providing free childcare and valuable community connections so the family can thrive. We salute and support the important mission of Along the Way.

Prior Funding Recipients

Inspire Children Foundation made a contribution to support the work of the International Rescue Committee (rescue.org) in Afghanistan providing humanitarian aid to children and families in crisis there, and in Haiti providing care for homeless, traumatized children following that country’s natural disasters.

We also donated to No Kid Hungry (nokidhungry.org) whose mission is to end childhood hunger in the U.S.

During this time of great need, ICF has donated to the following nonprofit programs. Feeding America feeds America’s hungry through a nationwide network of food banks. Share Food Program offers emergency food relief for vulnerable citizens of Philadelphia. The mission of HIAS is to give humanitarian aid to immigrants and refugees. Project Harmony is focused on ending the cycle of child abuse and neglect. The Covenant House provides housing and supportive services to youth facing homelessness.

“Miss Marcy” Francis is a teaching artist who brings healing rhythm and music to young children faced with the challenges of poverty and violence. Whether in a school, community center, nonprofit program or gathered on Marcys front porch, children are offered instruments to play and messages that foster self respect and love for one another. Learn more about Marcy Francis and her HeartBeat program at ArtWell. ICF has made a donation to provide her special instruments, Gourds and Sekeres from Africa, for the children she serves.

As part of Harlem’s Broadway Housing Community, the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling nurtures the creative, cognitive skills of children ages 3 - 8, many of whom are challenged by poverty, homelessness and immigration. We support their mission to inspire the lives of these young children.

The International Rescue Committee was selected to receive a donation from the Inspire Children Foundation. The IRC provides life-saving care for vulnerable children and families uprooted by conflict and natural disaster. We have directed our funding to Yemen where famine, cholera outbreaks and mass starvation are now threatening millions of lives.

Did you know that 80% of children living in North Philadelphia have been exposed to at least one traumatic experience? The Joseph J. Peters Institute's North Philadelphia Trauma-Focused and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Project offers therapeutic care for these children and their parents. Their mission is to restore hope with dignity to children who have been traumatized.

Inspire Children Foundation is pleased to support BuildaBridge, an arts education and intervention nonprofit organization that engages creative people and the transformative power of art-making to bring hope and healing to children and families living in the contexts of crisis and poverty.

Our first grant recipient was Jenkintown Day Nursery, a nonprofit early learning center in Jenkintown, PA, that has been providing care for children from low-income families since 1903. Their programs help to promote independence, self esteem, positive attitudes and readiness skills by exposing children to a wide variety of activities that enhance social, emotional, physical and cognitive growth.

The mission of Action Against Hunger, a humanitarian aid organization, is to eliminate hunger worldwide. Acute malnutrition afflicts 75 million children a year. One powerfully effective tool in the prevention and treatment of malnutrition is a nutrient dense ready-to-use-food (RUF) known as "Plumpynut." $50.00 provides 45 days of "Plumpynut" as a life-saving treatment for a sick child.

Life is Good Kids Foundation Playmaker Program strives to mitigate the damaging effects that poverty, violence and trauma have on developing children. Their nonprofit Playmaker Program equips teachers and childcare providers with the know-how and resources to help kids overcome trauma and build resilience through the power of play. Inspire Children Foundation sponsored the first Philadelphia Playmaker Program.

joyful children from Project Joy

Save the Children is working to create positive, lasting change for disadvantaged children in the United States and 41 other nations. Our donations provided aid to families who were victims of the devastating January 2010 earthquake in Haiti and March 2011 crisis in Japan.

The Nurse-Family Partnership is an evidence based community health program that helps transform the lives of first-time low income parents and their children. Vulnerable mothers pregnant with their first child are partnered with a registered nurse who provides regular home visits until their children reach age two. Benefits of this partnership include healthier pregnancy outcomes, improved child development and increased self-sufficiency.

Giving Tree Families is a nonprofit group that plants the seeds of charitable giving in children. Children and families come together to complete creative hands-on projects that they later deliver to a variety of recipients. Some of the “Working Hands Projects” include Peace & Smiles Boxes for hospitalized pediatric patients and Back-to-School Backpacks filled with supplies for homeless and low-income children. A donation from the Inspire Children Foundation was used to purchase supplies for these inspired giving projects.

The Red Cross House provides transitional housing and support services for survivors of fires and other disasters. Inspire Children Foundation made a grant to support disaster recovery for children and families residing at the Red Cross House. Our contribution will fund activities for kids, such as play therapy and expressive arts, to help renew their joy and support emotional healing.

One Simple Wish makes small miracles happen for foster children and vulnerable families. They post personal requests on behalf of deserving, and often invisible, children and families so that donors can grant specific wishes.

Tree House Books provides programs for children that “grow and sustain a community of readers, writers and thinkers” in North Central Philadelphia. Free books are delivered to families through the Words on Wheels program, which encourages parents to read to young children and helps school-age children maintain reading skills over the summer. Read Now, Life With Books & Summer Reading Camps are programs that promote literacy and creativity.

Camp Kesem provides life-changing summer camp experiences for children affected by a parent's cancer.

The Urban Nature Pre-School is one of the first of it's kind in the nation. Research shows that there is a critical link between time spent in nature, play and healthy child development.

Beds for Kids helps children get the rest they need by providing free cribs and beds for kids who would otherwise be sleeping on the floor.

The Mindful Experience for Children provides mindfulness programs and materials to five low-income preschools. Mindfulness skills help children calm down, feel safe, cope better and become more stress resilient so they can learn and live freely.

Did You Know?

80% of the world's refugees are women and children, displaced because of wars, violence, poverty and disasters. Learn more.