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Kim wants to become a doctor one day.  This was a dream she dared not consider before she came to Angels' Place in 2013.  If she was lucky, and because she is smart and motivated, she might have hoped to be a street vendor or clean hotel rooms.  But the truth is, her intelligence would surely have been wasted on a menial job with little stability or reliable income.  More likely, she would have ended up with no consistent work at all, barely surviving and struggling to take care of her own family, just like her mother.

But, today, Kim is writing a different story.  A story where she could be a doctor.  Thanks to her sponsors and Angels' Place, she is getting the education she needs to make this dream a reality if she chooses.  Whatever she ends up becoming, her chances of being a productive member of her community are strong.

Kim wants the world to know she is a kind girl who loves singing, dancing and playing with her friends at Angels' Place.  She escaped the vicious loop of poverty, leaving behind a life of despair where she was often sick from malnutrition and starved of opportunity.  Today, her story is bright and full of hope where happy endings are truly possible.

There are hundreds of children just like Kim on our waiting list.  Smart, kind children who desperately long for the opportunity to write a better story for their lives.  Won't you consider helping one of them find their way to Angels' Place?  Visit our Ways to Help page to learn how.

To read more Angel of the Week stories, click on "Angel of the Week" under Categories to the right of this page.

"My mother left me behind."

When Mary's mother remarried after leaving her drug addicted husband, her new husband did not want Mary.  Can you imagine being so desperate to survive your only hope is to abandon your child?  In a culture where single mothers do not have the resources to take care of their children, there is often no other choice.  They must marry and often a new husband does not want the children of another man.  Mary does not remember much of her chaotic early childhood except "I was hungry, lonely and fearful."

Fortunately, after being bounced around from place to place a distant relative brought Mary to Angels' Place.   When asked what she likes most about living there now, she replies "The family atmosphere.  The love and caring."

According to her caregivers, Mary was "a shy and aloof young girl who is growing up to be a cheerful God-loving young woman".  She does well in school and enjoys English the most, especially poetry.  She dreams of being an airline hostess someday and knows she has doors open to her now she never dreamed were possible.

In her own words, "I am thankful to be a child of Angels' Place. I am thankful to my sponsors."

There are many children like Mary waiting to find a home at Angels' Place.  You can help make room for them by visiting our Ways to Help page today.

To read more Angel of the Week stories, click on "Angel of the Week" under Categories to the right of this page.

When "Ding" was only 8 years old his father died.  For most young mothers in India, this is much more than just losing a beloved husband.  Her entire life as she knew it was gone.  Though things certainly were not easy for them before her husband's death, they could at least make ends meet and put food on the table.  There were all the challenges poverty brings but they were together and they had enough to survive.  Then, in just one single day, her husband is gone along with all the resources she needed to support her family.  She had no money, no job and food was scarce.  Ding's dream for an education was lost.   She had to make the hardest choice a mother could make, to send her child away.  But she knew it was the only way.  She could not care for him or give him the opportunities he deserved.  Imagine the moment of having to make this choice.

Fortunately, she found Angels' Place...a warm and loving refuge for children like Ding who are barely surviving in the grips of extreme poverty.  A place where he could count on regular nourishing meals, a warm bed, compassionate caregivers and most importantly to Ding, the chance to go to school so he could pursue his dream of becoming a bank officer.  In his own words... "I am thankful for my sponsors.  Without their financial support I would not be going to school.  This I know for sure."

Until culture changes and widowed women in India are provided the support and resources they need to keep their children at home, places like Angels' Place are necessary to give kids like Ding a fair chance in life.  There are so many just like him.

Would you like to know more about how you can help a child like Ding?  Check out our Ways to Help page to learn all the ways you can make a difference.

To read more stories about the children at Angels' Place, click on "Angel of the Week" under Categories to the right of this page.