There is something to learn: what surprised charities in the United States
Most Americans are convinced that a strong civil society is independent of the state. Numerous non-profit organizations are built on this principle, thanks to which American society solves many environmental, social, religious, economic and even political problems without government intervention, writes Olga Hristoforova in her blog Holaolly.
In short, nonprofits in the United States are involved in virtually everything from overseeing the presidential election to setting up pet shelters. There is even a non-profit bar near our home in Portland . Everything in it is exactly the same as in regular bars, but when paying for food and drinks you need to indicate which of the proposed charities you would like to send the profit from your order. "Who owns this bar?" I asked my friend Scott, puzzled. To which he replied that technically - no one owns - just as no one owns churches, for example.
Thus, by contributing to nonprofits through donations and volunteering, Americans themselves choose what goals and programs they want to develop.
About 1.5 million nonprofits are registered in the United States. For comparison, in Russia - about 228 thousand, and most of them operate only on paper. I will not be able to tell about all successful non-profit organizations in one article, so I will try to describe the most interesting ones.
GOODWILL
A few years ago, while tidying up my apartment in Penza, I was faced with the question of "where to put the things I didn’t need." It’s a pity to throw it away, but it’s not clear to whom to give it. After googling this question, I found out that in every district of Penza there is a Center for Social Assistance to Families and Children, where things collected from the population are sorted and then given to people in need.
After moving to the United States, I learned about how this issue is resolved here. Goodwill, which has been around for more than 100 years, is actively advertised, so even young children know its purpose. Goodwill accepts unnecessary things, clothes, furniture, and even cars from the population. As an incentive, Goodwill issues a receipt confirming the fact of donation. By filing an annual tax return, Americans attach information about their donations and receive tax breaks.
As a rule, Goodwill does not distribute the collected items for free, but sells them at very low prices in its retail stores, which are popular not only with low-income people, but also with vintage lovers. Goodwill raised $ 4.16 billion from the sale of donated items in 2016 alone. Plus grants from the state and corporations totaling $ 1.55 billion.
The funds raised by Goodwill are spent on training and employment programs for young people, the elderly, veterans, people with disabilities or those with criminal backgrounds. In 2016, Goodwill helped more than 36 million people gain skills in their new profession, giving more than 313,000 people jobs in prestigious industries such as banking, information technology and healthcare.
HUMANE SOCIETIES
Humane Societies are numerous animal rights organizations that not only search for a new home for homeless vagrants, but also fight all forms of cruelty to them. Once at the Oregon Humane Society, I was amazed at the wonderful conditions in which once stray dogs and cats were kept.
Already at the entrance to the shelter, the employee informed us that we can look at animals in cages at any time, but in order to communicate with a pet in a specially designated room, we have to wait at least an hour, because that day was a lot visitors.
The animal shelter in Portland occupies a whole complex of buildings, which has a place for a training hall, a veterinary clinic, and spacious rooms for our younger brothers who are in trouble. Poor pet owners can get free pet sterilization services; those wishing to adopt a pet from the shelter can choose a new friend; and everyone else can just come to the shelter and give a little attention to the four-legged inhabitants of the shelter. Because you can’t find stray animals in Portland during the day with fire, pets are brought to the local shelter from other cities.
In the shelter we visited, on each cell hung a plaque with the name, brief history and the amount of remuneration that the shelter asks from future foster parents.
Rewards range from $ 15 to $ 85 for a cat, and from $ 150 to $ 450 for a dog. The difference in the amount depends on the age and character of the animal. But even such high rewards do not cover all the costs of the shelter, so the bulk of the funds come from private donations.
FOSTER PARENTS
There are currently no orphanages in the United States, as in other developed countries. I mean, there are no government agencies that raise children without parents. There are temporary shelters for children until the child is placed in a foster family. At the same time, it is often not a question of adoption, but of keeping the child in a family to which compensation is paid.
The system of distribution of single children in America was called "foster", which translated into Russian means "bring up, patronize." The essence of this system is as follows: children left without parental care almost immediately fall into a foster family, whose members have expressed a desire to shelter the child in advance. Therefore, children who are left without parents, almost without delay fall into such families.
Every year in the United States, about 100,000 children lose their families for various reasons. Currently, more than 428,000 children are in the care of foster parents. In half of the cases, they are not relatives. On average, a child lives in a foster family for about two years. After that, children are either adopted or returned to their families (if their parents were only temporarily deprived of parental rights). It happens that foster parents are so attached to their wards that they raise them to adulthood, but are in no hurry to adopt, because they do not want to lose financial support from the state.
BIG BROTHERS
Another great donation program is called Big Brothers Big Sisters. The mission of this non-profit organization is to help find the "older brother" of children aged 6-18, who are raised by one parent of the opposite sex. Volunteers for this program are usually men (big brothers) and women (big sisters) aged 20-34 with no less than college education.
My friend Scott’s mother raised him alone, so when he was 6, she took the opportunity to find an "older brother." Scott wrote a short essay with a touching story about himself and his family, and after a while he was accepted into the program. His first "older brother" was Greg, with whom he went camping, canoeing, fishing, handicrafts, playing Nintendo, in short, doing everything Scott’s mother was not ready to do. During the year, Scott’s mailbox periodically included circus tickets for him and his "older brother" paid for by Big Brothers sponsors. And every Christmas the "older" and "younger" brothers gathered together on one of the country ranches, where Tom Walden, a developer from Florida, every year he organized a holiday for children from single-parent and low-income families. In addition to carousels and a huge number of treats, the "younger and older" brothers could see stunt performances and lie in huge haystacks. The apotheosis of the holiday was Santa Claus descending from a helicopter on a rope ladder with a bag of gifts for everyone. When Scott was 12 years old, Scott had John in his life, who was his second "older brother" until he came of age. John taught him to cook, play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude. In addition to carousels and a huge number of treats, the "younger and older" brothers could see stunt performances and lie in huge haystacks. The apotheosis of the holiday was Santa Claus descending from a helicopter on a rope ladder with a bag of gifts for everyone. When Scott was 12 years old, Scott had John in his life, who was his second "older brother" until he came of age. John taught him to cook, play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude. In addition to carousels and a huge number of treats, the "younger and older" brothers could see stunt performances and lie in huge haystacks. The apotheosis of the holiday was Santa Claus descending from a helicopter on a rope ladder with a bag of gifts for everyone. When Scott was 12 years old, Scott had John in his life, who was his second "older brother" until he came of age. John taught him to cook, play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude. The apotheosis of the holiday was Santa Claus descending from a helicopter on a rope ladder with a bag of gifts for everyone. When Scott was 12 years old, Scott had John in his life, who was his second "older brother" until he came of age. John taught him to cook, play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude. The apotheosis of the holiday was Santa Claus descending from a helicopter on a rope ladder with a bag of gifts for everyone. When Scott was 12 years old, Scott had John in his life, who was his second "older brother" until he came of age. John taught him to cook, play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude. play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude. play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude.
Author Olga Khristoforova
travel blogger, graphic designer, author of the blog Holaolly.com
In short, nonprofits in the United States are involved in virtually everything from overseeing the presidential election to setting up pet shelters. There is even a non-profit bar near our home in Portland . Everything in it is exactly the same as in regular bars, but when paying for food and drinks you need to indicate which of the proposed charities you would like to send the profit from your order. "Who owns this bar?" I asked my friend Scott, puzzled. To which he replied that technically - no one owns - just as no one owns churches, for example.
Thus, by contributing to nonprofits through donations and volunteering, Americans themselves choose what goals and programs they want to develop.About 1.5 million nonprofits are registered in the United States. For comparison, in Russia - about 228 thousand, and most of them operate only on paper. I will not be able to tell about all successful non-profit organizations in one article, so I will try to describe the most interesting ones.
GOODWILL
A few years ago, while tidying up my apartment in Penza, I was faced with the question of "where to put the things I didn’t need." It’s a pity to throw it away, but it’s not clear to whom to give it. After googling this question, I found out that in every district of Penza there is a Center for Social Assistance to Families and Children, where things collected from the population are sorted and then given to people in need.
After moving to the United States, I learned about how this issue is resolved here. Goodwill, which has been around for more than 100 years, is actively advertised, so even young children know its purpose. Goodwill accepts unnecessary things, clothes, furniture, and even cars from the population. As an incentive, Goodwill issues a receipt confirming the fact of donation. By filing an annual tax return, Americans attach information about their donations and receive tax breaks.
As a rule, Goodwill does not distribute the collected items for free, but sells them at very low prices in its retail stores, which are popular not only with low-income people, but also with vintage lovers. Goodwill raised $ 4.16 billion from the sale of donated items in 2016 alone. Plus grants from the state and corporations totaling $ 1.55 billion. The funds raised by Goodwill are spent on training and employment programs for young people, the elderly, veterans, people with disabilities or those with criminal backgrounds. In 2016, Goodwill helped more than 36 million people gain skills in their new profession, giving more than 313,000 people jobs in prestigious industries such as banking, information technology and healthcare.HUMANE SOCIETIES
Humane Societies are numerous animal rights organizations that not only search for a new home for homeless vagrants, but also fight all forms of cruelty to them. Once at the Oregon Humane Society, I was amazed at the wonderful conditions in which once stray dogs and cats were kept.
Already at the entrance to the shelter, the employee informed us that we can look at animals in cages at any time, but in order to communicate with a pet in a specially designated room, we have to wait at least an hour, because that day was a lot visitors.The animal shelter in Portland occupies a whole complex of buildings, which has a place for a training hall, a veterinary clinic, and spacious rooms for our younger brothers who are in trouble. Poor pet owners can get free pet sterilization services; those wishing to adopt a pet from the shelter can choose a new friend; and everyone else can just come to the shelter and give a little attention to the four-legged inhabitants of the shelter. Because you can’t find stray animals in Portland during the day with fire, pets are brought to the local shelter from other cities. In the shelter we visited, on each cell hung a plaque with the name, brief history and the amount of remuneration that the shelter asks from future foster parents.
Rewards range from $ 15 to $ 85 for a cat, and from $ 150 to $ 450 for a dog. The difference in the amount depends on the age and character of the animal. But even such high rewards do not cover all the costs of the shelter, so the bulk of the funds come from private donations. FOSTER PARENTS
There are currently no orphanages in the United States, as in other developed countries. I mean, there are no government agencies that raise children without parents. There are temporary shelters for children until the child is placed in a foster family. At the same time, it is often not a question of adoption, but of keeping the child in a family to which compensation is paid.
The system of distribution of single children in America was called "foster", which translated into Russian means "bring up, patronize." The essence of this system is as follows: children left without parental care almost immediately fall into a foster family, whose members have expressed a desire to shelter the child in advance. Therefore, children who are left without parents, almost without delay fall into such families.Every year in the United States, about 100,000 children lose their families for various reasons. Currently, more than 428,000 children are in the care of foster parents. In half of the cases, they are not relatives. On average, a child lives in a foster family for about two years. After that, children are either adopted or returned to their families (if their parents were only temporarily deprived of parental rights). It happens that foster parents are so attached to their wards that they raise them to adulthood, but are in no hurry to adopt, because they do not want to lose financial support from the state.
BIG BROTHERS
Another great donation program is called Big Brothers Big Sisters. The mission of this non-profit organization is to help find the "older brother" of children aged 6-18, who are raised by one parent of the opposite sex. Volunteers for this program are usually men (big brothers) and women (big sisters) aged 20-34 with no less than college education.
My friend Scott’s mother raised him alone, so when he was 6, she took the opportunity to find an "older brother." Scott wrote a short essay with a touching story about himself and his family, and after a while he was accepted into the program. His first "older brother" was Greg, with whom he went camping, canoeing, fishing, handicrafts, playing Nintendo, in short, doing everything Scott’s mother was not ready to do. During the year, Scott’s mailbox periodically included circus tickets for him and his "older brother" paid for by Big Brothers sponsors. And every Christmas the "older" and "younger" brothers gathered together on one of the country ranches, where Tom Walden, a developer from Florida, every year he organized a holiday for children from single-parent and low-income families. In addition to carousels and a huge number of treats, the "younger and older" brothers could see stunt performances and lie in huge haystacks. The apotheosis of the holiday was Santa Claus descending from a helicopter on a rope ladder with a bag of gifts for everyone. When Scott was 12 years old, Scott had John in his life, who was his second "older brother" until he came of age. John taught him to cook, play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude. In addition to carousels and a huge number of treats, the "younger and older" brothers could see stunt performances and lie in huge haystacks. The apotheosis of the holiday was Santa Claus descending from a helicopter on a rope ladder with a bag of gifts for everyone. When Scott was 12 years old, Scott had John in his life, who was his second "older brother" until he came of age. John taught him to cook, play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude. In addition to carousels and a huge number of treats, the "younger and older" brothers could see stunt performances and lie in huge haystacks. The apotheosis of the holiday was Santa Claus descending from a helicopter on a rope ladder with a bag of gifts for everyone. When Scott was 12 years old, Scott had John in his life, who was his second "older brother" until he came of age. John taught him to cook, play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude. The apotheosis of the holiday was Santa Claus descending from a helicopter on a rope ladder with a bag of gifts for everyone. When Scott was 12 years old, Scott had John in his life, who was his second "older brother" until he came of age. John taught him to cook, play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude. The apotheosis of the holiday was Santa Claus descending from a helicopter on a rope ladder with a bag of gifts for everyone. When Scott was 12 years old, Scott had John in his life, who was his second "older brother" until he came of age. John taught him to cook, play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude. play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude. play tennis and golf, and drive a car. They maintained a friendly relationship even after Scott came of age. Moreover, John, being a financial specialist by profession, after the death of Scott’s mother, became his financial adviser. Scott still remembers his "older brothers" with gratitude.Author Olga Khristoforova
travel blogger, graphic designer, author of the blog Holaolly.com