ABOUT THE HERITAGE HOMES ORPHANAGE AND OUR STORY SO FAR...
The Heritage Homes orphanage is a Non Governmental, Not for profit, Christian organization which is managed by a group of 24 individuals who are very passionate about this cause and headed by Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, The founder and Chairperson, Board of Trustees. The idea of setting up an Orphanage was conceived by him in 2004 and formal operations started on the 20th of November 2006 when we took in our first child a one (1) year old HIV positive male child Ben who was adopted less than a year after he joined us and is doing very well in his new home.
The primary purpose of setting up the orphanage was to:
1) Help rescue and assist as many orphaned, abandoned, motherless and abused children as possible.
2) Provide a first class transit home for them where they can be nurtured and developed physically, mentally, & spiritually to become useful citizens of our society and the world at large.
3) Help draw public attention to the plight of these needy children and thereby bring the much needed change to their circumstances
Part of our aim also is to ensure we
4) Get our children adopted or fostered in the shortest possible time by responsible God fearing couples as we do not believe they ought to grow up in an institution such as this no matter how comfortable it might be.
5) Open several homes in various parts of the nation.
In the nearly five (5) years of our existence, we have successfully done the following -
- Rescued and assisted a total of 72 children. Who has being housed, clothed, properly fed and educated under our care.
- 25 of them have been placed for adoption with responsible couples. It is noteworthy to add here that we have registered a 100% success rate on our adoptions. No child has been returned to us by an adopter. This also means we have put smiles on the faces of at least 25 childless couples.
- 15 children have been successfully reconciled with their biological families
Several non – resident children continue to be assisted with food and clothing from us.
We have fed over 10,000 poor children through our bi-annual soup kitchen
Three of our children have been taken on medical trip to India, two out of them for heart surgery and one with severe brain damage
We have successfully cared for three HIV positive children and we are delighted to add that two of them were healed by God. Answers to our persistent prayers and all three have been adopted and are doing well. The child who is still HIV positive was adopted by very loving Caucasian parents and lives in the Netherlands. Though she has had major health challenges, she is getting the best medical and loving care she could ever get.
We have held seminars to sensitise people on the plight of needy children in our society.
One of our children Chinedu who could not talk or speak properly when he came to us at the age of four (4) won a state art competition and was featured in a national newspaper this year 2011. He speaks very well now at the age of eight (8) and is doing very well in school. He recently got adopted and is now with his adoptive family.
In line with our belief in the importance of education, all our children over 24 months go to very good schools near the homes.
Two and a half months ago, we successfully made good our promise to our donors and partners by purchasing our 2nd home in Ikota, Lagos.
Even as we celebrate our successes so far, that is not to say we have not been without our challenges or that it has been easy.
Sadly we have lost Esther, Daniel and Andrew to death. Nevertheless we can confidently say that the Heritage team gave them the best medical care we could get. The three of them successfully went to India for medical treatment but unfortunately the doctors could not stop the hands of death. We have not forgotten them and their passing continue to motivate us to do more.
Presently we have a three (3) year old child Biodun who is in urgent need of a heart surgery to close the hole in his heart. We are finalising plans to take him abroad for medical care and attention. We also cease this opportunity to ask for financial assistance from everyone who is reading this to ensure Biodun gets the urgent medical help he needs to save his life.
Funding continues to pose a challenge. It is our firm belief that we can do much more but we need the help of Corporate Organizations, Individuals and the Government. However we use this medium and opportunity to thank all our donors, sponsors and partners. Their support have helped make our successes so far possible
Irregular and unclear government policies continue to pose a challenge to our work but we are determined so we forge ahead despite the challenges.
As earlier indicated, there is a lot more we can do as an organization to assist more needy children.
We have set in motion a plan to acquire an acre of land in the Badagry area to put together at least six (6) bungalows to house children with different medical challenges. We hope to complete the 1st building for HIV positive children in May 2012.
Importantly, we ask you to remember the Nigerian child who is crying out for help and join us in this fight to give them a better life.
God bless you and thank you for your support and kindness to the Heritage Homes Orphanage.