Hoping for a Future for Today’s Children in Magoffin County

Whether or not industry will return to Kentucky is a concern for many

The first question Shelley Oxenham, U.S. Projects Specialist for Children Incorporated, asked Michael Helton, our volunteer coordinator at Magoffin County High School, on her recent visit was what he saw for the future of the county and region. Shelley was meeting with Michael as a part of her trip to Kentucky, in conjunction with Director of U.S. Programs, Renée Kube’s, visit to Martin County schools. Michael sighed and quietly said, “No matter what anyone says […]

Hard Decisions for Parents in Eastern Kentucky

When it comes to paying bills and feeding their children, parents in Martin County have to choose

In May, our Director of U.S. Programs, Renée Kube, visited Martin County in Kentucky, where she met with many of our sponsored children at our affiliated schools, as well as at some of their homes. The breadth and depth of the poverty in Martin County is staggering. Over the many years that Renée has been visiting Eastern Kentucky, she has seen the homes of the impoverished on the sides of main roads; but it still […]

Visiting Counties in Need in Kentucky

Kids in Kentucky face similar challenges with poverty in Martin and Magoffin Counties

In May of this year, Renée Kube, our Director of U.S. Programs, and Shelley Oxenham, U.S. Projects Specialist, traveled to Kentucky together to visit two counties that Children Incorporated serves. Once they arrived in Kentucky, they split up – Renée in the direction of Martin County, and Shelley to Magoffin County. Both counties are close to each other in proximity, east of Lexington, and are two of the poorest counties in our nation. In Martin […]

The Long, Hard Summers

Summertime is more difficult for families who struggle to afford food

I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I looked from the practically empty refrigerator before me to the precious little girl standing by my side. I was on a project visit in Eastern Kentucky with one of our volunteer coordinators, and she had arranged for me to see first-hand the conditions in which many of the youngsters in her school are forced to live. On this particular day, we accompanied a beautiful little […]

A Doctor for the Poor

The clinic at Casa Betania serves an entire community in need

Located southwest of the capital of Nicaragua is Boaco, a town that was built on such a steep hill that it is described by locals as having two floors – a first floor with homes and businesses, and then another tier of houses and shops high above the first, considered the second floor. It was fitting to hear that the city is referred to as having two floors because part of our visit to the […]

Escaping Violence at La Recoleccion

In Nicaragua, La Recolección provides safety for children in the “Land of Lakes and Volcanoes”

Almost as soon as we arrived in Managua after our flight from San Jose, I could tell that Nicaragua was vastly different from Costa Rica. As we drove out of the capital city, the jungle landscape we had seen just one day before had been replaced by flat, open land where cows and horses roamed for miles. Along the road to Leon, the second-largest city in Nicaragua after Managua, we saw cowboys, both young and […]