Lillie's First Home!

I thought I would take a quick minute to share a bit more about Lillie's first home. I have been trying to find more information about the new building and found an article by the adoption organization La Vida. The New Fuling Social Welfare Center is being funded by the City of Fuling, and the Chongqing municipal government and private donors like La Vida and FulingKIds. I was surprised to find out that it is expected to be the first specialized rehabilitation center and medical clinic for handicapped children in all of China.
There are currently 14 social welfare institutions located in Chonqing province. All of these institutions provide adoption services to its children and the vast majority of those adoptions are of healthy children. However, like most institutions throughout China, nearly all of the children with special needs remain residents of their social welfare institutions with much less of an opportunity for rehabilitation, special care, or the chance to be adopted into a family of their own. Upon completion of the new Fuling Social Welfare Institution, all children with special medical needs residing in the 14 social welfare institutes in Chongqing municipality will be moved to live in the new Fuling Social Welfare Institute. The new Fuling SWI will be a facility for both healthy children and children with special medical needs.
The City of Fuling has donated over 16 acres of land upon which a 450,000 square foot facility is being constructed. Primary funding for the building has been donated by the Central Chinese government and the government of Chongqing. The new social welfare institute will include a rehabilitation and health care center for children, a preschool, and sleeping and play rooms for up to 800 children of all ages and abilities. Half of this 16 and 1/2-acre plot of land is to be devoted to parks and play places for the children.
La Vida also shared that one of the reasons they are involved in the project is the excellent care that children have received for years in the current First Fuling Social Welfare Institute under the direction of Director, Yang Peishu. Director Peishu is educated, experienced, innovative and very well respected in China. She has been voted "One of the ten most outstanding woman in China" due to her innovative care of children and advocacy for women’s rights. She has provided outstanding leadership to her staff, and has taken the level of care of children at the current facility to new heights. It is for this reason that she has been selected to spearhead this innovative, first of its kind project in China.
As a mommy of a waiting child, a preschool teacher and a huge proponant for early intervention, I was so excited to learn all of these things about the place Lillie will always know as her first home!
There is a video of the new SWI in process, a visit to the existing SWI and some info from the guy from La Vida. It was pretty interesting...if you want to check it out go to: http://www.lavida.org/fulingproject.mp4