Giving Back: Why Wellman Shew Is A Dedicated Supporter Of Compassion International
Wellman Shew believes in supporting those in need and is proud to support Compassion International. The worldwide charity works to help children in poverty get the spiritual, physical, economic, and social care that they need to help them reach their full potential.
Compassion International’s Current Work
The organization works with churches to help children in communities in need. Compassion International takes a holistic approach, addressing all facets of a child’s well-being to help them grow and develop in a healthy way. Sometimes, a child’s involvement with CI begins before they’re even born and follows them into young adulthood.
CI believes in providing for the needs of each child as an individual rather than taking a wide-sweeping approach. This individualized attention means that CI is able to change their approach as each child’s needs change, helping them grow and change over the full course of their development into an adult. Compassion International offers several initiatives designed to support children, including critical needs care, child sponsorship, youth development, and compassion survival.
Critical Needs
The critical needs initiative at CI works to solve immediate issues for children in crisis, according to Wellman Shew. The critical needs initiative addresses many issues faced by children in poverty, including help with pressing medical issues, access to clean drinking water, prenatal and postnatal care, customized career training, care for children living with HIV and/or AIDS, relief during natural disasters, education and parenting classes, and more.
Child Sponsorship
Most of Compassion International’s aid is driven through child sponsorship. When a donor chooses to sponsor a child, the child receives Christian training, health care, nutritional supplements, recreational activities, and more. Sponsors have the opportunity to connect with their sponsored children through letter writing.
Youth Development
Compassion International provides children ages 12 and older with vocational training that allows them to thrive in their chosen career paths. Students receive both formal and non-formal education, as well as income generation training to help them learn how to effectively manage their earnings during their careers, according to Wellman Shew.
Compassion Survival
Often, infants born into poverty do not make it through the first year of life. Compassion International works to support both babies and mothers in the early stages of the child’s life. Pregnant mothers receive nutritional support and medical care to help increase the likelihood that their babies will be born full-term and at a healthy weight. Survival centers work to offer mothers a safe place where they can rest and grow while also providing children with the support they need for healthy development. Moms receiving care through the compassion survival initiative are visited in their homes once each month by a specialist who provides Biblical mentoring, prenatal education, and parenting education.