A Chance In Life 2015-16 Annual Report

ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016

Boys' & Girls' Towns of Italy | Boys' & Girls' Towns of Ethiopia | Boys' & Girls' Towns of India

TABLE OF CONTENTS A Note from the Chairman and the President .................. Our Story ............................................................................ Self-Government ........................................................ Boys' and Girls' Towns of Italy ........................................... Boys' and Girls' Towns of Ethiopia ................................... Boys' and Girls' Towns of India ........................................ Our Impact ....................................................................... News and Media .............................................................. Financials .......................................................................... Supporting our Work ....................................................... Board and Team Members .............................................. 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 20 21

OUR MISSION

We give at-risk girls and boys a chance in life.

WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE

Our young people run their own Towns. Through self-government they are empowered to become self-confident, creative and responsible participants in their communities.

A NOTE FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND THE PRESIDENT

This is such an exciting time for our organization! Let’s review some highlights together …

Last year we concluded the celebration of an important milestone: 70 years of providing a chance in life in Italy to more than 31,500 young people from over 20 countries around the world.

We are also very proud that Boys’ and Girls’ Towns of Ethiopia, which was inaugurated in October 2015, is providing a chance in life to 400 very poor children in Ethiopia. They are receiving food, medical care and professional training. Most importantly, they are learning to become responsible citizens and contributing members of their community.

To reflect our new global reach, we assumed the name of A Chance In Life, an expression very dear to our founder. The names of our overseas programs will continue to be the same: Boys’ and Girls’ Towns of Italy and Boys’ and Girls’ Towns of Ethiopia. And our family of towns is growing. In October of 2016, we inaugurated Boys' and Girls' Towns of India and are supporting 900 children from tribal areas in ten Towns!

We launched a brand new website, achanceinlife.org and redesigned our logo. We are a 70-year-old start-up, constantly evolving to respond to the challenges of our times, and always anchored to the solid foundations of our past and to the core mission and vision of our founder.

These past months together have confirmed how dedicated and passionate you – our friends and benefactors – have been over the years. We are so grateful for your trust, loyalty and love for the children we serve.

We continue to count on your support to change – and in many cases save – the lives of many more boys and girls around the world.

Insieme, tutto è possibile! (Together, anything is possible!)

Grazie mille!

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Gabriele with Siravi, a young boy in A Chance In Life's program for children living with disabilities in Ethiopia. Gabriele Delmonaco Mauro Romita

OUR STORY

In 1945, the vast number of orphans and vulnerable children living on the streets of Italy captured the heart of the Irish priest Monsignor Carroll-Abbing and shaped the course of his life’s work.

Boys’ and Girls’ Towns of Italy was founded to provide, in Monsignor’s words, “a chance in life” to vulnerable and orphaned children. These desperately poor children lived on the streets free of any kind of supervision, and recoiled at adults telling them what to do. This independent nature inspired a visionary approach to youth development: give children the responsibility of running their own town.

Over the years Boys’ and Girls’ Towns of Italy shifted from being communities of Italian war orphans to being the home to thousands of young refugees and unaccompanied minors. These young people escaping civil unrest, poverty and persecution have come to the Towns in Rome from over 20 different countries.

In 2015 the Board decided to take our successful approach beyond the Towns in Italy. Boys’ and Girls’ Towns of Ethiopia is helping to support 400 children this year in one of the poorest countries in the world. Just a year after the inauguration of our Towns in Ethiopia, Boys’ and Girls’ Towns of India was established to support 900 children living in the tribal areas of Kerala, India.

In 2016, our organization assumed the new name of A Chance In Life to honor the vision of our founder and to reflect the growing international scope of our work.

Opposite: Our founder Monsignor Carroll-Abbing with the citizens of Boys' Town of Italy in 1983. Top: The proud mayor of Boys' and Girls' Towns of Italy giving a speech at the annual festa.

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Bottom: The smiling children of Emdibir, Ethiopia.

Self-government has been the source of success at our Towns for over 71 years. It is the essence of life in the Towns, providing the citizens, as the young people are called, with the skills, confidence and creativity to become active participants in their communities and the builders of their own lives.

Monsignor Carroll-Abbing’s approach to human development was this: if young people are supported to take responsibility for their lives and their communities, they will grow into caring, self-sufficient adults.

By meeting regularly, writing their own by-laws, electing their own leaders and deciding their own agendas, the young people develop self-esteem and mutual respect.

Throughout the years in their “town” they know that they are trusted, that their dignity is respected and that their capabilities are encouraged.

Top:

Bottom:

SELF-GOVERNMENT

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Opposite: The high school girls of our program in Ethiopia gathering in an assembly The citizens of Boys' and Girls' Towns of Italy voting in their bimonthly elections. Bethlehem, an 18-year-old girl in Ethiopia speaking about the impact of our program on her life.

BOYS' AND GIRLS' TOWNS OF ITALY

Tijan's mother paid smugglers to take her 8-year-old son from his home in Sierra Leone to Italy. She feared that he would be kidnapped and forced to become a child soldier. After a harrowing trip across the Mediterranean, Tijan arrived at Boys’ Town in Rome.

For over 70 years our Towns in Italy have given a chance in life to children like Tijan. After graduating from Boys' and Girls' Towns of Italy, Tijan opened up his own cafe with the skills he acquired from the vocational training.

Our Towns in Italy have earned international recognition as vibrant examples of the capacity of children to assume responsibility for themselves and for each other. The experience of being a citizen, store keeper, banker and of being elected by one’s peers as mayor or judge, has offered thousands of boys and girls a unique opportunity for personal growth and development.

Boys' and Girls' Towns of Italy includes two locations. Both La Città dei Ragazzi in Rome and La Repubblica dei Ragazzi in Civitavecchia were founded by Monsignor John Patrick Carroll-Abbing in the 1950s.

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Opposite: A proud young citizen of Boys' and Girls' Towns of Italy. Top: The youth of our Towns gathering to celebrate at the annual festa. Bottom: The citizens in Italy expressing their thanks to the American donors.

BOYS' AND GIRLS' TOWNS OF ETHIOPIA

Selam was an excellent student. Every day she woke before dawn to make the 15-mile journey to school. By the time she got home each night, it was dark. The journey to and from school became too difficult and dangerous and Selam dropped out.

Boys' and Girls' Towns of Ethiopia supports youth in one of the poorest countries in the world to stay in school and learn leadership skills. Our program gives 100 girls like Selam access to education by providing homes close to the local high school. Boys' and Girls' Towns of Ethiopia also supports 100 young people living with disabilities and 200 orphans and vulnerable children with school and medical supplies, clothing and business training.

At bimonthly meetings, each group comes together to share challenges and dreams, and to encourage one another to actively build a hopeful future.

Over the last few decades, many of the young people arriving to the Towns in Italy have come from Ethiopia. A Chance In Life inaugurated Boys’ and Girls’ Towns of Ethiopia in October of 2015 and is working with the young and dynamic Diocese of Emdibir to help girls and boys create lives of dignity within their own communities.

Opposite: A school boy at St. Markos' elementary school.

Top: Happy friends in Boys' and Girls' Towns of Ethiopia's program for orphaned and extremely poor children.

Bottom: These girls no longer have to walk 2 hours to school each day. Our program has provided homes close to local high schools for 100 girls this year.

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BOYS' AND GIRLS' TOWNS OF INDIA

Soniya is a 10-year-old girl who lost both of her parents to AIDS. She cannot afford to go to school because she must do odd jobs to earn money to eat.

This is the story of many children who grow up in the tribal areas of the state of Kerala, India. They live in extreme poverty and do not have basic necessities or access to education. Often they are taken to institutions for a better life. Soniya’s orphanage is now part of Boys’ and Girls’ Towns of India.

In June of 2016, A Chance In Life’s Board approved the expansion of our programs to India. Boys' and Girls' Towns of India supports 900 children – primarily girls – living in 10 different institutions. Through self-government young people will be encouraged to develop as leaders and empowered to become self-confident, creative and responsible participants in their communities.

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Opposite: Gabriele Delmonaco learns a game from the girls of Boys' and Girls' Towns of India. Top: Happy children in our program in Kerala, India. Bottom: The girls of St. Anne's home performing a welcome dance for the visiting staff of A Chance In Life.

A Chance In Life has impacted the lives of over 31,500 young people throughout the world.

Children from over 20 countries have come to our Towns in Italy escaping poverty, civil unrest and persecution.

400 children in one of the poorest countries in the world are being supported this year through Boys' and Girls' Towns of Ethiopia.

900 tribal children living in poverty in India are being given a chance in life this year.

OUR IMPACT 15 ANNUAL REPORT | A CHANCE IN LIFE

Board member Beth Woldesemayiat posing for a photo with the girls of Boys' and Girls' Towns of India on a feasibility study in May 2016.

NEWS AND MEDIA

Those who want to hear about the work of A Chance In Life need not wait for an annual report. A constant stream of news and stories from our towns and supporters is available at:

• achanceinlife.org

• Facebook.com/achanceinlife

• achanceinlife.blogspot.com

• Monthly E-Letters from our President

• Seasonal Newsletters

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Pictured is the bank at Boys' and Girls' Towns of Italy. The selfgoverned Town has its own currency called scudi.

STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES: YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2015 AND 2014

This year 6.9 percent of A Chance In Life's total revenue was used for general management and 10.2 percent was used for fundraising. Our complete financial statements with the report of our independent auditors Loeb and Troper, are available on request. Your contributions to A Chance In Life are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

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Temporarily Temporarily Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total Revenues $ 1,573,126 $ 137,969 $ 1,711,095 $ 599,692 $ 142,500 $ 742,192 1,105,713 1,105,7131,597,512 1,597,512 (430,972) (430,972) (435,268) (47,234) (435,268) (47,234) 31,105 31,105 (10,244) (10,244) Contributions Special events

Foreign exchange loss Net assets released from restrictions (Note 6) 90,469 (90,469) 617,500 (617,500) 2,286,80647,5002,334,3062,404,593 (475,000) 1,929,593 Total revenues Expenses (Exhibit C) 912,762 912,7622,060,939 2,060,939 Program services - youth development Supporting services 161,589 161,589310,893 310,893 Management and general Fund raising 239,561 239,561272,003 272,003 1,313,912 1,313,9122,643,835 2,643,835 972,89447,5001,020,394 (239,242)(475,000)(714,242) 1,326,983 - 1,326,9831,566,225475,0002,041,225 Total expenses Change in net assets (Exhibit

Net assets - beginning of year Net assets - end of year (Exhibit A)$ 2,299,877 $ 47,500 $ 2,347,377 $ 1,326,983 $ -$ 1,326,983 2015 2014

FINANCIALS

Direct costs of special events Investment income (loss) - net (Note 3)

D)

SUPPORTING OUR WORK

Your Gifts ...

• Provide the backbone of support for our programs in Italy, Ethiopia and India

• Provide funding for expansion of the approach developed by our founder, in order to impact the lives of hundreds more at-risk youth around the world

Whether your support takes the form of an outright gift or a planned gift, there are a number of flexible options for your charitable goals and financial circumstances. Gifts are tax deductible.

Online giving is a quick and easy way to make your contribution. You may make a gift online at www.achanceinlife.org.

Matching Gifts – Many employers match charitable gifts made by their employees. Donors can double their gift when matched by their employer’s gift program. Check with your human resources department to see if your company matches charitable gifts.

Gifts of appreciated stock often provide the donor with substantial tax savings. Please contact the Director of Development for instructions for the transfer of stock.

A Planned Gift helps ensure the future of our work through gifts of cash or securities. They include gifts stipulated in a will, or beneficiary designations of life insurance policies or other assets such

as IRAs. A planned gift allows you to arrange your assets to benefit you, your loved ones and A Chance In Life’s mission now and in the future.

The Sponsorship Program is our monthly giving program. Donors sponsor a child with an ongoing monthly commitment of $30 per month. You are connected with a child from one of our Towns in Ethiopia or India.

The President’s Circle – with a gift of $5,000 you become a member of the President’s Circle. Members are invited to receptions with the Board and the President of A Chance In Life and receive special acknowledgment throughout the year.

An Honor or Memorial Gift can mark a special occasion or be given to remember or honor a beloved family member or friend. We will send your honoree or their family a letter acknowledging your generosity.

For more information please contact:

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Lauren

and Communications lauren.ross@achanceinlife.org (212) 980-8770

Ross Director of Development