Last week, what seemed like a routine visit to a family revealed a situation that required an urgent response. Thanks to the long-standing cooperation between Foundation Second and the Family and Child Support Service of the Public Institution Home for Children without Parental Care Sarajevo, as well as the support of our donors, assistance was provided that very same day.
This is a family into which three children who had previously been placed in the Home were reintegrated. A donor of Foundation Second had previously provided a new stroller for their one-year-old child. When the stroller broke shortly afterwards, staff members of the Service visited the family to collect it so that it could be replaced.
However, during the visit, they discovered a much more serious problem. There was no food in the family's refrigerator, and the last meal they had eaten that morning was pasta cooked simply in water.
The situation was made even more difficult by the fact that the mother is pregnant with their fourth child, while the father had been taken to the emergency department the previous day because of a kidney stone and was temporarily unable to work. The family needed support to bridge the period until his recovery, return to work and first salary.
The Family and Child Support Service immediately contacted Foundation Second, and we were able to respond without delay. Essential groceries were purchased and the family's refrigerator was filled with food.
Such a rapid response would not have been possible without the people who continuously follow and support the work of Foundation Second. The donations we receive allow us, in situations like this, not to wait for a problem to become even more serious, but to provide essential assistance when it is needed most.
Cooperation that ensures help reaches those who truly need it
Foundation Second has been cooperating with the Family and Child Support Service of the Public Institution Home for Children without Parental Care Sarajevo for several years. Through this cooperation, we have come to know many families facing difficult circumstances following the return of their children from institutional care or while working to prevent their children from being separated from the family.
The Service's professionals know these families, visit them regularly, monitor their needs and work directly with them. When they identify a specific need in the field that requires additional material support, they contact Foundation Second.
Our experience working together has built mutual trust that is particularly important in urgent situations. The Service knows that, within our means, we will try to respond quickly, while we know that each request comes from a professional team that knows the family and understands its actual needs.
This model of cooperation enables assistance to be directed to where it is genuinely needed, without unnecessarily exposing people who are already facing difficult circumstances.
Providing support while protecting families' privacy
Foundation Second places particular importance on protecting the identity and dignity of the families we support.
For this reason, in stories like this one, we do not publish their names, addresses, children's faces or any other information that could be used to identify the family. Financial hardship should never mean losing the right to privacy, especially when children are involved.
Our donors will therefore often not know the name of the family their donation has helped, nor will they see photographs of the children. But thanks to our cooperation with professional services, they can be confident that their support reaches families whose needs have been identified and assessed directly in the field.
In this case, a visit prompted by a broken child's stroller revealed an empty refrigerator. Just a few hours later, thanks to the Service's swift communication, the Foundation's response and the support of our donors, there was food in that refrigerator again.
Our work, however, does not end with a single grocery purchase. The goal is to help the family overcome this temporary crisis until the father is able to return to work and the family can once again meet its basic needs independently.
It is particularly important that the three children who returned from the Home have the conditions they need to remain with their family. Timely assistance with food, hygiene products, school supplies, medical expenses or other basic needs can sometimes be an important part of supporting a family at the moment when they need it most.
We are grateful to the Family and Child Support Service of the Public Institution Home for Children without Parental Care Sarajevo for their trust and their continuous work with families, and to our donors for enabling us to respond quickly when calls like this come.
Behind the full refrigerator last week were not only Foundation Second and a single grocery purchase. Behind it were all the people who follow our work, believe in what we do and, through their donations, enable help to reach families when they need it most.
Support our work
📞 By calling 17077, you donate 2 BAM to support families at risk.
💳 Donations from Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Foundation Second
Nurije Pozderca 8
1413115320025053
🌍 International donations:
IBAN: BA391413115310005729
SWIFT: BBIBBA22XXX
Bosna Bank International DD Sarajevo
Foundation Second, Sarajevo - Nurije Pozderca 8, Bosnia and Herzegovina
💙 PayPal:
To support this family specifically, please include the following payment reference: MOBILE TEAM – FAMILY 12.
Thank you for helping us be there for families when they need support the most.