September 2019 Featured Interview
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Interview with
Caroline Beaudreax
Founder of the Miracle Foundation
About Caroline:
Caroline Boudreaux is a social entrepreneur and the founder of Miracle Foundation, an international nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that all children are in safe and loving families. Currently, the nonprofit is changing the lives of children across India.
On Mother’s Day in May 2000, Caroline’s life changed forever when she visited India for the first time and met a group of more than 100 orphaned children. Since that day, she has committed her life to helping orphaned children realize their potential.
Caroline’s work with Miracle Foundation has become her life’s work. For 19 years, she has tackled foreign barriers, recruited a world-class board and staff, and enlisted the help of hundreds of business people, doctors, donors and volunteers to fix a broken system.
Caroline says, “Ask any child. They will tell you that their biggest dream is to be part of a loving family - it’s where they thrive.”
About Miracle Foundation:
Miracle Foundation is an Austin, TX-based international nonprofit that brings life-changing care to orphaned and vulnerable children. A primary goal is to find a loving family and to end institutionalized care for every child.
Miracle Foundation leverages the business practices of the for-profit world to ensure children thrive. The foundation has created a measurable, repeatable and systematic method to ensure that kids are loved, educated, healthy, and in a safe home. Miracle Foundation collaborates with governments, UNICEF and other nonprofits in order to transform systems and give children a voice.
“Miracle Foundation stands for vulnerable children everywhere,” says Caroline Boudreaux, founder.
Caroline Boudreaux is a social entrepreneur and the founder of Miracle Foundation, an international nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that all children are in safe and loving families. Currently, the nonprofit is changing the lives of children across India.
On Mother’s Day in May 2000, Caroline’s life changed forever when she visited India for the first time and met a group of more than 100 orphaned children. Since that day, she has committed her life to helping orphaned children realize their potential.
Caroline’s work with Miracle Foundation has become her life’s work. For 19 years, she has tackled foreign barriers, recruited a world-class board and staff, and enlisted the help of hundreds of business people, doctors, donors and volunteers to fix a broken system.
Caroline says, “Ask any child. They will tell you that their biggest dream is to be part of a loving family - it’s where they thrive.”
About Miracle Foundation:
Miracle Foundation is an Austin, TX-based international nonprofit that brings life-changing care to orphaned and vulnerable children. A primary goal is to find a loving family and to end institutionalized care for every child.
Miracle Foundation leverages the business practices of the for-profit world to ensure children thrive. The foundation has created a measurable, repeatable and systematic method to ensure that kids are loved, educated, healthy, and in a safe home. Miracle Foundation collaborates with governments, UNICEF and other nonprofits in order to transform systems and give children a voice.
“Miracle Foundation stands for vulnerable children everywhere,” says Caroline Boudreaux, founder.
Myrna Beth Haskell, managing editor, spoke with Caroline about the inspiration behind founding Miracle Foundation, its growth and its many programs helping children throughout the globe.
Before you founded Miracle Foundation, you were working in the corporate world and doing well financially. You’ve shared that you didn’t feel fulfilled. Can you elaborate?
I was in a corporate executive position making a lot of money…but money can’t buy you fulfillment or satisfaction. I thought, ‘What am I doing?’ I quit my job, and decided to take a trip around the world with my friend. It wasn’t really a soul searching trip, so to speak. It was something to look forward to…to have a blast and experience new things. I knew I could find another job in my field if needed.
We were several months into the trip when we arrived in India. My friend wanted to meet this boy she had been sponsoring there.
You landed in India in May 2000 and what you saw and experienced there was the inspiration behind founding Miracle Foundation. Could you tell me about the conditions of the orphanage you visited?
Before you founded Miracle Foundation, you were working in the corporate world and doing well financially. You’ve shared that you didn’t feel fulfilled. Can you elaborate?
I was in a corporate executive position making a lot of money…but money can’t buy you fulfillment or satisfaction. I thought, ‘What am I doing?’ I quit my job, and decided to take a trip around the world with my friend. It wasn’t really a soul searching trip, so to speak. It was something to look forward to…to have a blast and experience new things. I knew I could find another job in my field if needed.
We were several months into the trip when we arrived in India. My friend wanted to meet this boy she had been sponsoring there.
You landed in India in May 2000 and what you saw and experienced there was the inspiration behind founding Miracle Foundation. Could you tell me about the conditions of the orphanage you visited?
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I have to admit. I was merciless. I was terrible to my friend…teasing her about it. I didn’t believe this child she had been corresponding with was ‘real.’ I thought it was just a scam to get someone invested in sending money. But he was real, and this village he was living in had these little mud huts, no running water and very little electricity. It was the bottom of the pyramid. We decided to make a playground with tires for the kids to jump through and rope swings in order to bring them some joy.
There was this guy in the village – the only one who spoke English. He asked us to come to his home for dinner. We traveled by car on an unpaved road with no air conditioning. The dust was flying into the car. I just remember how hot it was…everything was hot…the spicy, hot food, the hot climate. We were a mess and simply wiped out when we got there. His home held a make-shift orphanage. I thought I had been looking at the bottom of the pyramid, but it wasn’t the bottom at all. The conditions were really bad. The kids were dirty. There was an obvious lack of individual attention. There was this sense of hopelessness and emptiness – a failure to thrive. These kids just had a look that said ‘No one is going to pick me’ – there was a sense that they had just given up. They were all so desperate for affection and were literally clinging to us. |
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Caroline with Children in Delhi, India
Photos Courtesy of Miracle Foundation |
My God, it was Mother’s Day, and I’m looking around…what I saw was just unacceptable. I’m not faulting this man. He was doing the best he could. But there was just not enough money, enough supplies or enough hands. This man was a saint, really. He took in 110 kids because they had nowhere to go. The year before there had been a cyclone.* Many of the adults died, but the children survived.
I held this one little girl in my arms. And when I went to put her to bed, I saw that the beds were just a bunch of wooden slats. I knew the minute I put her down and heard her bones hit the bed that I had to do something. When we got back to the hotel, I couldn’t stop crying. I was just haunted. There was an internet café, and I started to write down what it sounded like, felt like. I didn’t know what to do…I just had to do something. *The 1999 Odisha cyclone was the most intense recorded tropical cyclone in the North Indian Ocean and among the most destructive in the region, killing over 15,000 people. |
Starting a nonprofit is a huge undertaking. What happened next?
I couldn’t let go of this need to do something, so I started to do research. I really had nothing else to go on initially. I understood, though, that if I wanted this to end, I had to find these children a home (if not with a parent, then a relative or a neighbor). These kids needed to thrive as opposed to just existing, and this wouldn’t happen if they remained in orphanages. So I just took it one day at a time. I called someone who was a big nonprofit leader for advice early on. A business plan was adopted. What I was learning along the way is that people really want to effect change.
On November 9, 2000, we completed our Articles of Incorporation.
I couldn’t let go of this need to do something, so I started to do research. I really had nothing else to go on initially. I understood, though, that if I wanted this to end, I had to find these children a home (if not with a parent, then a relative or a neighbor). These kids needed to thrive as opposed to just existing, and this wouldn’t happen if they remained in orphanages. So I just took it one day at a time. I called someone who was a big nonprofit leader for advice early on. A business plan was adopted. What I was learning along the way is that people really want to effect change.
On November 9, 2000, we completed our Articles of Incorporation.
What were your specific goals?
We use the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child* which spells out the 12 rights of a child. It declares that a child (any person under the age of 18) is a human being with civil, economic, social, health and cultural rights. If possible, they have a right to live with parents or a relative in a loving environment. They have the right to health care and nutrition and education. Our thrive scale measures the United Nations Rights of a Child.
You have to have specific goals and ways of measuring those goals to know if you’re making a difference. So we created benchmarks (we plot growth and weight charts…we test hemoglobin levels) and a detailed implementation plan with the intention of making sure these children are afforded 100% of their rights. We are in constant communication with the kids and the staff. We want to be sure everyone is working toward making decisions that are in the best interests of every child.
*“The Convention says childhood is separate from adulthood and lasts until age 18; it is a special, protected time in which children must be allowed to grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity. The Convention went on to become the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history and has helped transform children’s lives.” (unicef.org)
We use the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child* which spells out the 12 rights of a child. It declares that a child (any person under the age of 18) is a human being with civil, economic, social, health and cultural rights. If possible, they have a right to live with parents or a relative in a loving environment. They have the right to health care and nutrition and education. Our thrive scale measures the United Nations Rights of a Child.
You have to have specific goals and ways of measuring those goals to know if you’re making a difference. So we created benchmarks (we plot growth and weight charts…we test hemoglobin levels) and a detailed implementation plan with the intention of making sure these children are afforded 100% of their rights. We are in constant communication with the kids and the staff. We want to be sure everyone is working toward making decisions that are in the best interests of every child.
*“The Convention says childhood is separate from adulthood and lasts until age 18; it is a special, protected time in which children must be allowed to grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity. The Convention went on to become the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history and has helped transform children’s lives.” (unicef.org)
How do you know that the staff on the ground at these remote locations are serving the children as planned?
We have such capable team members on the ground. The vetting process is rigorous. Our senior staff members in India have a master’s degree in social work and a lot of experience working with children. Everyone goes through a training process. Regular communication is also key.
One of the resources you provide is a Child First Digital Toolkit. What is this?
It’s an online resource for people who are caring for vulnerable children.
"The videos and resources available here will give you the information and tools needed to provide the best possible care for children. On many pages of the Child First Digital Toolkit, you will have access to materials you can download to inspire you to take action!" (miraclefoundation.org)
We have such capable team members on the ground. The vetting process is rigorous. Our senior staff members in India have a master’s degree in social work and a lot of experience working with children. Everyone goes through a training process. Regular communication is also key.
One of the resources you provide is a Child First Digital Toolkit. What is this?
It’s an online resource for people who are caring for vulnerable children.
"The videos and resources available here will give you the information and tools needed to provide the best possible care for children. On many pages of the Child First Digital Toolkit, you will have access to materials you can download to inspire you to take action!" (miraclefoundation.org)
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Is there anything else the organization is doing to try to reduce the numbers of kids in orphanages?
In a lot of cases, these children aren’t technically orphans. Many do have a parent who is alive, but these parents are in such desperate situations that they cannot care for their children. So prevention is something we address. We offer alternatives for those who have experienced the breakdown of the fabric of the family due to extreme poverty. Funds are used to provide resources for the families to help them keep their kids. We work with the local governments and other partners, such as UNICEF, to provide options for these children and their families. We also share best practices with other nonprofits that work for children. The best place for these kids is in a loving home. An institution can’t provide that kind of love. You know, this all circles back to the child and his or her basic human rights. Simply ask a child, ‘Where do you want to go?’ A child as young as six knows where there might be someone who can help. The child’s input should be an integral part of the decision-making process that affects his or her future. |
Photos Courtesy of Miracle Foundation
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The Miracle Foundation is focused on providing a stable, loving and nurturing environment for these children. Unfortunately, the big picture tells us that no one has their child care figured out. It’s broken all over the world. In the U.S., children in foster care will bounce to six homes or more while in the system.
The ultimate goal is to solve this in our lifetime.
The ultimate goal is to solve this in our lifetime.
And now you consider yourself fulfilled?
Now...I have everything money can’t buy. I’m making a difference. I have the joy of serving others.
Where do you find sanctuary? (#WheresYourSanctuary)
I find sanctuary in our connectedness as human beings…in knowing that we’re all one and that we’re in this together.
Now...I have everything money can’t buy. I’m making a difference. I have the joy of serving others.
Where do you find sanctuary? (#WheresYourSanctuary)
I find sanctuary in our connectedness as human beings…in knowing that we’re all one and that we’re in this together.
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