A world in which every child has a safe, nurturing place to call home, and a chance to achieve their potential through education.
World’s Children is a hands-on, grassroots charity. We have helped orphans and vulnerable children since 1965. We are not a large, corporate-style organization removed from the children we support.
As you go through our website and learn more about us, you may ask why are these children smiling? Because of the kindness and generosity of folks like you.
Children are often helpless victims of poverty and disaster and yet they will be the ones to shape the future.
Our mission is to provide support and education for orphans and vulnerable children in the poorest countries around the world.
World’s Children was founded by the late Rev. Edwin and Mable Purviance in 1965. They wanted to create a living memorial for an infant they lost at childbirth.
Realizing the grief they felt was akin to the grief and helplessness felt by children who lose their parents, the Purviances started World’s Children to support orphaned children in developing countries.
Using their own savings, they traveled to Central America and Asia seeking orphanages that provided loving care but struggled to meet expenses and began making appeals for support in the US.
In 2009, the board of directors of World’s Children asked David Purviance, son of the founders, to become executive director. He and his wife Jean had been living in Puttaparthi, India where they were residents for five years. They were already involved in service work in India.
While David was living in India, he helped a school serving blind children in Hyderabad get the special educational equipment it needed. He also worked with destitute street children. When the tsunami struck India in 2004, David went to the coast of the Bay of Bengal to help. He raised funds for traumatized children and pregnant mothers so they could overcome their unthinkable loss. He also provided water wells and toilets to villages, schools and orphanages in India.
In 2009, David and Jean moved back to the US to run World’s Children.
World’s Children is a small organization that has a personal relationship with its donors, sponsors, and the children we support. Though most have never met each other, there is a family feeling about our charity.
You will not receive junk mail from us. When you call our office, you won’t be lost in a maze of phone options. You will speak directly to a dedicated staff member. And we will tell you exactly how your donation is used.
World’s Children adheres to strict standards of accountability and transparency at home and abroad.
World’s Children yearly average for Program Services is 90% with 10% used for Operations and Development. Our financial statements are reviewed by a certified public accountant (CPA).
To get an overview of the yearly activity and accomplishments of World’s Children, check out our latest annual report. It’s full of photos as well as important statistics.
World’s Children has received the highest ratings from Guidestar, Charity Navigator, and Better Business Bureau.
WORLD’S CHILDREN IS A 501(C)3 NONPROFIT REGISTERED IN THE US UNDER EIN 20-5276353. ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
World’s Children is administered by David Purviance. Prior to assuming responsibility for World’s Children, David lived in India for five years where he assisted with tsunami relief efforts, provided water wells and toilets to villages, schools and orphanages. He also worked with destitute street children. Before he moved to India, David was public relations director at the University of Montana for 16 years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism. David is the son of the founders.
My name is Stephanie and I am married to my amazing husband Luke and we have two kids Sydney and Jack. I graduated from George Fox University with a degree in Social Work and have had a mix of social work and business jobs since graduating. I lived overseas in Kandern, Germany for 6 years and came back to plant some roots in Oregon. I am passionate about serving with World’s Children because of the work we do for children in need of basic necessities, education and love. My hobbies include hiking and biking with my family, doing anything outside on a sunny day, reading books about social justice issues around the world and enjoying a freshly brewed cup of coffee at Sisters Coffee Company.
Jean has been a business owner, sales director, and financial manager for small businesses since 1974. After raising six children, Jean worked in group homes in the US. She and her husband, David, became foster parents and adopted a troubled and unwanted teenager from a group home in Montana.
She lived in India for six years where she witnessed children living in poverty on the streets and has visited orphanages and one college supported by World’s Children. In addition to being the secretary of the Board of Directors, she has served as the assistant director and financial manager of World’s Children since 2009. Jean has a bachelor’s degree in Ethnomusicology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Ever since high school Rachel has had an interest in international service. When she was a junior, she began sponsoring a child and took her first international service trip to Costa Rica. In college, she majored in International Studies and spent a semester studying abroad in Bolivia. Throughout college, she traveled internationally to 15 countries where she taught life skills, matched student needs with community resources, and worked with at-risk kids.
Since then, Rachel graduated with her Master’s degree, served as a Hospital Chaplain, and worked as a Certified Life & Health Coach. Rachel feels called to use her passion for writing and international service to put an end to child sex trafficking and poverty. It is a privilege to further the vision of World’s Children to create a world in which every child has a safe, nurturing place to call home and the chance to achieve their potential through education. In Rachel’s free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, hiking, paddle boarding, kayaking, and spending quality time with her family.
I’m Tess Anderson and I’m a true Oregonian. I relocated to Sisters from Portland, Oregon with my family in 2020. Prior to moving, I’ve held numerous positions in commercial and vacation property management. I love working for World’s Children because it makes me feel like what I do makes the world just a tiny bit better.
My family and I love everything outdoors. When we aren’t hiking, skiing, or swimming, we enjoy baking, arts and crafts, and spending time with our furry family members.
The International Rotary Club in May of 2017 gave Shobha Rani, orphanage administrator and World’s Children Country Director, THE ONE 2017 International Humanitarian Award “for compassion and selflessness” for her work taking in unwanted street children in India.
Shobha is well qualified by education, experience and heart for this responsibility. She has a master’s degree in Social Work. She worked as the program director of an Indian charity called Technology for the People where she managed five education centers in Hyderabad that taught computer animation to teenage girls from poor families who were at risk of child marriage. After completing the TFTP program, they were employed by IT companies at salaries that improved their families’ living situations removing the incentive for child marriage.
Shobha and her husband began taking abandoned street children into their own home, which eventually grew into the Balavikasita Sadan orphanage, which now cares for more than 70 children. As the WC India Country Director Shobha visits the orphanages supported by World’s Children, oversees the progress of funded projects, and is a member of our scholarship committee that provides over 200 college scholarships to impoverished students in India each year.
The real heart of World’s Children is the many women and men who have given their lives to care for children who may never have known a kind person before. Their love and compassion heals the emotional wounds and provides the security the children so desperately need. You can see the miracles they accomplish in the faces of the children. The International Rotary Club in May of 2017 gave Shobha Rani, orphanage administrator and World’s Children Country Director, THE ONE 2017 International Humanitarian Award “for compassion and selflessness” for her work taking in unwanted street children in India.
Grenda is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist with private practices in California and Oregon. Prior to supporting individuals, couples and families in healing trauma and improving relationships, she worked as a C-Suite executive in non-profit management, health care and higher education. She has served on several non-profit boards and presently resides in Southern California.
Grenda’s passion for World’s Children’s mission began in 2010, when she learned of a group of more than forty children being served by World’s Children in need of a permanent home. Grenda raised monies to assist World’s Children in building a residence for the children of Balavikasitha Orphanage in Hyderabad, India, and began sponsoring children there. She traveled to India twice in service to fulfilling this mission, and to visit numerous orphanages being supported by World’s Children. She remains dedicated to World’s Children’s mission of serving the neediest of children on our planet.
Grenda holds a Masters in Business Administration from Texas Christian University, a Masters in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica and a Masters in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University, Los Angeles.
Jean has been a business owner, sales director, and financial manager for small businesses since 1974. After raising six children, Jean worked in group homes in the US. She and her husband, David, became foster parents and adopted a troubled and unwanted teenager from a group home in Montana.
She lived in India for six years where she witnessed children living in poverty on the streets and has visited orphanages and one college supported by World’s Children. In addition to being the secretary of the Board of Directors, she has served as the assistant director and financial manager of World’s Children since 2009. Jean has a bachelor’s degree in Ethnomusicology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Bruce did his undergraduate work at Stanford University and went on to become an entrepreneur, building small publishing and manufacturing companies into successful businesses. Now retired in northern California, he and his wife enjoy their children and grandchildren, local community life and the great outdoors. Having seen the plight and the promise of the street kids in India, he is especially glad to be able to help sustain and grow World’s Children.
Cassady worked at World’s Children from 2010-2017, passing the torch as Operations Director when WC relocated to Sisters. She is currently the Finance Director at Post Carbon Institute, a sustainability think tank in Corvallis, Oregon. During her time at World’s Children, Cassady worked tirelessly to build up the Scholarship Program, and spent several weeks in India in 2012 conducting health audits at many of the sponsored children’s homes. She is the primary author of The Healthy Child Handbook, which has served her well since her twins came along in 2014.
Roslyn graduated with a B.A. in Education from the University of Michigan and is now a retired teacher. She has had a lifelong interest in psychology and spirituality, and has written three books in that field.
While doing research for a book in India she was charmed by its children and wanted to give them her support. She is currently a part-time editor, a student of yoga, a literacy advocate and mentor, and she happily serves on the board of World’s Children.
Laasya is a sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin pursuing a BSA in neuroscience and minor in Computational Science on the pre-medical track. Her journey with World’s Children started in the summer of 2018 where she was inspired to take action after visiting two of World’s Children’s homes on a vacation to visit family in India. Since then, she has helped popularize World’s Children’s child sponsorship program and aims to increase the awareness regarding child poverty in the local communities. She also started her own nonprofit to serve children in need and uses her training in Bharatanatyam (an Indian Classical dance) to help teach girls in one of World’s Children’s homes for girls with HIV. In the future, Laasya hopes to use her medical license as a traveling physician to help those across the world have access to affordable healthcare.
Trista Slowik is a perinatal nurse with over 13 years of experience caring for mothers and babies. She has a BS in Nursing and an MS in Nursing Leadership. She is also a biomedical ethics consultant, previously for Kaiser Permanente NW Region, and loves how this type of work challenges her understanding of humanity.
Trista regularly volunteers at a birth center in Cap Haitien, Haiti. Her experiences there have inspired her to continue to find ways to empower women and children around the globe. She also enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, a glass of vintage champagne, and practicing yoga. She lives on the Gulf Coast in sunny Florida.
World’s Children mails out old-fashioned paper newsletters to sponsors and donors every couple of months or so. If you’ve been missing out, you can get up to date or read some history. Since we are usually mailing photos, progress reports, letters and drawings to sponsors, we add all
A Successful Journey Out of Poverty Have you ever wondered how kids who grow up in an orphanage eventually find a husband or wife, get a job and then start a family? The journey from being an orphaned child to becoming a self-sufficient young adult requires a lot
