Bolshaya Peremena

Upon entering a Russian orphanage, many young people lag behind their peers by 2-3 years in terms of their level of maturity and intellectual abilities. This gap grows much wider during their time in the orphanage so, when they’re emancipated at age 18, they lag behind their peers by 6-7 years. As a result, 70% of children living in the orphanages are misdiagnosed as mentally challenged and placed in specialized care. Bolshaya Peremena works with orphans and orphanage graduates in the greater Moscow area to determine a path, complete their education, choose a profession and gain the confidence and skills required for independence.

EMpower’s second grant is helping Big Change address two main challenges it has identified, that impede its ability to expand or to have the desired uptake through replication: dropout rates and cost.

Russia
Contact: Irina Razanova
Contact Email: info@bigchange.ru
Website: http://www.bigchange.ru
Year Established: 2002