Two years ago, on July 2nd, 2009, Show Hope™, the orphan care ministry founded by Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman, announced the official opening of Maria’s Big House of Hope, their flagship special care center located in Luoyang, China. Because of the generosity of tens of thousands of donors and monthly supporters, the staff and volunteers have been able to care for more than 500 children through these centers over the past two years, providing love, hope, and medical care.
About Maria’s Big House of Hope
This medical care center, named in loving memory of the Chapmans’ five-year old daughter, Maria Sue, provides the highest level of care for orphans with special needs, from newborn to age five. This quality care makes it possible for these children to thrive and increases the likelihood that they will someday be adopted. At 60,000 square feet and six stories tall, this medical care center is well-equipped to provide the daily care, medical attention, and surgeries these children desperately need.
When Maria’s Big House of Hope opened in the summer of 2009, there were 45 children receiving care, three nurses and 70 people on staff. Currently, 139 children are being served, and the facility employs a total of 249 staff members. This number includes eight on the management team, six medical staff, 192 nannies and caregivers, 19 cooks, and 21 housekeepers. Each staff member helps to make a difference in the lives of these children, and the local community of Luoyang benefits from these opportunities for employment.
During the course of two years, Maria’s Big House has also established a pre-k/kindergarten classroom for the older children and a playground for all of the children to enjoy. The playground was funded by a private foundation that partners with organizations like Show Hope to create play spaces for children.
In addition, many of the orphans cared for at Maria’s Big House have been placed into forever families. To date, 14 children have been adopted, and more than 25 have been matched and are awaiting travel to their new home.
In June of last year, the facility welcomed its first medical team who performed eleven cleft palate surgeries. The group, based out of Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania, traveled to Maria’s Big House to voluntarily perform its first-ever in-house surgeries for some of the neediest orphans. Since then, four more teams, two from Geisinger, have traveled to Maria’s Big House to volunteer their time and medical expertise, completing several more cleft palate surgeries, as well as neurosurgical, dental, orthopedic surgeries.
Maria’s Big House of Hope is located in the Henan province, one of the country’s poorest provinces. In this province of six million people, Maria’s Big House of Hope is a beacon of hope, not only for the orphans of China but for the world.
Along with Maria’s Big House of Hope, Show Hope also provides for orphans with special needs in China through two other Special Care Centers located in Zhengzhou and Jiaozuo, both also in the Henan province. These two centers currently can care for 80 children at a time, and have already served 180 children since opening. These Special Care Centers operate inside the state-run orphanages with the same quality care being provided at Maria’s Big House of Hope.
For further information about Show Hope and Maria’s Big House of Hope, to read testimonies, watch videos of the children and to find out how you can help, please visit www.ShowHope.org.
About Show Hope:
A ministry founded by Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman, Show Hope awards financial grants to adoptive families and cares for orphans with special needs in China. Show Hope has given more than 2,700 financial grants, helping provide families for children from 47 different countries, including the U.S. In addition to financial grants, Show Hope cares for orphans with special needs at Maria’s Big House of Hope and other special care centers in China. Show Hope, an internationally recognized voice for the orphan, also provides resources for families, churches, and communities to assist them in advocating and caring for the millions of orphans around the world.
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