OMID FOUNDATION USA

The young women who come to us have typically been put into care from an early age, run away from abusive homes, and all live in extreme poverty. They often suffer from severe mental health and emotional difficulties, mostly stemming from their experiences of neglect, of physical and sexual abuse, and of exposure to drugs and violence. The Omid Foundation works in a society where there is widespread societal acceptance of violence against women in Iran. The legal system gives very few rights to women, most of which are only selectively enforced, leaving women with little protection. The Iranian authorities themselves estimate that there are in excess of 500,000 marginalized young women in Iran who are the victims of abuse, violence and neglect. That makes the work we do, that much more urgent. We help those women who are victims of abuse. Our success rate is exceptionally high with over 85% of the young women who enter our program regaining their emotional stability and re-integrating into society. They reintegrate by working in a prominent company in the business community; starting their own business; or by enrolling in a university program. Over 50% of graduates maintain a close contact with the Omid Foundation because in many cases we became the family they never had. We firmly believe that no one understands the suffering of marginalized young women better, than a young woman who has experienced it herself. This is the main reason why one of our main objectives is gradually to transfer major parts of the management of our organization to our own graduates. 12% of our current staff are already our own graduates and we are planning to increase this to 25% in 2017 and 40% in 2020.