St Nicolas closes but its spirit lives on
Opened in 1997, St Nicolas Home was FARA’s first residential care facility and official programme. Alongside its sister home, St Gabriels (1999 – 2019), St Nicolas marked the beginning of FARA as we know it today. It closed its doors at the end of 2024 after 27 years of activity. The added value of this programme was the ethos of love and support for all the children who lived there and an inspirational model of care stronger than ever in the life-changing programmes we continue to run.
Between FARA’s founding in 1991 and the opening of St Nicolas, the charity worked with Romania’s notorious state-run institutions. The creation of St Nicolas and, subsequently, St Gabriels allowed FARA to help more children than ever before by providing an independent, nurturing, loving home that was desperately needed by its beneficiaries.
St Gabriels had 36 beneficiaries before it closed and, over its lifetime, St Nicolas has been home to 42 children at different times. The homes offered a true family environment where children were loved, cared for, educated, supported and encouraged to succeed in life. The children who lived at St Nicolas came from diverse and often traumatic backgrounds, including those abandoned, without families, and others removed from their parents’ care. As a result of investments in this programme and professional interventions, many children were reunified with their families, making room to support others in need.
The home witnessed countless success stories. Many beneficiaries grew out of full-time care and went on to pursue higher education, enter the workforce, and live happy, independent lives. Plenty now have families of their own and keep in touch with the Fundatia FARA staff who helped raise them.
St Nicolas as seen from the road.
“For the young adults who have left the programme, it’s like coming home to their families, they come and see us and visit us. I would share a wonderful success story of a child at St Gabriels who was reunited with his mother 20 years ago when he was about 12. I feel his gratitude and respect when he calls me to share his achievements, happiness and feelings about his experience in our care or ask for advice as we’re still in contact at least once a month. And this is common because they feel that [FARA] family is where they found love and support and they knew that people cared about them.”
- Regina Bulai, Associate Director of Fundatia FARA
The goal of St Nicolas was always first and foremost to provide care, love and a family to those without. The FARA team who ran the home treated the children as their own each day, not as a technical job, thus showing their extraordinary dedication.
Since St Nicolas and St Gabriels opened, Romanian society has changed significantly. The development of foster care services has reduced the need for residential homes for children and switched the focus to community work. FARA’s programmes now focus on specialised therapies and social assistance to help vulnerable children, young people, people with disabilities and families thrive, providing educational opportunities, and family-based support. You can read more about the programmes offered by Fundatia FARA on our website.
The back of St Nicolas home and its garden.
We want to thank our incredible Romanian staff, many of whom have worked at St Nicolas’ for decades, for their tireless devotion and commitment to the children in their care. We would also like to thank each of our supporters who helped us to provide such a positive and stable home environment for so many years.
Though St Nicolas and St Gabriels have now closed, their legacy lives on in the lives they touched and the hope they brought to so many. They provided a family for those without, and the love generated through this programme continues to resonate and extend into the wider community, enriching many lives.