The Simply Smiles Children’s Village has a capacity of 16 children. There is a tremendous need for our services. So why wasn’t the village built to serve more children?

It’s a question we get often. And trust me, the children we aren’t able to have live with us, live in our minds and hearts every day.

*Gaby and me on a hike with the kids in the mountains of Oaxaca.*

It's a fact that with our annual operating budget for the village, which provides exceptional care for 16 children, we could provide a lower standard of care for more children. It wouldn’t cost Simply Smiles more money, the cost would be paid by the children in what they need and wouldn’t receive.

That’s a truth that I’ve seen and that Gaby has personally lived.

Gaby, who is now the director of our children’s village, grew up in a group home as one of seventy children. I started Simply Smiles because I was inspired, and also deeply concerned, by my time as a volunteer there.

When we broke ground on the Simply Smiles Children’s Village in 2015, Gaby and I decided to care for children differently.

We wouldn’t repeat the “something is better than nothing” mantra that’s both pervasive and leaves so much wanting. But rather, we’d do something simple and radical, provide for the children in our care as you would your children–because they deserve nothing less.

Our combined experiences spoke loud and clear to us in determining that having more than 16 children in one setting would make it impossible to offer that kind of care. Not because of square footage or the size of our operating budget, but because in an environment with more children, it would be impossible to provide the personal, loving, attention and support the children need. And that would dramatically and negatively impact the rest of their lives.

It pains us to know that there are children out there who desperately need what we do. But it would pain us more to know that we were providing substandard care and as a result, causing immediate and long-term harm.

The positive results of our decision and our model have been remarkable.

The Simply Smiles Children’s Village is something we, our supporters, and the children are exceedingly proud of.

Today the village cares for 16 children. The village also acts as an outreach center providing services like food and medical aid to the children and families in the surrounding community.

Gaby and I desire nothing more than to build more Simply Smiles Children’s Villages, to duplicate our success, and provide the conditions that allow 32, 64…hundreds…of children to thrive.

We believe that day, and that impact, will come. And that you, our supporters will be there to help to make it happen.

But we’ve also learned another key lesson that will dictate when we scale and expand on our success. Our villages must be built around the right leader.

To work, the family-like model requires an absolutely exceptional person, with the right set of experiences, and the right heart to run the village. We found that in Gaby. She’s integral. She’s essential. She’s the CEO and a parental figure.

Maybe that next leader is living at our children’s village right now, receiving all she needs to grow up…and change the world around her.

Bryan