Timeline
Timeline
Simply Smiles was founded by Bryan Nurnberger in 2003 when he was 25 years old. The following is the organization’s story told through the timeline of our work.
2002
Mountain climbing leads to Mexico
After college, Bryan Nurnberger was working as a professional mountain climbing guide when an injury prompted him to take a recuperation trip to Mexico.
“I thought I’d head down to Mexico for a bit, recover from my injuries, and scout out some new climbing locations. But instead, what I found in Mexico changed the course and direction of my life forever.”
The Casa Hogar Orphanage in Oaxaca, Mexico
“I had a lead from a friend that if I made it to southern Mexico, there was an orphanage down there that could use a volunteer. So, I took a bus to Oaxaca, called the number she gave me from a payphone, and quickly found myself surrounded by 70+ children whose stories, and smiles, would be the inspiration for Simply Smiles.”
On the edge of the crowd of kids was a young boy in a wheelchair. When I approached him there was a spark, an instant connection. I became his caretaker and found out that at this short-staffed, fledgling facility, I could have an impact. I could help make the lives of these children better. I volunteered for a few months, living at the orphanage, and realized pretty quickly that my life-long passion for mountain climbing was fading and in its place was a passion for helping these children.”
2003
Simply Smiles, Inc is formed
Bryan Nurnberger founded Simply Smiles in 2003 with a mission of “providing bright futures while improving the daily lives of impoverished children.”
A first board of directors, consisting of family and friends, was formed, incorporation and charitable status were secured, and out of donated office space in Connecticut, the work of providing bright futures—one smile at a time—began.
2004
The Bus Trip
The children at Casa Hogar needed a way to get to school. As the first major project of Simply Smiles, we bought a bus in New Hampshire, toured it around New England, filled the bus with donations of diapers, toys, and clothes, and drove that bus 3,000 miles to Oaxaca, Mexico!
We had a blog on our website, where we documented the trip, and our posts got picked up by several media outlets in the United States and Mexico.
It was an epic adventure but “The Bus Trip” gave the new Simply Smiles some media exposure and momentum.
Simply Smiles welcomes volunteer teams
In 2004, members of The First Congregational Church of Bethlehem, Connecticut became the first Simply Smiles volunteer team to travel to Mexico to support our work.
The word spread about the “incredible” Simply Smiles volunteer programs and hundreds of volunteers soon began to travel to Mexico with Simply Smiles.
Led by our talented staff, our volunteers quickly became the driving force behind Simply Smiles’ growth and success.
4,000+ volunteers
The accomplishments of Simply Smiles would not be possible without the more than 4,000 volunteers who, since 2004, have contributed their time, talents, compassion, and energy to Simply Smiles at our program locations. Thank you!
2003 - 2010
The Casa Hogar orphanage is transformed
During the first seven years of Simply Smiles, the organization partnered with the Casa Hogar orphanage in Oaxaca, Mexico, helping to transform the home’s facility and operations.
Simply Smiles provided vehicles, built buildings and recreational areas, provided financial support, college scholarships, and much more.
The children at Casa Hogar, supported by Simply Smiles, were on the path to their bright futures! Our successes, and the incredible support from a growing group of supporters, meant that Simply Smiles was able to expand our efforts and broaden our impact.
2007
Simply Smiles helps launch a second Casa Hogar in Mexico
We were approached by a warden of a prison in northern Oaxaca, who told us that, because there was nowhere else for them to live, dozens of children were living in a prison with their incarcerated parents.
Simply Smiles expanded our partnership with Casa Hogar in order to create Casa Hogar Cuicatlán.
Simply Smiles purchased the land and provided the initial funding to launch and operate the home so that a child would not have to live in a prison cell in this region of Mexico.
2007 - 2009
The Oaxaca City Garbage Dump, Mexico
When we discovered that there were more than 125 people, including children, who were subsisting off of what they could find in the Oaxaca City garbage dump, Simply Smiles decided to spring into action to help.
We also learned a foundational lesson about patience and partnership. During a year of visiting daily with the pepenador community of Oaxaca’s dump, we learned about the vital role they played as recyclers and gained insight into their needs and visions for their futures. We developed a partnership based on equality that merged our resources in a matter that made tangible and lasting change possible in an unspeakably difficult environment.
In partnership with the pepenador community, Simply Smiles built 27 homes—one for every family. We made sure that every family could send their children to school. We built lasting relationships that remain until this day through our community outreach efforts at our Mexico Children’s Village.
2008 - present
Keep Hope Alive fundraising events
In 2008, Simply Smiles held its first “Keep Hope Alive” fundraiser to help fund our growing program needs. The event was named after a song by singer-songwriter Kristen Graves, inspired by her experiences working with Simply Smiles.
The unique event format where donors raised their hands to pledge financial support to meet immediate needs was exciting and successful.
Keep Hope Alive fundraising events (in-person and virtual) have raised millions of dollars to support Simply Smiles programs.
2009 - 2013
Oaxaca’s Mountain Villages
In 2009, Simply Smiles was brought to the Loxicha region of Oaxaca, Mexico. In this extremely remote and mountainous area, we encountered a population of over 4,000 indigenous Zapotec people grappling with incredible economic poverty.
Most of the families were living in bamboo or tin homes with dirt floors that were only accessible on foot. For months, we hiked unmarked mountain trails in order to visit each family. We listened and learned about their needs and, in partnership with the community, determined how Simply Smiles would help.
A three-pronged response was developed to provide food, medical care, and education.
Simply Smiles bought trucks capable of transporting bulk food into mountains as far as the dirt roads would allow. We then distributed 12 tons of food staples each month (beans, rice, sugar, salt, cooking oil, soap, and candy) until the population’s hunger crisis was abated. Over the next few years, Simply Smiles provided millions of meals, which created the stability to address the near-ubiquitous intestinal worm infection present in the population. Partnering with U.S. and Mexican medical professionals, universities, and pharmaceutical companies our scientific, efficient, and dignified treatment approach reduced infection rates to <20% across the region. To prevent reinfection, we then built over 150 latrines. With a far healthier population achieved, Simply Smiles then spear-headed the construction of two brand new schools in the region.
2009 - 2019
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation: Community & Youth Programming
In 2009, Bryan met Nobel Prize nominee, activist, and musician Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Itazipcola and Mnicoujou Lakota), who shared the realities and tremendous needs of his community on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation (Lakota Territory) in South Dakota. After visiting the Reservation and being invited to help, two things were clear: Simply Smiles would offer all we could to help Native children, families, and communities on Cheyenne River and we had much to learn about the complex past and present in Indian Country.
Over the next decade, Simply Smiles, the Reservation community and thousands of our volunteers offered dozens of community and youth programs, including annual summer camps, home repairs and & home construction, the creation of the La Plant Community Center, healthy food and gardening programs, cultural affirmation and appreciation efforts, arts & music, basketball clinics, nationwide travel for teens, educational support, scholarships, emergency responses, job training, and much more.
In a place where centuries of attempts to help the Lakota people have failed or done more harm than good, the holistic and dignified approach to our programming—and at the root of the Simply Smiles mission—has worked.
2012
Bryan is given the Lakota name “Kind-Hearted Man”
In 2012, Simply Smiles president and founder Bryan Nurnberger was honored by the Lakota community with the name, Cante Waste Wicasa, or "Kind-Hearted Man."
This moment was a recognition of the trust and partnership that Simply Smiles was developing—a trust that would soon lead to the creation of the first-of-its-kind Simply Smiles Children’s Village for Native foster children on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation.
2019 - 2022
Building the Simply Smiles Children’s Village on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation
More than a decade of learning, working, and earning trust in Indian Country was necessary to envision and build the first-of-its-kind Simply Smiles Children's Village.
In partnership with the Reservation community, Native activists, elders, child welfare professionals, and the state of South Dakota Child Protective Services, Simply Smiles built and piloted the Simply Smiles Children’s Village—a community of foster families offering a child placement option that fulfills the spirit of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) by ensuring that Native children who have been removed from their homes can remain with kin and community.
In 2019, Simply Smiles broke ground on the village campus and began building its foster homes. By 2022, the children’s village boasted three beautiful four-bedroom homes, a dedicated counseling building, and a 5,200-square-foot garage and storage building.
Guided by the principle of the Lakota kinship tiospaye and rooted in traditional values, the mission of the Simply Smiles Children’s Village is to foster Native children to become leaders, role models, and Lakota citizens of the world.
2023
Determining the next steps of the children’s village on the Reservation
We built the beautiful, first-of-its-kind Simply Smiles Children’s Village on the Reservation and Native foster children were welcomed into our care. The Simply Smiles community–our volunteers, donors, and advisors – made it all possible.
During this time, we explored how to transition to a model that would be fully Native-led and operated and allow the Tribe to continue caring for their most vulnerable children. We paused foster care operations at the village while we worked with the Tribe to determine how the village could best provide for the unique needs of Native foster children going forward.
2024
Successful transfer of the Simply Smiles Children’s Village to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
Pictured above, Simply Smiles President & Founder, Bryan Nurnberger marking the village’s transfer with CRST Chairman Ryman LeBeau.
A guiding principle of Simply Smiles is to provide bright futures by empowering the communities we are privileged to work with. The transfer of ownership and operations of our children’s village to the Lakota people exemplifies our dedication to that commitment and aligns with our values of sustainability, self-determination, and respect for Indigenous sovereignty.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe is now positioned to be one of the few tribal nations with their own Native child welfare program.
Transferring a “turnkey” child welfare facility to the Tribe marks the pinnacle in our 16-year partnership. We want to express our deepest gratitude to everyone who supported the monumental effort to create our first-of-its-kind children’s village on the Reservation. Your time, hard work, unwavering dedication, and incredible generosity have made this leap forward possible for the Cheyenne River Sioux community.
The journey to create the Reservation Children’s Village took us into uncharted territory, challenged us, and demonstrated the power of genuine partnership with a community in need. While this marks the successful end of one chapter, it also is the beginning of the next one for Simply Smiles. We will carry forward the strength gained and lessons learned as we continue to provide bright futures and redefine how society’s most vulnerable children are cared for.
2015
Gabriella Chavez Hernandez graduates college and becomes the director of our Children’s Village in Oaxaca, Mexico
In 2002, at the age of 12, Gaby chose to leave her home in a remote Mexican village to move to a children's home in Oaxaca City and pursue her education. She moved to the U.S. in 2008, and, in 2015, she received her B.A. in Business Administration from Sacred Heart University in Connecticut on a Simply Smiles Scholarship.
After seven years living in the United States, Gaby made another monumental decision: to return to Mexico to become the director of the Simply Smiles Children’s Village in Oaxaca.
Gaby is an exceptional individual and an inspiration to thousands of people in Mexico, the US, and beyond.
Under her inspirational leadership, Gaby is providing bright futures for the children in her care each and every day.
2015 - present
The Simply Smiles Children’s Village, Oaxaca, Mexico
With Gaby’s post-college return to Mexico, Simply Smiles had a momentous opportunity: We could make possible an ideal to create a children’s village that cares for children as a family, provides an oasis for the region’s most vulnerable children, and become a place where every child can pursue their dreams. And we would build it around a person driven and capable of doing what was desperately needed, incredibly difficult, and in a manner that had never been done before. The Simply Smiles Children’s Village in Oaxaca, Mexico was born.
The children in our care at the village receive all they need to overcome difficult starts in life. Education, including special needs education, college, and trade schools, is central. Healthful, delicious meals and medical and mental healthcare are provided in a safe, loving, supportive environment where the children can discover their potential and thrive.
