How we started . . .
When we got our start, we could never have predicted where our TBRI® journey would lead us.
Initially, it started as an idea in response to a need. Our founder, Katie, then a director at a children’s home in Paraguay, witnessed firsthand the life-changing power of trauma-informed care at work in the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children.
When she returned to the United States, the name OrphanWise was chosen to represent the growing work of helping children thrive in the wake of extreme adversity with a mix of wisdom and the compassion that comes from deep insight into trauma and toxic stress. Even as OrphanWise kicked off its United States operations, we remained in close contact with our friends in Paraguay. In fact, we co-sponsored Paraguay’s first-ever TBRI® training in 2019.
We’ve never stopped working with international partners in Paraguay, Honduras, Uganda and more as they strive to bring hope and healing to the orphaned and vulnerable children in their care. However, as our domestic operations expanded, we realized that our original name no longer captured the full scope of our work. Now, the caregivers who come to our trainings aren’t just children’s home staff and group home house parents who work with orphaned children on a daily basis – they’re biological parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, teachers, social workers, therapists, after school program staff. Their kids aren’t orphans – but many of them have experienced extreme adversity, toxic stress, and trauma.
What is CareEQUIP?
CareEQUIP represents all the services OrphanWise offers to hope and healing to children
who have experienced adversity. From day one, our tagline has been “Equipping for Care,” and now, five years later, we can safely say we’ve lived up to it – we’ve equipped more than 1,500 caregivers who work with more than 91,000 children with trauma-informed training and resources.
We envision a community of connected, caring adults that work together to address the symptoms of trauma in the populations with whom they work.
Maybe you’re the parent of a child who experienced medical trauma in infancy.
Maybe you’re a teacher overwhelmed by a student’s baffling behavior.
Maybe you work with those who are no longer children, those who come out of backgrounds of trauma and are on the verge of repeating the defective cycles of their own childhood.
Regardless of your role: If you are working to break cycles of trauma – whether in your family or in your workplace – we have resources and services for you.
The name CareEQUIP also represents what we strive to make every single training or coaching session: Empowering, Quality, Understanding, Interactive, Practical.
What's next?
For those of you who’ve been with us from the start, you’ll notice a shift in how we describe ourselves and our services. OrphanWise will remain our legal name, but you’ll start to see CareEQUIP on many of our public-facing documents. Don’t worry – it’s still us, and still the same high-quality TBRI® training and coaching services you’re used to.
Join us in celebrating this HUGE milestone for our organization!