Fortifying Families of Indonesia is a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring every child in Indonesia grows up in a safe, loving family. Founded by John and Amanda Laughrey, FFI grew out of years spent living and serving alongside children and care givers in orphanages in Indonesia.

While volunteering at a children’s home for nearly four years, Amanda was heartbroken to witness nearly all the children she was caring for still had families who wanted them. They were separated due to poverty and difficult circumstances rather than death and abandonment. She later discovered this was not an anomaly. In fact, 90% of all children living in children’s homes in Indonesia still have living parents.

Amanda, still clinging to her lifelong dream to have an orphanage and be “Mother Teresa of Indonesia”, set out to start an orphanage but to do it “better”. She teamed up with a group of trusted, passionate Indonesians to found a children’s home of their own where they only took in true orphans and raised them as much like normal children in a home as possible. She served as a house parent in that children’s home for seven years, later joined by John.

Over time, however, John and Amanda came to realize the detriments of long-term institutionalized care to the overall wellbeing of children. No matter how good an institution may be, children were made to thrive in a home with a family where they can receive individual attention, affection, and have a sense of belonging, security, and identity.

This realization led them to sacrifice their personal dreams of having their own orphanage in order to dedicate their lives to what mattered more—what’s in the best interest of each individual Indonesian child. They are now full-time advocates—coming alongside organizations to strengthen families and Indonesian child welfare systems. Today, they collaborate with global leaders such as Strengthening Families and Children (SFAC), Faith to Action, Family First Framework (FFF), and others to support and train care providers, strengthen families, and help develop pathways for family reintegration, foster care, adoption, and other care options.