For decades, the topic of children housed in orphanages and institutions has been taboo in modern Czech society. Day by day 11,000 children were imprisoned behind the walls of institutions and politicians and public considered it as normal. These children have been suffering emotional disorders, developmental delays and other significant issues and nobody knew how to get rid of these difficulties.

J&T Charitable Fund discovered, that the only solution, how to heal those children was getting them to a family environment - to foster families. And so the campaign PARENTS WANTED came into being – the most integrated NGO campaign the Czech Republic has ever seen – with the goal of providing a better life for abandoned children, taking them out of institutional care into family homes.

To accomplish this, PARENTS WANTED boldly tackled the sensitive taboo head on, demanding Czech government leaders’ reform outdated legislation while calling on potential parents to end the plight of children growing up in orphanages, encouraging foster care as one of the most meaningful human mission ever.

A coalition of experts was built to bring the greatest heft to the case, with the “Parents Wanted” rallying cry thrusting the topic head on into the public arena across multiple earned, owned and shared touchpoints and audiences.

The government issued a decree closing orphanages and announcing new financial supports for foster parents. And Czechs have been started find new foster parents among themselves. This was backed by 350,000 potential parents saying they would now consider foster care.

As the philanthropic arm of a leading Czech Republic financial institution, the J&T Foundation focuses on the issue of the handicapped, socially weak families and families devoting their lives to foster care. With the needs of disadvantaged individuals and foster families at the fore, the foundation chose to lead the way fostering change in a broken political and social system that would impact thousands of children´s lives. Silence and lack of public awareness and motivation had kept 11,000 abandoned children locked away. J&T Foundation brought out a bullhorn and a creative package of solutions to bring them out.

The government issued a decree closing orphanages for children under age 3 in the next 2 years. Two crucial laws were approved by Parliament that increased financial support (in monthly payments and pension income) for foster parents. The number of people who are willing to consider foster care increased from very few to 350,000. During the first month of the campaign, television advertising (PSAs) reached 1 million target adults daily, and outdoor reached 1.5 million daily. More than 750 feature articles on the topic were published.