History of the Good Samaritan

During the communist rule in Romania from 1948 until 1989, orphanages overflowed with children who were abandoned by families or individuals too poor to support them. The orphans had difficult lives in the orphanages, receiving only basic food, inadequate clothes, limited education, and were often beaten severely if they complained. All the orphans waited for the day when they turned 18, so they could leave the orphanage and start working in a job given to them by the government.

After communism collapsed in Romania in 1989, the orphans were still required to leave the orphanages at age 18, but the government no longer provided them with job assistance. As a result, the orphans often became homeless and wandered the streets without a job, a family or hope.

A young Romanian man saw the plight of the orphans and decided to try and help them when it seemed no one else would. Initially, Adrian Ciorna and his mother opened their home to two orphan girls and provided them with a bed, bathroom, kitchen, food, and most importantly love and acceptance. Adrian and his mother continued to open their home to more orphans and tried to assist them in finding work and a new life.

In 1993, Adrian founded Good Samaritan, a non-profit organization based in his hometown of Beius in Northwest Romania. Since then, Good Samaritan has served more than 50 disadvantaged orphans, helping them to learn skills in one of four vocational programs. In addition, the youth receive assistance with finding jobs, a place to live, and medical care. As a result, these youth have another chance to build better lives and futures for themselves.

In 2001, thanks to the partnership between Good Samaritan and Habitat for Humanity Beius, some of the orphans enrolled in the construction vocational program traveled to Asan, South Korea, to help with the 2001 Jimmy Carter Work Project. On this occasion, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the Korean President Kim Dae Jung and 9,000 volunteers from around the world worked side by side to build houses for poor Korean families at five different sites in the Republic of Korea. At the end of the project, a total of 136 Korean families had new homes and the orphans had a unique opportunity to help someone else in need.

Today, Good Samaritan continues its mission of providing disadvantaged youngsters from state and private orphanages with the skills and opportunities to socially and professionally integrate into society, while showing them Christian love, care, support and Jesus Christ's model for living.