About Us - A Family for Every Orphan

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Because children belong in families.

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Mission and Vision
Our Team
Financial Accountability
Annual Reports

Our Team

Board of Directors
Advisory Council
Staff and Volunteers

Oriah Longanecker

Melinda Mandell

Karl Scheuerman

Paul Zhdan

Interim Treasurer

Dr. Anita Deyneka

Voting Board Member

Anthony Ritchie

Voting Board Member

Allison Pinkham

voting board member

David Melilli, J.D., LL.M.

Dr. Natalya Ageyeva

Karmen Friesen

Richard T. Moore, Esq.

Dr. Richard Scheuerman

Micala Siler

Executive Director

Sarah Wolfe

Chief Operations Officer

Chelsea Elizabeth

Program Director for Asia and Africa

Support Chelsea

Olha Prytula

Program Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Sarah Shaffer

Operations Manager

Elaine Springer

Volunteer Coordinator of Pray for Every Orphan

Anna Tufts

Administrative and Communications Assistant

Annual Reports

We are grateful for the prayers and support of partners and want you to feel confident that we are using your gifts in the best way possible to help kids not only get adopted, but to STAY adopted by loving families!

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

We believe in fiscal transparency, visit our Financial Accountability page to learn more.

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A Family for Every Orphan
PO Box 34628 #37939
Seattle, WA 98124-1628
info@afamilyforeveryorphan.org
Phone: 360-358-3293

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Copyright 2019

A Family for Every Orphan is a 501(c)(3) registered organization

Oriah Longanecker

Oriah Longanecker has served full-time in the U.S. Air Force for over 21 years in Active Duty, Reserves, and currently Air National Guard positions. He has led Joint Military units in several countries, a variety of combat activities, and served in several staff positions across the United States. A native of the Pacific Northwest, he is currently assigned to the Command and General Staff Officer Course at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. His undergrad was in Management studies with Graduate studies in Military Art and Science, Homeland Security Studies, and Cybersecurity.

He and his wife, Sarah, have been blessed with 9 wonderful children. God has led their family for the last 10+ years to serve alongside various ministries and churches working to address the orphan crisis both within their communities as well as internationally. Oriah’s passions include sharing the Good News of the Gospel, any adventure involving his family, reading works by inspiring Christian thinkers throughout history, and all things outdoors.

Melinda Mandell

Melinda is the owner of Melinda Mandell Interior Design, a residential design firm located in Palo Alto, California. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interior Design from Seattle Pacific University, and an associate’s degree in Interior Design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Melinda lends a creative and market savvy edge to the A Family for Every Orphan team.

Melinda is passionate about orphans and how families can play a role in the healing of children with broken pasts. She is specifically interested in how the physical home can support foster/adoptive families as they care for their children. Her three siblings, who were adopted from Russia, who were instrumental in making her aware of the plight of orphans in Eastern Europe and the issues surrounding orphan care.

Karl Scheuerman

Karl Scheuerman has been involved with A Family for Every Orphan since its inception. He currently is the board’s Secretary and has previously served as Chair. As a child, Karl’s family was involved in foster care. He spent a year during his college studies to serve students and orphans as a missionary in Russia, which further developed his heart for the fatherless. Karl is a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Academy whose military service included tours in Turkey and Afghanistan. He later earned a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Maryland and now works as a senior analyst for a global cyber security company. Karl also serves as Director of Operations for an Air National Guard squadron. He lives with his wife and three daughters in Richland, WA

Paul Zhdan

Interim Treasurer

Paul currently serves as interim Treasurer for AFFEO. Throughout the past nine years, Paul has been passionately engaged in student development, special needs care, and orphan ministry. After graduating from Wheaton College with majors in Philosophy and Business/Economics, Paul spent time volunteering with summer camps and orphan care organizations in Ukraine. This international trip solidified Paul’s desire and commitment to make a difference in the lives of orphans in Ukraine and around the world, both on a personal and systemic level.

Currently, Paul leads operations at a small financial planning firm in the Chicagoland area. Hiking in the mountains, playing frisbee, and reading are among Paul’s favorite things to do!

Dr. Anita Deyneka

Voting Board Member

Dr. Anita Deyneka serves as a voting member on the board. She holds an honorary PhD from Seattle Pacific University and has been involved as a leader in non-profit work in Russia and Ukraine for the last 46 years. She recently retired as the President of Peter-Deyneka Russian Ministries, a non-profit organization that she co-founded with her late husband, Peter. Anita has been absolutely invaluable as a mentor during these early stages. She works around the clock as a volunteer to establish potential donor relationships, seek out project partners, and encourage churches to prayer and action on behalf of the orphans. She is also the proud mother of two adopted children from Colombia and grandmother to five beautiful grandchildren.

Anthony Ritchie

Voting Board Member

Anthony serves as a voting member on the board. He graduated from Grove City College in Pennsylvania in 2014 and now resides in Big Rock, Illinois. Anthony works as a project manager at Fox River Foundation where he is involved in a myriad of projects including many that support orphans and vulnerable children in the U.S. and abroad, primarily with the strategy of mobilizing government, the faith community, and the business sector around the goal of permanency and belonging for every child.

He is passionate about helping vulnerable children and believes that a permanent family is the most effective way of solving the world orphan crisis, making him a perfect match for the team. The youngest of ten children, Anthony’s upbringing and core values are based strongly on the idea of family, and that every child needs a loving home to help them truly reach their full potential.

Anthony and his wife Kelsey (the eldest of ten children, 7 of whom are adopted) just welcomed their first child, Amos into the world in April 2017.

Allison Pinkham

voting board member

Allison Pinkham has over 20 years experience in business and HR and is currently a Vice President of Human Resources for a large multi-national pharmaceutical company based in Germany. She brings a broad range of business and HR experience to the board which includes her previous work as an IT systems consultant at Accenture and as an Organizational Development and Change Management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. She has also worked previously in Marketing and the majority of her experience is comprised of HR leadership roles at MasterCard, Darden Business School at the University of Virginia and currently at Boehringer Ingelheim.

Allison has always had a passion for helping children, especially children in vulnerable situations, which includes her previous volunteer work with the Crisis Pregnancy Center in Charlottesville, VA; as a Counselor for at-risk youth in Annapolis, MD; a summer camp counselor in NJ; and a Sunday School Children’s teacher in Wilton, CT. While on an expat assignment in Germany Allison was seeking out opportunities to help specifically support orphans and learned about the organization “A Family for Every Orphan”. Upon learning about the amazing work the organization was doing Allison wanted to volunteer where she could and was eventually led to join the board to contribute her business and HR experience where needed to further realize the goal of finding a home for every orphan. Allison feels strongly that every child deserves a loving home and she will work to use the gifts that God has given her to try to make that passion a reality.

Allison currently resides in Germany with her husband and two children. She enjoys various travel adventures with her family including hiking, biking, boating, swimming, experiencing different countries and cultures and seeing the beauty of the world that God created.

David Melilli, J.D., LL.M.

Sarah Shaffer’s journey to A Family for Every Orphan began at a young age through an international child sponsorship program, igniting a passion for serving our world’s most vulnerable children.

Sarah traveled to Malawi, Africa in 2005 and Cap-Haïtien, Haiti in 2010 to work with at-risk children, quickly learning about the world’s international orphan crisis. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations with a Communication Studies minor from Westminster College (PA). Her past work experience clearly reflects God’s plan to prepare her for a career at A Family for Every Orphan, ranging from banking, operations at a small magazine publishing company, and working as a community outreach coordinator through AmeriCorps.

Sarah is married to her college sweetheart, Jake, an Army JAG officer. She is involved in local foster care and spends her free time reading, practicing yoga, volunteering at her church, and spoiling her crazy pit bull-lab mix, Mikan. She currently lives in Waynesville, Missouri.

Micala Siler

Executive Director

Micala Siler, the Executive Director, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2001. She commanded troops during two combat tours, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Sister to two adopted children from the US, her biological family also served as a foster family when she was a teenager.

Her experiences as a leader under pressure, her knowledge of project management, and her writing skills have proven to be highly effective in developing the A Family for Every Orphan team, establishing the organization’s infrastructure, and promoting the cause over the last six years.

She and her husband Jason currently live in Germany with their daughters Keira, Noelle, Cheyenne, and Natalie.

Sarah Wolfe

Chief Operations Officer

Support Sarah

Sarah Wolfe served as a board member before joining the staff as Chief Operations Officer in 2011.

Her journey towards working with orphans and vulnerable children began several years ago when she graduated from Huntington University in 2005 with a degree in Psychology. She then spent three years as a case manager working with children at risk for delinquency and later working with low-income families, including a large immigrant population from Eastern Europe. During that time, Sarah recognized a growing passion for serving the people of the former Soviet Union and became the administrative assistant at Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries (now Mission Eurasia), where she coordinated meetings and travel for the leadership, facilitated communication between the US and affiliate offices in Russia and Ukraine, and assisted in the smooth running of the office.

Sarah received her MA in Russian and East European Cultures and Societies from the University of Manchester in November 2011. She and her husband Jared currently live in Steilacoom, WA.

Chelsea Elizabeth

Program Director for Asia and Africa

Support Chelsea

Chelsea has led AFFEO’s programs in Asia and Africa since 2014. Chelsea became involved in the orphan crisis while serving in Southeast Asia. She became known locally as the “orphan lady” as she connected hospitals with local orphan care NGOs, often rescuing abandoned children and finding placements for children with special needs.

In addition to her work in the field, Chelsea studied at Peninsula Community College, Seattle Pacific University and completed a Communication & Design course through the University of Nations in Switzerland. When she’s not busy working for A Family For Every Orphan, she’s pouring her energy and heart into Amma’s Umma, her online fair trade boutique that also raises funds for adoptions!

Chelsea and her husband Amith currently live in the Pacific Northwest. She is an adoptive mama to their sweet son from India, and hope to move back someday.

Olha Prytula

Program Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Born and raised in Kherson, Ukraine, Olha graduated from Teacher’s Training Institute with a bachelor’s degree in teaching English and German. Her alma mater provided not only the desire to master the languages but a love for children. Olha received an MA in practical ministries from Training Christian Ministers (TCM) Institute in Vienna, Austria. TCM got her excited to help people, big and small, to find their passion in life and follow it wholeheartedly.

In 2003 Olha was at the cradle of “My Home” in Kherson, Ukraine, an organization that helps children find families, provides educational trainings for adoptive parents and works with orphanages. Olga enjoys seeing children in happy families. It is a pleasure to be a part of the process of preparing and helping parents to adjust, to learn to trust, to develop relationships with kids.

Olha’s passions include photography, traveling, writing and horseback riding. Currently, she lives in Kiev, Ukraine.

Sarah Shaffer

Operations Manager

Sarah Shaffer’s journey to A Family for Every Orphan began at a young age through an international child sponsorship program, igniting a passion for serving our world’s most vulnerable children.

Sarah traveled to Malawi, Africa in 2005 and Cap-Haïtien, Haiti in 2010 to work with at-risk children, quickly learning about the world’s international orphan crisis. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations with a Communication Studies minor from Westminster College (PA). Her past work experience clearly reflects God’s plan to prepare her for a career at A Family for Every Orphan, ranging from banking, operations at a small magazine publishing company, and working as a community outreach coordinator through AmeriCorps.

Sarah is married to her college sweetheart, Jake, an Army JAG officer. She is involved in local foster care and spends her free time reading, practicing yoga, volunteering at her church, and spoiling her crazy pit bull-lab mix, Mikan. She currently lives in Waynesville, Missouri.

Elaine Springer

Volunteer Coordinator of Pray for Every Orphan

Support Elaine

Elaine Springer has a BS in nursing and works as a registered nurse in community health. She spent 25 years as a missionary with Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) and Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries (PDRM) in several capacities including publications manager and editor/writer for a variety of radio programs and publications to English-speaking prayer partners and financial donors. She also taught English and practiced “friendship evangelism” for Soviet émigrés near Rome, Italy. In addition, she served as a liaison for exchanges between Soviet and American universities in the early ’90’s.

She has traveled to the former Soviet Union numerous times (twice with a music team!) and has written the biography of one of SGA’s entrepreneurial missionaries. One of Elaine’s favorite responsibilities was advocating prayer for The CoMission and its missionaries from the early through late ’90s as contributing editor for The Chariot, a quarterly newsletter for CoMission supporters. (The CoMission was a collaborative effort of more than 80 Christian organizations to take the love of Christ to those living in the former Soviet Union.)

Elaine is passionate about prayer and is thrilled to encourage prayer for the World Without Orphans movement.

Anna Tufts

Administrative and Communications Assistant

Anna is a south Mississippi native, has always had a passion for caring for and working with children. She worked at Twin Lakes Summer Camp in Mississippi for 6 summers as a camp counselor and unit director, and she has served in various capacities within the children’s ministries at church throughout the years.

Anna graduated from The University of Mississippi in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management. After college and an internship, she moved to Georgia to work within the realm of Higher Education. While working for the Georgia Institute of Technology, she completed her Masters in Public Administration from Valdosta State University. Her program and event management experience have greatly prepared her to transition into working with A Family for Every Orphan.

Anna met her husband in Georgia through church friends, and they now live with their daughter Susie in Decatur, Georgia. They enjoy traveling as much as they do being home together. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, pilates, podcasts, her women’s bible study, and spending time with family and friends.