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ABOUT US
Connie Cheren
Partners for Care is the result of Connie Cheren responding to
a call
from God to serve the hurting and less fortunate.
Connie had been participating in occasional international mission trips, and was leading
an exploratory trip to Kenya for her church, which led her to the slums of Nairobi, Kenya.
Being a nurse and mother, Connie was disgusted by the conditions she observed, with filth
and desperate circumstances all around. Children
were filthy, with no place to wash or obtain clean drinking
water. Medical treatment was non-existent. As a career nurse and social worker, she was
overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problems she saw. She wanted to fix all of the problems she
saw, but realized that she was powerless to do so. So she asked God to allow her to leave
safely and to never make her come back to this place.
 But she found that God had a plan for her, as well as a sense of humor, as He changed her heart
and helped her to realize that she did not need to save every child or desperately ill person in that slum,
but that she could use the gifts God had given her and the lifetime of nursing, social work, and
medical facility administration experience she had gained over her career - and make a difference in the lives
of at least one person, and maybe many more.
You will now find her more often serving "the least of these"
alongside the Partners for Care Kenyan staff and partnering
organizations, than you will find her enjoying the comforts of
life in Alpharetta, Georgia.
During that life altering trip, Connie had seen first hand the impact of AIDS on children and
adults alike, and felt compelled to learn what she could do to help the Kenyan people battle this pandemic.
After returning to the US, Connie attended a Rick Warren conference on HIV/AIDS, and was challenged to become
actively involved - as he explained that until the church engages in the battle, it would not be won.
She then met with Dr. Wes Griffin, founder of International
Leadership Institute, who encouraged Connie to get 3 projects
started on the ground in order to gain experience, and to
demonstrate success with her programs. Under Dr. Griffin's
leadership, Connie formed Partners for Care, and got about doing
the work she felt called to do.
In June 2008, Partners for Care was incorporated as a
non-profit corporation in Georgia. Since then, we have received
our 501(c)(3) certification by the Internal Revenue Service.
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David Gruber
In June 2007, David Gruber's life changed forever, as he said goodbye to his
beautiful and beloved wife, Kathi. David and Kathi had been married almost 23 years, and
sadly Kathi lost her grace filled battle with cancer on June 5,
2007. Two weeks later,
a close friend of Kathi's called David and asked if he would meet with a friend of hers,
named Connie, who had just returned from Kenya. David agreed to the meeting, and learned
that Connie had just been in Kenya and performed HIV tests on the children living
in Children's Homes operated by Glory Outreach Assembly, a Kenyan ministry.
Connie had pictures of five children who were infected with HIV/AIDS, including Rebecca, who as
in a late stage of AIDS and appeared likely to die. David agreed to join Connie in her quest to
raise funds to build a new children's home that would be designed specifically to serve the needs
of these special children. David felt compelled to do this in honor of Kathi, who was a Godly woman who
modeled Christ in her love for all, and had a special way with children. Kathi also had a heart for missions,
having worked at the North American Mission Board for 6 years. Furthe r, David and Kathi had planned to spend
their post child raising years in the international mission field, so the idea of jumping into this, even
in the midst of unbearable grief, was a "no brainer". Kathi was herself an orphan, adopted from Korea at the age of 3, so
naming a home for orphans in her honor is a fitting tribute.
Together, Connie and David began to
expand on the vision for this children's
home, and agreed that the first home would
be named "Kathi's House",
in honor of Kathi. A fundraising concert was
organized, with Christian Mungai and Milele
performing at Roswell United Methodist
Church to help generate the funds to start
this project. On November 11, 2007, less
than 5 months after meeting Connie, David
was blessed to attend the dedication of
Kathi's House during a trip to Kenya during
which Partners for Care conducted several
medical camps for people without access to
medical care.
During the dedication, the children of
Kathi's House were given a picture book of
Kathi's life and family - allowing them to
have a glimpse into the life of the
beautiful woman whose picture hangs on the
wall of their home - and who their home is
named for.
Partners for Care
2001 Breckenridge Lane
Alpharetta, Georgia 30005
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