Walking with Orphans (WWO) was founded in 2010 under the name of Eastern European and Russian Orphanages Project by Melissa Perghel (Brown), a native of Snellville, Georgia, after working with orphans in Romania and Moldova and seeing first hand the great need for both physical and relational support among the high numbers of the orphaned and vulnerable populations in these countries. WWO grew out of a desire to help meet these multitude of issues. Since its founding, WWO has donated thousands of dollars of clothing and goods to orphans in need throughout Eastern Europe and Russia. Beginning in 2015 WWO has been focused on working exclusively within Romania providing mental health services, spiritual mentorship, and transitional living programs to children in the child protective services system.
MELISSA PERGHEL
Melissa is the founder and president of Walking With Orphans. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Registered Play Therapist, Trauma Competent Caregiver trainer, and certified Child and Adolescent Trauma Specialist. She provides mental health services to children in state run institutions and assists in running the transition program.
NICU PERGHEL
Nicu is the administrator of the transition program and has been a volunteer with Walking With Orphans since 2017. He has been serving full time with WWO since 2020. Nicu has experience in many trades including welding, construction, and auto body work and uses this knowledge to train boys in the transition program.
LESLIE BROWN
Leslie Brown is the vice-president of Walking With Orphans and manages the American side of the non-profit. She has served with WWO in Romania on numerous short term trips and has first hand knowledge of the programs run by WWO.
Who We Are