Nurse Family Partnership Program in Bulgaria

As we move through the second half of 2025, we’re filled with both gratitude and determination. Thanks to your ongoing support through GlobalGiving, our Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) home-visiting program continues to bring care, knowledge, and hope to vulnerable first-time mothers and their babies across Bulgaria — especially when so much around them feels uncertain.

Building the Future of Home-Visiting in Bulgaria

This period has been marked by important progress in strengthening NFP’s voice and visibility at the national level. Our team was invited to join an expert working group on the design of Bulgaria’s national home-visiting model, hosted by the National Center for Public Health and Analysis under the Ministry of Health. This is a major step toward institutional recognition of the NFP model and its evidence-based approach.

We are also thrilled and proud to have launched an NFP Ambassador Model — with two graduate mothers (ambassadors of the program) now sharing their personal journeys and inspiring others in their communities.

Each of these steps brings us closer to a future where home-visiting is not a privilege for a few, but a right for every family who needs it.

Challenges on the Road Ahead

Despite these achievements, challenges remain significant. Communication within the national home-visiting working group has proven difficult, as representatives of professional organizations push for integrating all home-visiting care under general practitioners — a model that risks losing the relational depth and evidence-based integrity that make NFP effective.

We are also facing continued uncertainty around the 2026 social services – our main sustainability pathway. This affects the potential for opening new NFP sites and maintaining existing ones.

Given the persistent funding gaps, we had to make a difficult decision to close the NFP site in Plovdiv and to focus on securing bridge funding for Sofia, ensuring that at least one site remains operational for the families who depend on it.

Why Your Support Matters So Much

Your donations are not just numbers, they allow us to keep the program alive — to pay our nurses, keep our doors open, and continue advocating for a sustainable future for this life-changing service.

At the same time, every contribution helps us meet the immediate needs of the poor families we serve: providing diapers, baby cosmetics, prenatal check-up fees, vitamins for pregnant girls, and other essentials that no mother should have to go without.

When a young mother opens her door to our nurse, she is not just receiving advice — she is receiving hope. And that hope exists because of you.

With Heartfelt Gratitude

Thank you for standing with us during this pivotal time. Your belief in the NFP program gives strength to our team and, most importantly, to the young families who are building their futures one visit, one hug, and one baby step at a time.

Please stay with us on this journey — share our story, donate if you can, and help us ensure that every baby in Bulgaria has a healthy and supported beginning in life.

We’re deeply grateful to share an update on our Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) home-visiting program in Bulgaria — a vital service that brings care, connection, and hope to vulnerable young families across the country. Thanks to your support through GlobalGiving, we continue to walk alongside hundreds of first-time mothers and their babies, helping them navigate the most crucial - and fragile - period of their lives: the first 1000 days.

This spring, our nurses and health mediators continued to provide not just knowledge and emotional support, but also practical relief where it was needed most. With your help, we were able to purchase and deliver in-kind aid to families in deep poverty - and to homeless mothers in Sofia’s Zaharna Fabrika neighborhood, whose homes were bulldozed just before the Easter holidays by the municipal authorities. In those moments of crisis, when everything else had collapsed, you helped us show up - not just with food, but with dignity and care.

Behind the Scenes: Building a Future for the Program

While our field teams continue to make an everyday difference in people’s lives, our central team has worked tirelessly to ensure that the NFP program has a future in Bulgaria - beyond project funding and emergency support.

Some encouraging steps:

• In April, we co-organized a major advocacy event with HESED Foundation, attended by over 80 professionals from the health and social services field. There, we presented the NFP model and opened discussions on sustainability pathways.
• We welcomed two experienced advocacy experts to help us push for the inclusion of the NFP in the national home-visiting framework - a critical long-term goal.
• In Plovdiv, our team is successfully testing NFP as a social service, with the aim of securing municipal funding starting in 2026.
• In Sofia, the municipality has included NFP in its 2026 annual plan for social services - a huge milestone that reflects growing institutional recognition.

But Nothing is Certain Yet

As much as we are proud of these steps, we must speak honestly: none of this is guaranteed.

• The introduction of new social services in 2026 comes with a number of unanswered questions, including how many will actually be approved or funded.
• Even if the national home-visiting model is formally adopted, implementation is unlikely before 2027 - leaving a critical gap year in 2026, where no public support is assured.

This means that despite all our efforts, we may not have the resources to keep supporting the families who count on us - unless we can raise the necessary funds to bridge this gap.

Why Your Support Still Matters So Much

It’s not easy to keep going when the path ahead is uncertain - but your belief in us keeps us moving. Every donation you make tells our nurses, our young mothers, and our babies: you’re not alone. That’s a powerful message - and it matters more than you can imagine.

In the months to come, we will continue:

• Visiting new mothers and checking on babies growing up in poverty;
• Distributing baby formula and other essentials when no other support exists;
• Advocating for a future where this service becomes a right, not a charity.

Until then, we rely on you - our community of supporters - to keep this bridge standing.

Please consider donating again or simply sharing our story. Each step you take with us strengthens our resolve to protect Bulgaria’s most vulnerable children - and to give them a better beginning.

From all of us at TSA, and from every family who has found strength through this program - thank you!