WHO WE ARE
Our Story
In the sticky and mosquito-infested summer of 2017, William Cifuentes and Blake Vulkanblomst went to Côte d’Ivoire with a professor and a team of undergraduate students from Palm Beach Atlantic University. They didn’t quite know what they were getting themselves into, but they knew it was risky and important.
They knew they were going to an orphanage—Enfance Meurtrie Sans Frontières’ Le Prince Orphanage—and that they were going to be with children who had been victims of civil war and sexual abuse. They knew they were going to be with hurting children.
The water was brown. Unsafe.
But the children were amazing. Shy at first, and then full of brilliant energy. After two weeks, they were all as close as brothers and sisters could be. When William, Blake, and the rest of the team came home to Florida, they knew they couldn’t leave the children with brown water.
Over the next year, William, Blake, and the others got the orphanage a brand new well. The professor rallied another group of dauntless undergraduates to go to Côte d’Ivoire that next summer, including Madison Vulkanblomst.
When we got there, the water was a light, clear green.
One of the kids said, “Thank you, Americans, for putting the medicine in the water.”
But the children were still in trouble. Their home was a rental that could get swept out from underneath them at any moment.
The professor planted a seed in our heads—we needed a better way to help our Ivorian brothers and sisters. We needed to start a non-profit in the States. So we started brainstorming.
Right there in the orphanage, sitting on a couch on the patio of the orphanage, Blake, William, and I scrawled out the blueprints for what would be The Avenir Project, a sustainability project to ensure safe places of holistic healing for hurting children everywhere. So that our little Ivorian brothers and sisters would always know safety. So that hurting children all over the world would know safety.
Sustainable safety.
Blake, William, and I tapped into our Francophone roots and named ourselves “The Avenir Project,” the word “avenir” meaning “future” in French. On November 27th of 2019, The Avenir Project was officially established. And we celebrated!
Now this project is yours to carry on. So that orphans all over the world will always have a stable and sustainable home where they can feel safe, heal, and thrive.
Our Core Values
Withness
We define “withness” as 1) a state of being in which one feels seen, heard, and known and 2) a state of being in which one feels like another is a zealous witness to their pain as well as to their healing and thriving.
We are here to be with the children. To take their hands, and to not let go. We want to journey with them through the hard stuff as well as the dreams come true.
This takes authenticity and vulnerability. We want to show up with all of ourselves, time after time, so that we can be a witness to each of the wonderful human beings they are. We want them to know we are with them.
Healing
These children have deep wounds. They have been orphaned, abused, and oftentimes cast off as the filth of the world, stripped of their humanity.
But we get the chance to remind them they are safe. To remind them it’s okay to make mistakes. To remind them they are lovable. To remind them they are human, and that it is good to be human.
We believe healing is holistic. It happens in body, heart, mind, and spirit. So we want to ensure them a space where they can heal in all of these areas. Their wounds are a whole soul thing—we want their healing to be a whole soul thing, too.
Thriving
As these children experience “withness” and healing, we hope they will thrive. We want to give them an education and the skills they need to succeed.
If they want to become an entrepreneur, we want them to have the chance to do it. If they want to become a teacher, we want them to have everything they need to reach their goal. If they want to become an athlete, a chef, a pastor, a politician, an esthetician, anything—we want there to be no limits.
We are advocating for thriving. We are advocating for children to have the chance to dream big and make an impact on their community and the world.
When you give a gift today, you embody these values, too. You give orphans withness, healing, and thriving. So they can feel safe, heal, and thrive.
Our Team
“I came back from the orphanage in Côte d’Ivoire for the first time and said to myself, how could I possibly come back and do nothing after all of that? So I followed that little voice in my heart and God took over from there.”
William Cifuentes
President & CEO
william.cifuentes@theavenirproject.org
William Cifuentes graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic University with his BA in Christian Ministry and French Language. He also lived in France through a pastoral internship in Avignon and studying abroad in Paris. Through humanitarian and ministry activities, he has found himself in France, Guatemala, Haiti, and, of course, Côte d’Ivoire (the Ivory Coast). William has committed himself to the service of children, also supporting local foster care in his community. Aside from career activities, he spends a lot of time with family and helping with his family’s landscaping business.
“When I was in the darkest time of my life, someone gave me the chance to heal—it changed my life. Now I want every child to get that chance. And I want them to know they deserve it.”
Madison Vulkanblomst
Director
madison.vulkanblomst@theavenirproject.org
Madison Vulkanblomst graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic University with her BA in English and philosophy and has also completed a year of an MS in Global Development. She has been a part of missions to orphanages in Bolivia and the Ivory Coast, and she has worked for several years between Cru and Heart of the City Foundation in marketing & communications as well as fundraising. She has also spent several years as an educator in English and ESL. Beyond The Avenir Project, she loves to indulge in literature and philosophy, write poetry, practice yoga, swim in the ocean, and play piano.
“Many of these children don’t get the chance to be a child, and I want to change that and give them hope for a better future.”
Blake Vulkanblomst
Director
blake.vulkanblomst@theavenirproject.org
Blake Vulkanblomst received his BA in Ministry from Palm Beach Atlantic University as well as his MS in Business Administration and his MS in Global Development. He has traveled to Ivory Coast several times and to Jordan and Haiti on missions, and he completed his fieldwork for his MS in Global Development in Costa Rica. When he is not working for The Avenir Project, he enjoys spending time with his wife, playing guitar and writing lyrics, and staying active.
“When I was a child I didn't understand the importance of having an adult to help me heal. Now, as an adult, I want to be one of the adults to bring some light and healing into a child's life. All it takes is one adult who cares, that could be me. That could be you.”
Keren Gonzalez
Director
Keren Gonzalez graduated from Florida Atlantic University with her Master’s in Social Work and has her LCSW. She completed her undergraduate studies at Palm Beach Atlantic University where she received her BS in psychology. She is also a therapist at The Center for Child Counseling, focusing on using Child-Parent Psychotherapy to address trauma in families and children ages 0-5. During her work with nonprofits for over 7 years, she has gathered field experience while engaging with a vast number of individuals, families, and children in numerous contexts. Keren believes that all of her experiences—both personal and professional—have driven her interest in pursuing justice for vulnerable populations. In her spare time, she enjoys biking, reading a good book, and playing with her dog Luna.
