Policy Guidelines for the Board of Trustees
of William H. Dunlap Orphanage

The purpose of each board and agency of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian denomination is to carry out a specific ministry of the church. The ministry committed to the Board of Trustees of William H. Dunlap Orphanage ("Dunlap") is "to provide care, support, maintenance, and education of orphaned, or fatherless, or helpless, or needy children, and to support projects related to such children."
Our ministry then is to those made vulnerable by unfortunate circumstances and whose vulnerability is compounded by their youth. Our purpose is to assist those providing all the following:

• basic physical necessities;
• spiritual, mental and emotional well-being; and
• assistance toward greater self-reliance.

The most vulnerable of human conditions is that of one who has no advocate (understood Biblically as "one who comes alongside to help"). The death or inability of one or both of a child's natural advocates (i.e. parents) frequently sets the child at a distinct disadvantage in gaining those things necessary for survival and advancement.
It is the policy of Dunlap to consider in its deliberations the various factors contributing to a child's vulnerability. These factors would include such things as:
(a) The degree to which unfruitful, unnecessary, unhealthy or dangerous circumstances attend the child's situation.
(b) The amount of effort necessary to lift the child above these circumstances.
(c) The degree to which the child can provide for his own basic necessities.
(d) The amount of assistance coming from other sources, etc.
In short, this Board attempts first to determine the degree of disadvantage (or the vulnerability) in which a child is placed by the loss of (a) parent(s), or by the inability of (a) parent(s) to provide for the child's needs.
Secondly, this Board considers the category of need. These are, by priority:
(a) Basic necessities of life.
(b) Spiritual, mental, emotional necessities.
(c) Educational necessities.
First priority is given to the most vulnerable individuals whose needs are basic to survival.

The primary purpose of Dunlap is to provide (and/or support homes which provide) comprehensive physical, educational, emotional, and spiritual care in a Christian environment for a child or children when the parent or parents are unable to do so. Dunlap shall also seek to provide scholarship assistance to qualified, financially needy, undergraduate students who have been deprived of one or both parents, either by death, desertion, or other condition which prevents such student from having normal parental care.
The following shall be used to guide Dunlap as it seeks to assist the church in fulfilling its biblical challenge of ministry to children:
a. Dunlap, through the General Synod, its presbyteries, and congregations, shall seek to identify existing residential care programs within the United States or Canada which might need financial assistance and which are providing total care of children in a Christian environment. Financial assistance (grants) shall be limited to "exempt organizations," as defined in the revenue codes of the United States or Canada, that are providing comprehensive physical, educational, emotional, and spiritual care in a Christian environment. Grants shall be made only to those projects/ organizations that, in the Board's judgment, have a financial likelihood of success. Except as might be approved for those homes with which Dunlap has formulated a formal relationship, funding for such projects shall not exceed five years and shall be on a declining basis.
b. Dunlap shall seek to work cooperatively with World Witness and the Synods of Mexico and Pakistan to establish William H. Dunlap Homes for orphans.
c. Dunlap shall be open to ministry opportunities in areas of the world outside Mexico and Pakistan where we might work cooperatively with other denominations and/or non-profit organizations to provide total care for children. Except for those occasions where Dunlap might choose to approve a one-year "exploratory" ministry, non-profit organizations must be recognized as tax-exempt under the revenue codes of the United States or Canada.
d. Dunlap shall be open to the development of new joint ministry efforts with other Boards of the General Synod to fulfill the purpose of Dunlap. Such joint efforts shall be governed by an agreement approved by the governing boards.
e. Dunlap shall encourage the participation of children in these homes in activities sponsored by agencies of the General Synod by providing scholarship assistance.
f. Dunlap shall be open to the establishment of ongoing relationships with a home (or homes) which fulfill all objectives for which William H. Dunlap Orphanage was established. Consideration of such relationships shall be in accordance with the Policy Guidelines for Ongoing Relationships and shall be governed by an agreement approved by the governing boards.
g. All educational scholarship assistance shall be in accordance with scholarship programs established by Dunlap.
h. Recognizing that there may be occasions where individual Associate Reformed Presbyterian members and/or churches may become aware of unique ministry opportunities which fall within its purpose, Dunlap may, with the unanimous consent of Trustees present and voting, approve a one-time grant without the requirement of a formal proposal.

Care: Attention to the needs of another with the aim of providing that which is wanting.
Support: Provision of the basis for existence or promotion of the interest or cause of someone.
Maintenance: Perseverance in the effort put forward in one's behalf.
Education: Instruction intended to enhance one's spiritual, mental, and moral development.
Child: A person from infancy to maturity, but not beyond 25 years of age.
Orphaned: The condition of being deprived of one or both parents, either by death, desertion, or other condition which prevents a person from having access to normal parental care.
Fatherless: The sense of this word comes from an age in which the father was the primary (if not exclusive) provider. This term is understood to indicate the loss of the primary provider, father or mother.
Helpless/Needy: These criteria are taken together because both describe a condition of vulnerability. A helpless person is one with no advocate. A needy person is one whose physical and developmental needs are met either not at all or inconsistently.

Dunlap will advertise itself at least once annually by means of direct correspondence to pastors or Clerks of Session of each congregation.
There shall be a comprehensive orientation for all members at the Fall meeting of Dunlap.
Grant applications shall be received for review at the Fall meeting of Dunlap for funding in the subsequent calendar year. With the unanimous consent of Dunlap, grant applications may be considered at other regular or called meetings.
Applicants shall be given a copy of these Policy Guidelines, a copy of General Policy and Instructions for Applicants and a copy of the Dunlap Statement of Biblical Christian Belief.
These Policy Guidelines shall be reviewed on an annual basis.