Summary

The International Federation of the petits frères des Pauvres (English translation: Little Brothers of the Poor) is an international non-profit organization founded in 1946 in France and now with thousands of active members in the USA, France, Canada (Quebec), Mexico, Spain, Germany and Ireland.

	We are one of the largest and oldest organization with the sole mission of relieving loneliness and isolation among the elderly. We perform an aid that social agencies cannot provide: Instead of selling impersonal services we base our work on personal, intimate relationships. Love and dignity and beauty in life are as - and often more - important than basic physical needs.
	We are not affiliated with any religious, political or other special interest groups. Our philosophy is based on social, democratic and Christian values, without giving preference to one or the other political or religious belief.
	We visit elderly people regularly in their homes. For this we match a lonely elderly person with a volunteer who visits him or her regularly. Often, this lays the groundwork for solid and meaningful friendships.
	We conduct vacation sessions and day trips, we organize holiday parties, lunches and opportunities to talk on the telephone. We value independence for our old friends and provide them with the assistance they need to remain in their own houses or to live at least independently.
	Our organization is based on the enthusiasm and commitment of volunteers. We offer to people of good will the opportunity to join the elderly in friendship and celebration of life.
	All our activities and operations are preponderantly financed by donations from individuals, corporations or foundations. In most countries these donations are tax-deductible because les petits frères has been officially recognized as a non-profit organization. We also receive an important part of our income through inheritances and bequests, but never from the elderly people we serve.

For over fifty years now, les petits frères des Pauvres, Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly, Los Hermanos del Anciano, Amics de la Gent Gran and Freunde alter Menschen have been going out to the poorest of the elderly, to those who have lost - partially or totally, temporarily or definitively - their physical, mental or economic independence.