“Behind the number 30 are the hundreds of employees, hundreds of volunteers, thousands of volunteer hours, thousands of people and lives that have been changed,” said Mihai Șerengheu, Veritas board president. “It’s more than a number.”

When Professor Dorothy Tarrant moved to Sighișoara in the summer of 1995, she did not intend to establish a social service agency. She was concerned about providing her American study-abroad students from Eastern Nazarene College with a cultural immersion experience that included learning the Romanian language and culture while living with Romanian host families.

“More importantly,” Tarrant reflected, “students learned how to put their Christian faith in practice by serving some of the most disadvantaged people in Sighișoara.”

Students began working with abandoned children in the municipal hospital, with children begging on the street, and with the socially isolated elderly. As Romanians joined the ministry team, Tarrant saw the need to legally establish an organization to help pay salaries, purchase property, and apply for grants – leading to the creation of the Veritas Sighișoara Foundation in 2001.

Over the years, Veritas has offered a wide range of social and community services–combatting domestic violence, English camp for high schoolers, cultural events such as craft fairs and concerts, and a gospel choir and café that served as connection points for members of the community.

Executive Director Petra Popa said that Veritas currently provides accredited social services for children and teenagers, senior adults, individuals with special needs, as well as offering a soup kitchen. Veritas benefits from partnerships with the Sighișoara city hall, the Princess Margareta of Romania Foundation, as well as individual and corporate donors and volunteers.

Veritas is also a Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) partner organization and a participant in the NCM child sponsorship program. Nazarene volunteers and teams have been instrumental in the development of Veritas through the years.

Sighișoara Mayor Iulian Sîrbu thanked Veritas for “three decades in which you have stood by children, the elderly, families in need, and all those who have needed support at some point. Your work is often unassuming, but it makes a real difference in people’s lives.”

The day’s festivities included tributes from various individuals connected to Veritas, a performance by the Gospel Choir, and a refreshment break for socializing and sharing memories. Interspersed throughout the celebration were artistic moments from each of the current Veritas programs where children, individuals with special needs, and senior adults recited poems and sang songs.

Reflecting on the past 30 years, Dorothy Tarrant remarked: “For me, it was a great privilege to be used by God to establish an organization that has had such an impact on so many lives.”