Heroic adoptive father to 45 disabled children needs your help today

You can donate to help care for Antonio de Mello’s disabled children here.

(LifeSiteNews) — Antonio de Mello, a Brazilian Catholic man who has adopted no less than 45 disabled children, is seeking financial help at a critical moment in his mission’s quest to continue to provide medical care for the many kids he has taken under his wing. 

The children he cares for have been abandoned, and many of them were harmed by botched abortions in Petrópolis, Brazil.

In a poignant video message posted to social media, de Mello — seated by his wheelchair-bound son João Miguel —  explained that due to rising medical costs:

This month we are facing a very great difficulty! Our health insurance costs have spiked, covering plans for 45 children, which totals today 45,000 Brazilian reais per month (equivalent to about $9,000 U.S. or 8,000 Euros).

“We have been overcoming challenges throughout the years, but this month, I really need your help,” said de Mello. 

“Please help us!” he urged.

Antônio Carlos Tavares de Mello founded the Jesus Child Community in 1990, an association of the faithful dedicated to welcoming, adopting and protecting men and women, children and adults, with disabilities.

The community is located on a donated farm in Petrópolis, Brazil, and is composed of committed lay people who “seek to live the evangelical counsels of poverty, obedience, chastity, and married members. The community is dedicated to restoring the value of life and family.”

In 2024, EWTN shared de Mello’s story, largely in his own words. It began when he visited a local hospital to organize a party for the disabled children there.

“I opened the door and a boy said, ‘Do you want to be my father?’ I immediately felt that God was speaking to me, [telling me] to take care of them,” said de Mello.

He soon served as the children’s religion teacher, teaching them his own specially designed curriculum. The desire for fatherhood then began to “stir deep in his heart.”

“One night I went to the institution to help put the children to sleep. I witnessed how mistreated they were by the hospital staff. I was so angry, I prayed and told God, ‘I no longer want to follow you, because you are allowing this to happen,’” said de Mello.

“At this moment, I felt a voice in my heart telling me to donate my life to these children.”

He then consulted a local bishop about his new sense of mission, and was told to pray about it for two years. 

After those years had passed, de Mello said, “I still felt it was my calling. With the help of some young people, I was given permission to take care of some of the children. I rented a two-bedroom small house, and adopted 3 of the children. I wanted to form a family … and be a father like St. Joseph.”

Eventually, the hospital closed, and de Mello adopted dozens more children, bringing the total to 45. Now, said de Mello, his community has expanded to involve 700 caretakers worldwide, helping to take care of people with disabilities who have been abandoned, victimized, or survived abortion. His local Jesus Child community is like a “small town,” and includes a church and a school. 

“They taught me the true meaning of life,” de Mello said of the children. “I always say that in their abandonment, God found me and I found humanity in today’s world.”

“They were showing me a reality I didn’t know, which was how disabled I was. The biggest disability was my disability, because those boys made such an impression on me with their love,” he said.

In 2019, de Mello told LifeSiteNews that he was able to launch the community and maintain it “because this strength comes from God” and that “if it wasn’t for this perfect love of God’s trust in me, I couldn’t do it.”

You can donate to help care for de Mello’s disabled children here. U.S. donations are 100% tax-deductible.