Did you know Amish children are forbidden from going to school after the 8th grade?
Help Amish Kids Learn By Giving Today!
Attend school beyond the 8th grade
Speak English as a second language (avg 5th grade literacy)
Learn STEM (science, technology, engineering, math), civics, law, politics, sex education, and the arts
Did you know that even YOU do not have the right to learn according to the US federal government?
Our Goal
Make A Real Change In American & Indigenous Children’s Lives
In 1972, the United States Supreme Court decided in Wisconsin v. Yoder that Amish children do not have the right to any future other than one inside the Amish Church.
An Amish child is prohibited by law from becoming anything but a “housewife” or a “farmer”.
Guided by enlightenment principles, the Amish Heritage Foundation (AHF) is, to our knowledge, the first organization in 300+ years of Amish history that advocates for the Amish—inside and outside the Church—without a religious price tag, promotes compassionate secular values, and empowers those who leave the Church.
We envision that one day education will be an explicit federal right for every child and adult.
In the meantime, we’re empowering Amish women and children through education, so they can choose their futures.
“The Amish Heritage Foundation has provided me with life-changing emotional support, influence and guidance. I don’t feel so alone anymore.”
“When I escaped, I didn’t even know if I had a birth certificate. The Amish Heritage Foundation helped me get documented right away, so I could get a job and be recognized as an American citizen.”
“If it weren’t for The Amish Heritage Foundation and their dedicated staff, we would never have been able to stand up to the abuse inside our church. We would have just given up.”
The Amish Heritage Foundation Blog
How Parentification Disrupts Your Development and Holds You Back as an Adult
It’s more common than not for Amish children, especially the oldest girl and boy, to be forced to be the second mother and second father. This is parentification, a form of child abuse.
Can We Please Talk About Gender? “The Amish: A People of Preservation”
A central message of the film is that wanting rights for practicing Amish women and girls is an attack on the faith, but taking away their rights is just religious freedom.
Think Secular Is Atheist? How the Christian Right Take Advantage of You
“Secular” has nothing to do with religion. You can be religious and secular at the same time.
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Empowering Amish women and children through education
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