Who founded Erica Kirk's orphanage and when was it established?

1. Who founded the charity linked to the Romanian orphanage — the short answer

Erika Kirk (then Erika Frantzve) is identified in multiple fact‑checks and profiles as the founder of Everyday Heroes Like You, the nonprofit that ran the Romanian Angels project which sponsored an orphanage in Constanța, Romania ^{[2] [3] [1]}.

2. When the organization and project appear in records

One biographical summary states Everyday Heroes Like You was established in 2006 ^[1]. Independent reporting and archived project materials cited by fact‑checkers document Kirk’s travel to Romania and promotion of the Romanian Angels project from roughly 2012 through 2014, including a flier describing a holiday “adopt”‑a‑child gift program for the Antonio Placement Center in Constanța ^{[2] [3]}.

3. What “sponsoring an orphanage” meant in the reporting

PolitiFact and WRAL describe the Romanian Angels work as a sponsorship or gift‑drive partnership rather than creation of an orphanage: the project involved selecting children’s names, buying items on wish lists and delivering gifts to an orphanage called Antonio (Antonio Placement Center) in Constanța; United Hands Romania confirmed collaboration with Kirk and said she personally sponsored gifts for children there ^{[2] [3]}.

4. Allegations and the evidence — competing narratives

Social media posts have circulated far stronger allegations — including claims of trafficking links or that Kirk was banned from Romania — but PolitiFact, Hindustan Times and WRAL report that those trafficking claims are unverified and that searches of news databases found no reports of formal accusations, bans or investigations tied to Kirk’s charity work ^{[3] [4] [2]}. Alternative and extreme allegations appear in fringe outlets but are not corroborated by mainstream fact‑checking or investigative reporting cited here ^{[5] [4]}.

5. What the primary sources and fact‑checks actually cite

Fact‑checkers rely on archived fliers, social posts, Everyday Heroes Like You’s archived website and statements from United Hands Romania to show the project existed and that Kirk traveled to Romania in support of it during 2012–2014. Those same checks explicitly state they found no evidence of trafficking charges or official Romanian sanctions tied to Kirk ^{[2] [3]}.

6. Limitations and gaps in the record

Public reporting summarized here shows Kirk founded Everyday Heroes Like You and documents activity around 2012–2014 and a founding date listed as 2006 in one biographical source ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Available sources do not provide the nonprofit’s incorporation paperwork, exact establishment date beyond what the biography states, nor do they publish complete donor lists or complete correspondence with Romanian partners — those documents are not cited in the reporting provided ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

7. Why this matters and how to read the claims

The distinction between founding a nonprofit that ran a sponsorship program and founding an orphanage is central: cited reporting ties Kirk to a sponsorship project and a nonprofit she founded, not to creating or owning an orphanage ^{[2] [3]}. When online posts conflate sponsorship programs with criminal networks, mainstream fact‑checks warn the stronger claims are unsupported by the sources they examined ^{[3] [4]}.

8. Bottom line for the record

Erika Kirk founded Everyday Heroes Like You (the biography lists 2006) and ran the Romanian Angels project that sponsored gifts for children at an orphanage in Constanța during about 2012–2014; independent fact‑checks searched for but did not find evidence that her work was formally linked to trafficking or that she was banned from Romania ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Available sources do not mention any other individual having founded an “Erica Kirk’s orphanage” separate from these accounts ^{[2] [3]}.