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Probably a women's health center/birthing center run by women and for women that included surgical unit to repair fistulas in Somalia or another country with huge needs for women. I would love to get it certified as an out of country NARM training site and train midwives from that country so they could work with their own people.

Or maybe an equine therapy center for children who have been abused.

And this isn't exactly a non-profit, but if I had unlimited money I would adopt several children with HIV. I don't think we could currently handle the medical costs involved, but if we had more money that's something we would seriously consider. Maybe someday...

My non-profit would bring together the arts and sciences in a mentoring program that would enroll at-risk/low-income children beginning in the elementary school years and be with them until they graduated from high school.

I actually did start a non-profit company a few years ago. I started making and selling crafts to help raise money for my mom's cancer treatment because it wasn't covered by her insurance. I ended up raising so much money that I was able to give money to a few other cancer patients in need of financial assistance. I wish I could have kept doing it, but it took so much time and effort that I just couldn't keep up with it and still work full time.

Either abused animals or sick children.

@BabyBoecksMom: that's amazing!!!

I've thought about this a bit since I've been in and out of non-profits for a while. There's so much politics involved and even though I'd like to have my own business one day, I'd probably start a for-profit business if I did so. I much prefer working for a large non-profit because it's less stress as a mere employee.

That being said, I would love to run a no-kill shelter or rescue group for dogs!!

@Arden: There are so many things we see eye to eye on!

I would start some kind of non-profit to help children living with HIV. There is an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that is just for HIV+ orphans (http://www.ahopeforchildren.org/), and I'm so inspired by the work that they do. I would definitely start some sort of organization that would be similar to that or would help fund adoptions of HIV+ children.

Something related to poverty that would help people build themselves back up so it can be self-sustaining vs. just giving people a handout. I've always been very interested in microfinancing.

A children's museum for our town. We have nothing for toddlers and kids.

@Mrs. Blue: That is awesome! We've been looking at Reese's Rainbow for HIV+ kids available for adoption.
Many of them have other special needs as well, and because of the system in Eastern Europe, when these kids age out of the baby house at age seven they go into mental institutions, regardless of their mental status.
I want to adopt them all!
http://reecesrainbow.org/category/waitingchildren/hiv-0-5

I've already started one, in Albania, that I ran for six years and then turned it over to an existing, larger organization with more resources.

It was an educational center for young Romani gypsy girls. We offered literacy classes, hot meals, and a basic care clinic three days a week. The dream was to make it a stepping stone for the girls - a way to learn basic hygiene and literacy so that they could get into the public school system.
We also spent a lot of time dealing with the school system, attempting to get them to allow our girls a trial run in the regular schools (they thought Romani kids couldn't learn/had mental deficiencies/etc).
We got about sixty girls into the public school system, which was huge because there were no Romani children in the public school system in our city at the time. Now there are a lot more in schools.

The experience showed me how challenging running a non-profit can be, but it also made me even more certain that I wanted to keep doing this for the rest of my life.

@mrbee: Oh yeah, I visit them whenever I can! Some of them have made it all the way to fifth grade already, which is amazing. My parents still live in Albania so they sometimes come by the house and ask about me. They were so thrilled when I got married, they had been trying to marry me off for years since they get married at 12-15 and they thought I was such a sad old maid.

@mrbee: It was such a learning experience for me. I feel like I got more out of those six years than my girls did.

I was forced to quickly learn the language so I could teach before I could afford to bring in other teachers. I had to learn teaching skills. I had to learn about working with several different special needs, basic medical skills, even how to write grant proposals. Learning by doing is the best way!

@mrstilly: @lemondrop: I know a woman who is an OT and does hippo therapy with her horses in their farm. It is so amazing. They had a professional photographer come and take pics of the kids one day. There were pics of this eight year old girl with autism. She had a HUGE smile on her face. Then they had pics of her parents crying because it was the first time in her eight years that they'd ever seen her smile.

I hope that I have the opportunity to impact someone's life like that someday. Anyway, I might start a non- profit for sexually abused children or adults trying to get their GEDs/continuing Ed.

I'd start something to help kids who age out of the foster system get on their feet as adults or something for older kids who are living in group homes, etc.

I've always wanted to foster/adopt teenagers and pre-teens but I know that I can't help them all in my own home.