Tag Archives: child poverty

Shelley Callahan | June 7, 2015En Español

Swansboro Elementary School, founded in 1986, is located in the south side of Richmond, Virginia. For young students in the community, life presents many challenges. It is estimated that as many as ninety percent of the children who attend the school are being raised in single-parent homes with incomes far below what is needed to make ends meet. Numerous children there live transient, unstable lives, moving frequently between the homes of relatives and acquaintances. Thankfully, students have our volunteer coordinators not only to provide them with basic needs, but also to give them treats to celebrate their accomplishments.

Ms. Hines wanted the students to have the opportunity to spend time together socializing, but she also wanted each student to learn more about sponsorship and ask any questions they might have about it.

The scoop about our sponsors

A few years ago, our Volunteer Coordinator at Swansboro Elementary School at the time, Ms. Hines, hosted a Children Incorporated “Here’s the Scoop” ice cream social to celebrate the children finishing the school year. All of the students in our program attended. Ms. Hines wanted the students to have the opportunity to spend time together socializing, but she also wanted each student to learn more about sponsorship and ask any questions they might have about it.

Before the ice cream was served, Ms. Hines asked students to raise their hands if they had a question. One student raised his hand and asked, “What does the word ‘sponsor’ mean?”

Sponsorship from afar

Ms. Hines explained that a sponsor is, in most cases, a complete stranger who is caring and wants to make sure that his or her sponsored child has the things he or she needs, like warm clothes in the winter, school supplies, and clothing for summertime. This clicked with all of the students because each of them had received such items throughout the school year.

Another child raised his hand and asked, “Does my sponsor live in Richmond?” Ms. Hines explained that most sponsors do not live in Richmond – that they live all over the country, and some, even in other countries. This was very fascinating to all of them and they were very touched that someone who lives somewhere else would care enough to help them. Yet another boy raised his hand and exclaimed, “I got to meet and hang out at school with my sponsor!” He was so proud to share this with the others.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA?

You can sponsor a child in Richmond in one of two ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members, or email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | May 18, 2015En Español

Located just southeast of Mexico, Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America. Its spectacular mountains boast a wealth of natural resources and stunning biodiversity. For centuries, this land served as the core territory of the renowned Mayan civilization. Following two centuries of Spanish colonization, Guatemala gained its independence in the early nineteenth century – only to endure another 150 years of political instability and civil unrest.

Our Skills Training Programs teach skills that participants can use to earn money in their communities.

Additionally, this area is prone to devastating natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and hurricanes, which cause mudslides and flooding. Despite more recent economic growth and successful democratic elections, Guatemala still struggles with widespread poverty, illiteracy, crime, and high rates of unemployment and underemployment. The nation’s capital, Guatemala City, is no exception to these maladies.

For these reasons, our affiliated project, Santa Isabel Ana Seton, is not only vital to ensuring that children receive an education and are provided with basic necessities, but it also provides important skills training programs for our sponsored and unsponsored children’s families so that they can learn new skills to help generate income.

Sisters providing for children in need

Santa Isabel Ana Seton, located in Guatemala City, is named after a North American nun who was canonized in 1975. The center is now run by the Sisters of San Vicente de Paul and Santa Luisa de Marillac, who tend to the needs of impoverished families living nearby. Additionally, since Guatemala’s public education system suffers from overcrowding, numerous teacher strikes, and a general lack of school supplies, the Sisters also partner with a local private school, the Escuela Santa Maria, to ensure that children at the center are receiving an education. Together, the school and the center strive to provide sponsored and unsponsored children with basic needs and a sound education.

In addition to providing support to children through our sponsorship program at Santa Isabel Ana Seton, Children Incorporated has also established two skills training programs there for our sponsored and unsponsored children’s parents.

New skills for a better future

In addition to providing support to children through our sponsorship program at Santa Isabel Ana Seton, Children Incorporated has also established two skills training programs there for our sponsored and unsponsored children’s parents: dressmaking and tailoring, and a chef and culinary program. Since the implementation of the programs a few years ago, there have been over forty graduates from both. The graduates have reported that they feel confident that their new skills will provide them with the opportunity to earn additional income or to obtain more lucrative jobs so that they can better provide for their families in the future.

Before attending the chef and culinary program, one of our sponsored children’s mothers had been selling nachos from a small vending cart. Now that she has graduated from the course, she is expanding her business to include empanadas, mole, lasagna, pizza, pastries, and other elaborate dishes she did not know how to make before. She feels that the new additions to her menu will help her earn more money for her family.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN GUATEMALA?

You can sponsor a child in Guatemala in one of three ways – call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members; email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org; or go online to our donation portal, create an account, and search for a child in Guatemala that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Children Incorporated | March 9, 2015En Español

Children Incorporated staff members flip through Roberto’s art portfolio – a stunning collection of photo-realistic, surrealistic, and abstract works – in awe, while the artist himself looks on with humble delight. Simple child-art drawings – his earliest masterpieces – occupy the first few pages.

Art wasn’t always a part of my life,” Roberto confesses in soft-spoken Spanish as he stands in the small office in Richmond, Virginia. He’s miles away from home, and yet among surrogate family. “In fact, I didn’t really start drawing until right around the time I got sponsored.

Roberto’s artwork on display in his home studio in Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Once a child in Children Incorporated’s sponsorship program, Roberto Carlos Andrade Jijena is now an adult – and an accomplished artist. Several pieces of his art are currently on exhibit in the Jadite Galleries in New York City. The curator there, Marta Sossi, was so impressed by the artwork she saw on Roberto’s website that she invited him to fly from Bolivia to New York to participate in a group exhibition featuring a select handful of Latin American artists. Our International Programs Director, Luis Bourdet, joined Roberto and his wife, Verónica, in New York for the exhibit’s Opening Reception this past Tuesday. During his brief stay in the United States, Roberto requested to visit Richmond. When Luis asked what Roberto wanted to see here, the artist simply replied, “Children Incorporated.”

Roberto and Verónica recently spent a day at the Children Incorporated office, meeting some staff members for the first time and reuniting with others as though with family or long-lost friends. Now, Roberto addresses the small staff as a whole. He starts by telling how it all began.

Roberto was first enrolled in Children Incorporated’s sponsorship program at our Colegio Don Bosco project in Sucre, Bolivia when he was eight years old.

“I was so excited,” he reflects. “I couldn’t wait to have a padrino [a Spanish word meaning both ‘sponsor’ and ‘godparent’]. But I waited for a sponsor for a long time – several years.”

“I will always be grateful to Children Incorporated,” Roberto concludes. “No matter how famous I may get, how valuable my artwork becomes, I will always donate some of my work to Children Incorporated, to help them continue to help children. It’s my way of giving back and saying ‘thank you’.”
– Roberto

That all changed when Dr. James Wheeler read about Children Incorporated in the book Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson, Ph.D. In 1998, Dr. Wheeler contacted Children Incorporated to begin sponsoring with us. One of the children assigned to him was Roberto.

“When I heard I had a sponsor,” Roberto recalls, “I was so happy. I feel like, when you’re younger, you don’t really appreciate the true value of things; but I had waited so long to be sponsored that I understood – I understood how wonderful and beautiful it is, knowing that someone from somewhere you’ve never been – someone you’ve never met – is helping you. That knowledge really motivated me.”

Dr. Wheeler continued to sponsor Roberto until Roberto graduated from high school and from the sponsorship program. Subsequently, Children Incorporated was able to help Roberto attend college. He graduated with a degree in architecture (after much debate about whether to major in art, architecture, or medicine). At the time, he reasoned that art and architecture go hand in hand – he could do both. Eventually, however, he returned to his first love: art.

“It beckoned me,” he explains with a whimsical smile.

His decision to solely pursue art, he adds, has opened so many doors – including today’s serendipitous meeting. But he attributes one of the most significant open doors of opportunity in his life to Children Incorporated.

More of Roberto’s work in his studio

“A lot of people think that an organization like Children Incorporated is about giving money – giving from one person’s pocket to someone else’s pocket,” Roberto explains. “But really, it’s about giving of the heart – from one heart to another. That’s what I’ve learned from my sponsor and from Children Incorporated. What he and Children Incorporated have done for me has inspired me to give of myself.”

Indeed, Roberto has already donated twenty pieces of his art over the years for Children Incorporated to sell. The proceeds have been used to assist children enrolled in our program.

“I will always be grateful to Children Incorporated,” Roberto concludes. “No matter how famous I may get, how valuable my artwork becomes, I will always donate some of my work to Children Incorporated to help them continue to help children. It’s my way of giving back and saying ‘thank you’.

“Because the happiest people in life aren’t the ones who have everything; the happiest people are those who share everything.”

To view Roberto’s art, visit his website: http://www.bolivianet.com/arte/robertoandrade

— Story by Children Incorporated staff member Suzanne Estes

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN BOLIVIA?

You can sponsor a child in Bolivia in one of three ways – call our office and speak with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381, email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org, or go online to our donation portal, create an account, and search for a child in Bolivia that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | March 3, 2015En Español

“Being raised by a single parent is hard nowadays,” Genevieve, the Children Incorporated coordinator at LBJ Elementary School, commiserates.

She is referring to Billy*, a student enrolled in our sponsorship program at her school, who is being raised by a single father. Genevieve tells us that Billy’s father attends all budgeting classes and parent-night functions. “He always stays after to help me and the other volunteers clean up the gym,” she adds.

But despite the tremendous emotional support Billy’s father religiously provides, he is unable to provide for all of his son’s basic, material needs.

That’s where sponsorship comes in.

Billy trying on his new shoes

“I just cannot express how much the Children Incorporated program has meant to Billy,” Genevieve exclaims. “Of all the children I have personally selected to be on this program, he is the happiest. It seemed to boost his personal confidence just knowing he had a pen-pal that wants to help him out with extra needed items.”

Recently, Billy’s sponsors helped out even more – contributing an additional gift for Billy’s general needs. Genevieve immediately contacted us to share the positive impact this act of kindness made:

“Billy needed shoes so badly,” she reports, “and the day I went to buy them, they were on sale, so I had enough money to purchase four pairs. I cannot express how thrilled the child was upon receiving the shoes, and his father kept thanking me over and over again.”

“Billy is very appreciative and loves knowing he is special to [his sponsors],” Genevieve adds. As proof, she enclosed a copy of the thank-you letter that Billy wrote to his sponsors, Mr. and Mrs. Dunn:

Never in my whole life have I ever got four pairs of shoes at one time. I thank you so much for doing that for me. I cannot express how much I thank you. I needed them so bad. My shoes busted on the bottom and it was cold in the morning. This program is so good and has made a positive difference in my life. It’s like having a guardian angel watching over me that likes me no matter what.

Thank you for being my friend,

Billy

“As a resource coordinator,” Genevieve concludes, “there is only so much we can do to positively affect that child’s life, and it is so rejuvenating when the children enrolled are that pleased as Billy expressed in his letter. Children Incorporated is a great program to work with as a collaborative partner. I, too, am thankful to be a part of a school system that participates. It makes you feel good knowing it made a difference!”

*Name changed for the child’s protection.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN Kentucky?

You can sponsor a child in Kentucky in one of two ways – call our office and speak with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381, or email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | February 25, 2015En Español

Winter can be especially difficult for children living in poverty. Fiercely cold weather, when compounded by poverty, is not just a moderate source of discomfort or inconvenience; it becomes a true obstacle, making it difficult for students to keep warm, attend school, and receive nutritious food.

Our schools in Eastern Kentucky, for example, have already seen their fair share of inclement weather and especially cold temperatures this season, resulting in widespread school closings. Even when school is in session, the cold weather impacts students’ ability to attend classes.

“The recent arctic blast makes it difficult to wait for the bus in the mornings,” Donna Sturgill, our volunteer coordinator at West Whitesburg Elementary School, reports, “so attendance can be an issue.”

Sponsored students in our program receive cold-weather gear such as warm clothing, gloves, scarves, and coats to help them combat frigid temperatures and to minimize the weather’s negative impact upon their education and nutrition.

Missing school, whether due to school closings or weather-related student absences, causes children in our program to miss out on more than just a day of classwork and assignments.

The problem of missing school

“Our school district was one of the few in the state of Kentucky that didn’t cancel classes due to the frigid temperatures last week,” Marsha Walker, assistant coordinator at Hazard Independent Schools, reports.

“If a student missed school due to the temperatures or safety concerns, not only was instructional time missed, but so were two free hot cooked meals. Granted, that may not seem like much, and I’m sure many adults have skipped breakfast or lunch and it doesn’t seem like an issue. However, when you consider that some of our students only receive hot meals at school, and that lunch is served hours before dismissal, many of the students who were absent may have gone hungry. Not the ‘I need a snack’ hungry, but the type of hungry that causes your stomach to grumble and your head to ache.”

Our Warm clothing fund in action

Children lacking sufficient winter clothing, however, may not be much warmer staying home from school. Ms. Sturgill reports that the local electric company has announced another imminent increase in energy costs.

“Families have already had to go back to coal and wood for heat, myself included,” she confesses.

Sponsored students in our program receive cold-weather gear such as warm clothing, gloves, scarves, and coats to help them combat frigid temperatures and to minimize the weather’s negative impact upon their education and nutrition.

Several students at our affiliated schools in Kentucky are still awaiting sponsorship – and struggling to get by.

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HOW DO I Donate to the Warm Clothing Fund?

You can donate in one of three ways – call our office and speak with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381, email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org, or go online to our donation portal, create an account, and donate to the Warm Clothing Fund.

DONATE TO OUR WARM CLOTHING FUND

Shelley Callahan | June 7, 2014En Español

In 2011, Children Incorporated was gifted $10,000 by Deep Run High School in Richmond, Virginia as a beneficiary of the school’s Deep Run Marathon Dance. In an effort to help children in Richmond with vision issues, the contribution was used for a large-scale vision clinic held in October 2011 at the Arthur Ashe, Jr. Athletic Center in partnership with OneSight, Richmond City Public Schools, the Rudi Johnson Foundation, the James Farrior Foundation, and Art on Wheels.

“She had often complained of headaches. With her new glasses, however, she is able to concentrate for longer periods of time, and she no longer gets headaches.”

It was announced in early 2018 that after many years, Deep Run High School is retiring the Marathon Dance fundraiser; but the memory of what our organization was able to do, thanks to that donation, will last a lifetime for us and for the children who benefited from it.

Eye chart art

During the vision clinic, funds donated to Children Incorporated helped not only with the cost of providing eye exams for kids, but also with costs associated with a therapeutic, hands-on “eye chart art” project with partnering organization Art on Wheels. As the children rotated through the eye exam stations, they were asked how they “saw” themselves in the past, present, and future. Then, during the wait for their glasses, the children made ‘eye chart collages,’ which were all digitally photographed.

When the clinic was over, the children took their original collages home. The digital photos were judged by Art on Wheels staff members; 25 pieces were awarded special mentions, and they were printed and mounted. At the end of the month, the 25 pieces were installed at a local art gallery, where a screen displayed rotating images of all participant’s art.

Improvements in academic performance

At the vision clinic, 654 Richmond children received comprehensive eye exams. For many, this was the first time their eyes had ever been thoroughly examined by an eye doctor. Of these kids, 463 needed eyeglasses. Additionally, six children received referrals to pediatric ophthalmologists due to the discovery of serious eye conditions.

After the clinic, a survey was sent to each of the children’s teachers. Their feedback included comments such as, “Because she is seeing the board so much better, she no longer has to sit extremely close to it. There has been an improvement in her academic performance.”

“His writing scores on his bi-weekly tests have improved.”

“She had often complained of headaches. With her new glasses, however, she is able to concentrate for longer periods of time, and she no longer gets headaches.”

We can’t thank amazing students and administrators like those at Deep Run High School enough for making it possible for us to help so many children who were in need of eye exams, glasses, and referrals. These incredible people helped to offer better vision and a better future for so many of our sponsored and unsponsored children.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA?

You can sponsor a child in Richmond, Virginia in one of two ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members, or email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD