Tag Archives: poverty

Shelley Callahan | February 8, 2017En Español

We are delighted to announce a new partnership that will help even more children rise above poverty. The International Student Exchange (ISE) has chosen Children Incorporated to be one of two partners selected for its new “Giving Back” initiative, which includes a six-figure contribution to support our domestic programs.

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ISE volunteers at the airport with a special sign.

It’s a good match. After all, we both bring strangers together to build bridges between social, economic, and geographic divides. Just imagine what we could do together.

“I am so impressed with ISE,” Children Incorporated CEO, Ron Carter, said. “The organization does incredible work all around the globe, and I look forward to the projects we will undertake together in the coming year.”

Ron Carter recently visited ISE at their office in Long Island, New York. Here’s what ISE’s CEO, Wayne Brewer, had to say about the partnership:

RC: For those unfamiliar with ISE, how would you describe the program?

WB: ISE is a not-for-profit organization that has been in existence for 35 years now. Our mission is “educating tomorrow’s leaders.” ISE brings in 2,800 students from over 45 different countries each year to spend a year in a public high school living with a volunteer host family. ISE works with international partners throughout the world who find and screen the students before sending us the 25-page profile of the student.

RC: How long have you been the CEO at ISE? Why did you join the organization?

As a language teacher, I was always thinking of ways to bring people of the world together.

WB: I have been the CEO of ISE for the past twenty years. I was a teacher and public school administrator before I became highly interested and started to work in the student exchange industry. I decided to go full-time in this wonderful work in 1988. I worked for another exchange organization as Vice President and CEO before taking on the challenges of ISE as CEO in 1997. As a language teacher, I was always thinking of ways to bring people of the world together. I found the vehicle of student exchange to be the perfect way to demonstrate to foreign students the kindness and caring nature of the American people. I always tell people that ISE and its fellow organizations do more good than any government in bringing people of our world together. It is rewarding work!

RC: Why did ISE choose Children Incorporated as a partner?

A warm welcome for an international exchange student.

WB: ISE has always wanted to “give back.” ISE certainly achieves its goals, but it usually deals with children who have the means to be part of an international program. It is so obvious that there are many children out there who do not have basic needs simply to survive. Knowing that ISE can help with this is just another reason to maintain the success of its program. We chose Children Incorporated due to its mission and costs. We were very careful in choosing an organization that was extremely careful and attentive to the percentage of each dollar going to the children. Your organization had one of the highest percentages in this regard.

RC: This is a new charity initiative. Can you tell us more about why ISE started a fund for non-profits like ours?

WB: As a non-profit, we are limited as to the projects and purchases in which ISE can be involved. After we finalized our new building, the Board and I discussed what else we could do to help children in need in addition to our overseas programs. It did not take long for our Board to realize the great needs that are out there and how we could help. I believe that it adds another dimension to our organization and our mission.

RC: Can you share an example of an exchange that made a lasting impact on a person or community?

It may be a lofty goal, but it is one that can be realized if we all pitch in together.

WB: It is so evident in today’s world that we need to promote inclusion and understanding in our relations with the world population and leaders. Our program specifically tackles that objective so that our students return to their native countries with a positive and warm feeling about our country and people. To many, this should be the cornerstone of our foreign policy. I always tell people that we see this in action every year. When we take our incentive trip to a different country, our representatives are met with students and families from the past. Our representatives are invited to the communities and homes of their former students. What better way to promote world understanding? Many of our students now have high positions in governments around the world, so they are in a position to promote our goals and missions. As a personal note, two former exchange students who lived with my family are now members of our Board of Directors. They bring a great deal to our Board in terms of understanding and promoting the work that we do.

RC: What is the overall goal of this initiative?

WB: Our Board has asked me as well, “How do we measure ‘success’?” My answer is simple: We will send people out to see first-hand what our donation is doing to help your organization. I will be asking them to bring back to our Board the specifics of how we are helping. I am sure that this is going to be a long list. I see this donation as the second part of our mission to “educate tomorrow’s leaders.” Basic needs must come first before the benefits of education can be realized.

RC: Do you have a vision for what you want the world to look like?

WB: The people of the world must first understand each other, the world’s needs, and the world’s concerns. We must always keep a clear vision as to how we can help people so that their dreams and goals can be realized – a world in which all people can live together, understand each other, and care for all members of society. It may be a lofty goal, but it is one that can be realized if we all pitch in together.

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Shelley Callahan | January 26, 2017En Español

In 1997, Southwest Airlines distributed thousands of copies of Dr. Richard Carlson’s bestseller, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, to its employees — including pilot Don Wyatt of Palm Coast, Florida.

Inspired by the sentiment of the book, Wyatt wanted to give back. And since the late author was a strong supporter of Children Incorporated, Wyatt began to research the organization.

“There are many fine agencies to choose from, but my personal favorite is Children Incorporated… The experience has brought tremendous joy and satisfaction to my entire family.”

– Dr. Richard Carlson

After thoughtful consideration, Wyatt signed on. He currently sponsors four siblings — three sisters and a brother. They live in El Progreso, Honduras, a town still recovering slowly from the destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Today, the population still grapples with the effects of homelessness, disease and continued poverty stemming from that natural disaster.

El Refugio Welfare Center opened soon after the hurricane to provide a place for poor and abandoned children to go to for food, clothing, and educational assistance. The center provides for the children during the day and invites parents to become involved at the center by providing support in childcare, hygiene and healthcare.

A sponsor since 1999, Wyatt has consistently gone above and beyond to help provide the siblings with the essentials they need to succeed. He is currently paying for one to attend college and plans to help the other three when the time comes.

We sat down with Wyatt to learn more about why he chose to become a sponsor, and what he’s learned along the way.

CI: How did you get involved with Children Incorporated?

DW: Like many other people, I learned about Children Incorporated though the book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. I acquired that book through my employer, Southwest Airlines, in 1997. The company thought so much of the book that they bought thousands of them for their employees. The book says to give back to others, and I was impressed with what the author said about Children Incorporated. I have contributed to other charities, and one of the things that I liked the most was that the money goes straight to the children.

CI: What do you know about Honduras?

DW: It was the first time I had been in Honduras in about three years. I am prior military and have lived all over the world. I am very familiar with how things are in underdeveloped countries. I have been to Korea and the Middle East, and I have seen poverty.

CI: What do you know about the childrens’ living situation?

Mr. Wyatt with his family and sponsored children’s family

DW: They live with their mother. She is the primary caregiver, and she has worked several odd jobs in El Progreso. Employment is hard to come by, so she has worked as a clerk in a grocery store, and a custodian at a hospital. But recently, the mother has had health problems. I don’t know how she helped the children when they were not old enough to take care of themselves.

They live in a very rough part of town, and it is amazing that they have somewhere to live at all. They rent the home. For a while they were squatting in a home, and they got into the program because they found an empty home right next to the coordinator’s home. She enrolled the children in Children Incorporated’s program, and then they eventually moved into a home that they could legally pay for.

CI: What do you know about El Refugio?

DW: I met an assistant coordinator, Trenie, who always arranged for a translator and a driver, and has always met me, and spends the whole time with me and my wife, and going about visiting the children’s homes. I have visited all of their schools, and I have taken them out to restaurants and water parks for a day of relaxation. The children are being provided for at the center after school with supplies, clothes and large bags of groceries on a monthly basis.

CI: What can you tell us about the children you sponsor?

The book says to give back to others, and I was impressed with what the author said about Children Incorporated. I have contributed to other charities, and one of the things that I liked the most was that the money goes straight to the children.

DW: Bernardo* was my first sponsored child, but he ended up dropping out of the program. I was asked if I was willing to sponsor a child in the same program in Honduras, which is when I learned about Samuel*. Over the course of a few months, I was told about some special needs of this family, and found out that he had three sisters as well. For about six months, I was only sponsoring Samuel, and then started sponsoring all the children — and that was in 2005.

Cándida* is the eldest of the four children. She was about eleven back then, and now she is 21. She is in her second year of the higher education program in university classes in El Progreso, where she studies information technology. When she’s not studying, she spends her time listening to music and watching movies with her friends.

Right behind her is Mariluz*, who just graduated last December. She’s also a movie buff. We got her a computer to help her with her studies.

Samuel is seventeen. He took an auto mechanics course in junior high school and is continuing his studies at a technical trade school, along with some regular classes.

Natalia* is the youngest. She’s in high school. Like any other teenager, she likes movies and listening to music — but mostly, she looks for simple things to do that don’t cost that much.

CI: Do you communicate with the children directly?

DW: Yes, I try to write them at least as often as they do, if not more — six to eight times a year, and then on birthdays and holidays as well. I tell them a little bit about my life and what I do, and I take pictures of the cockpit of the airplane and send those, and ask them about their health and happiness, and try to encourage them in school. I am hopeful that it will provide some additional opportunities for them.

CI: Do they write back? What do they say to you?

DW: The letters are normally eight to ten lines long, and they give a brief sentence of how they are doing. And then say they hope my family is happy and healthy.

CI: What advice would you have for someone reading about you and your sponsored children, and considering sponsorship?

DW: Children Incorporated is extremely responsive. They welcome inquiries, pass along concerns and are willing for me to get more personally involved with the needs of the children. I am very happy being associated with Children Incorporated, and I feel that the organization has a great history, and every dollar goes to the direct needs of the child.

People contribute to charities for a lot of different reasons. If you are the type of person that wants to become more involved on a personal level, Children Incorporated lets you do that. Often with other charities, you don’t feel like you have a personal impact. With Children Incorporated, you can be more than just a contributor of money.

* Names changed for children’s protection.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN HONDURAS?

You can sponsor a child in Honduras 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@childrenincorporated.org, or go online to our donation portal, create an account, and search for a child in Honduras that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | January 16, 2017En Español

Someone set fire to the playground matting at G.H. Reid Elementary School last summer. The fire spread around the equipment, melting and disfiguring most of it, and leaving the 750 Richmond, Virginia public school children with few options for outdoor play.

But when bad things happen, good people often start showing up to help. Hundreds of volunteers from various Richmond organizations, including Children Incorporated, stepped up to help out last November.

But when bad things happen, good people often start showing up to help.

Together, they rebuilt the playground in just one day.

Community support

Renée Kube, director of U.S. Programs for Children Incorporated, explained that the project was led by KaBoom, a national nonprofit that builds playgrounds, especially in low-income areas.

“We had been told by our volunteer coordinator at the school that funding had been secured from KaBoom,” she said. “But KaBoom requires community buy-in — additional community funding and also hands-on help — so what they really needed from us was warm bodies to come and work all day.”

They also needed maintenance funding, and Children Incorporated pledged to provide that as well.

A one-of-a-kind design

But it was the children who designed the playground, which was based on ideas and drawings submitted by students at the school. Because the children created their own ideas and voted on what they wanted, the Reid Elementary School playground is one-of-a-kind.

The playground under construction

The CarMax Foundation and KaBoom put in most of the upfront money and materials, and on November 3rd, Kube turned up to work, along with her Children Incorporated co-workers, Shelley Oxenham, U.S. Programs Specialist, and Chuck Smith, U.S. Sponsorship Manager.

They were among about 250 volunteers who built the playground from the ground up in just one day. One of the jobs Kube, Oxenham, and Smith were tasked with was painting maps and game boards onto the playground surface.

A global concern

They painted maps of the United States and of the world, a hopscotch board, and other game lines on the blacktop. Fortunately, Kube said, they didn’t have to be experts on global geography in order to get the maps down.

“KaBoom sent people out the day before to plan out where things would go,” she said. “They decided where to put the monkey bars and swings, and they drew out the outline of the maps for us.”

When the work team arrived on November 3rd, they painted the maps, after some redesign.

“One of the volunteers looked at the map of the world and said, ‘That’s not right,’” Kube recounted. “He was Dutch, and he said that part was wrong – so we said, ‘Okay, you’re in charge of Scandinavia.’”

They also needed maintenance funding, and Children Incorporated pledged to provide that as well.

An enthusiastic audience

In addition to the playground, the team built a swing set, a giant Connect 4 board, and a trellis with a bench and cubbies. They also painted the maps and blacktop games, and repainted the lines on the basketball court. They cleared out a garden area, and removed trash and debris from the site.

While the volunteers worked, the children tried – mostly without success – to concentrate in their classes.

“It was tremendously exciting,” Kube said. “The kids were peeking out the windows to watch it going up, and at the end of the day, they were leaning out of the school buses, looking at this new equipment so longingly.”

“They had to wait several days for the concrete to set before they could use their new playground, but since then, it’s been well-used and appreciated,” Kube said.

Ongoing maintenance

Our staff members Renée, Shelley and Chuck

The heavy use the playground will get is one of the things Children Incorporated has pledged to keep up with. With 750 children running across its surfaces every day, the paint won’t hold up forever – and neither will the mulch spread around it.

Children Incorporated will provide funding to repaint and re-mulch the playground as needed – and they may even provide the manpower, too, Kube said.

“We just built it in November, so maintenance is not an issue yet,” she said. “They’ll look at it at the end of the school year and see what needs to be done. We will definitely be providing funding for mulch and maintenance – and, if needed, we’ll be doing the work ourselves.”

Other community groups may put in the physical labor too, Kube said. One church in the area said they couldn’t raise maintenance funds but could provide volunteers to help spread mulch once Children Incorporated purchases it. The paint job may go the same way.

“We want to keep it attractive, and we want to keep it safe,” Kube said.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN Richmond?

You can sponsor a child in Richmond, Virginia by calling our office and speaking with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381 or by emailing us at sponsorship@childrenincorporated.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | January 3, 2017En Español

It’s hard to imagine a lack of food in the nation’s capital — but there is one.

A “food desert” is a place where fresh fruit and vegetables can’t be purchased, and Washington, D.C. is just such a place. Large parts of the city — specifically the poorer — don’t have grocery stores. Instead, they have corner markets where one can purchase snacks and some canned goods, but not nutritious whole foods.

“On average, we have between sixty and 100 families that attend our monthly market,” she said. “Many of our families have a lot of people living in the household, so one limitation of our particular market is that we cannot give out food in accordance to the number of people living in the home.”

“If families have transportation barriers or illnesses, or mobility problems or other barriers to getting out of their neighborhoods, what they’re limited to is these little corner stores,” said Renée Kube, Director of U.S. Programs for Children Incorporated. “For thousands of families in the city, fresh fruits and vegetables just can’t be found.”

Except at school.

Lucy Ellen Moten Elementary School is located in Ward 8 – one of D.C.’s poorest areas. But families there are getting fresh produce each month through the Joyful Market, a partnership program between Children Incorporated and local nonprofit, Martha’s Table.

Free Shopping

Florangel Cuesta-Smith, our volunteer coordinator at Lucy Ellen Moten, said the program serves about 150 families a month in a school of about 430 students.

Once a month, volunteers set up a market of fresh fruit and vegetables inside the school. Families — or the children — can come shop for their own produce, picking out the items they want.

Everything is free, and each family is allotted a certain portion based on the number of people in them. In many cases, parents or caregivers can’t attend, so the children can do the shopping for themselves with help from volunteers.

“Because the school offers a pre-K program, children as young as three often participate on their own,” said Cuesta-Smith.

Students “shop” for fresh produce to take home

“I pre-package the produce for the littlest ones so it’s not too much for them to carry,” she said. “They take it out with them to parent-pickup at the end of the day.”

“While some children do the shopping alone, in other cases, parents or guardians help with the operation,” Kubée said.

“It’s been very appreciated, and it’s also increased parent engagement, because parents are volunteering to come in and do set-up or clean-up,” she said. “That’s a big deal for a school that’s struggling to have a viable PTA.”

“That involvement has had positive repercussions for the school as a whole as well,” Kubée said. Parents have been telling school officials that before, the only interaction they ever had with the school was when their children were in trouble. Now, they’re working with teachers and officials in happier situations, forming bonds between the school and the families it serves.

Learning to Cook

Another reason for parent involvement at the Joyful Market is the guest chef.

Each month, Martha’s Table brings in a guest chef who prepares a healthy snack or meal using the items featured in the market.

Shoppers can try out banana apple smoothies or bean soup, or they can learn how to prepare and cook a butternut squash.

“The kids love that,” said Cuesta-Smith. “And the chef hands out recipes they can take home with them.”

“Allowing kids to try the food first, and letting adults see how easy it is to prepare has been a good way to encourage healthy eating,” Kubée added.

“‘You, too can try eggplant and love it!’ is an idea that resonates if the kids actually get a chance to try it first,” she said.

Portion Control

Nearby Hart Middle School also has a successful Joyful Market program, and coordinator Ashely Lyles, said they’re hoping for more funding to expand its portions.

“On average, we have between sixty and 100 families that attend our monthly market,” she said. “Many of our families have a lot of people living in the household, so one limitation of our particular market is that we cannot give out food in accordance to the number of people living in the home.”

“Currently,” she added, “a family of ten gets the same portions as a family of five, and that’s an issue they could fix with more money as the market grows in popularity. It would be great to be able to provide extra food for the families with lots of folks living in the home,” she said.

But the Joyful Market hasn’t worked everywhere, so Children Incorporated and local volunteer coordinators have branched out with alternative ideas.

“We all know intuitively that children who are hungry when they go to school cannot do their best work while in class,” Kubée said. “Relieving hunger is a vital part of our kids’ ability to develop, grow, learn, and thrive.”

Digging in the Dirt

On the other side of D.C., in Ward 1, the Cardozo Education Campus is a combined middle and high school where Children Incorporated helped create a school garden after the market didn’t work.

One of the problems was that many of the students there are homeless or live in shelters. “Because they can’t cook or prepare food in the shelters, take-home shopping bags full of squash or zucchini didn’t work well for them,” Kubée said.

So volunteers nixed the market, and instead built a school garden.

“When the kids grew their own fresh Roma tomatoes, they were more likely to eat them — especially when they could add basil and oregano that they’ve grown, and put the tomatoes and herbs on a pizza,” she said.

The garden is also being used by the science teachers, so kids get biology lessons from it as well.

“After you try new foods, you and your science teacher can take them apart and dissect them,” she said, noting that they use vegetables to learn about cell structure and functions. “It’s great hands-on learning.”

Across the Country

The school garden is an alternative that Children Incorporated has been using in rural food deserts as well. At the Saint Michaels Association for Special Education in Arizona, the school has built a handicap-accessible garden with paths and plant beds built for easy access by students in wheelchairs.

It’s all part of an overall plan to reduce food deserts and food insecurity nationwide.

“We all know intuitively that children who are hungry when they go to school cannot do their best work while in class,” Kubée said. “Relieving hunger is a vital part of our kids’ ability to develop, grow, learn, and thrive.”

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN Washington, D.C.?

You can sponsor a child in D.C. 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 | November 30, 2016En Español

Let’s get right to it: We would be nowhere without your support. Sponsors make it possible for Children Incorporated to help hundreds of thousands of children around the globe rise above poverty.

Kids like Abel, the tenth grader that I and Luis Bourdet visited last June in Ethiopia, depend on sponsors for supplies and flourish because they know someone out there cares about them. Abel is in the top five of his class!

Sabrina holding a picture of Abel

We contacted Abel’s longtime sponsor, Sabrina Timperman, about her connection to Children Incorporated and her relationship with this rising star. Timperman is a veterinarian and lives in Manhasset, NY.

Q and A with Children Incorporated

CI: Why did you get involved with Children Incorporated?

ST: When I was a little kid, I remember watching commercials on Saturday mornings about sponsoring a child. I’d always tell my mom I really wanted to sponsor a child, but we never did. Still, the commercials stuck with me. I decided as soon as I was able, I would do it- and I did. I signed up in 2007 when Abel was very young. I always wanted children but never had any myself. Instead, I saw an opportunity to help a child in need.

CI: Did you specify specific characteristics of the child you wanted to sponsor (age, gender, country) or was Abel assigned to you without specifications?

ST: I was assigned Abel at random. I searched online for Children Incorporated and signed right up. I’ve never looked back.

I searched online for Children Incorporated and signed right up. I’ve never looked back.

CI: It’s been almost ten years-what have you learned about Abel?

ST: Abel is 16 and in the tenth grade. He loves math and wants to be an engineer someday. He’s very smart and could go far if given the opportunity. He lives with his sister and mother in a government-owned house in the slums that costs about $35 a month to rent. His mother supports the family by selling small, plastic housewares and dishes on the street.

CI: What do you know about the slum where Abel lives?

ST: Someone in his family is sick, and I know that some of the things that I send are making a big difference. I hope it helps him survive in a world that is very harsh. They don’t have a lot. The money is providing him with food, clothes, books, and school.

CI: Do you communicate with him directly?

Abel’s school photo as a young boy

ST: Yes! He writes letters to me in English. His letters are short, but I cherish them. Abel tells me which sports he likes, like basketball. He has a sister; someone in his family is sick but not sure whom. I’ve always wished we’d had been able to contact each other more. I know he goes to school and studies hard.

CI: What do you wish for Abel?

ST: I have this vision that in 30 years from now when he is an adult, one time before I die, I would love to see him. It is so interesting to be with someone for so long having never met them. I’ve watched him grow up. I have his pictures in my room of him getting bigger and bigger. I hope I have given him a chance at a better life.

CI: What advice would you have for someone who is reading about you and Abel, and is considering sponsorship?

ST: I think that it is extremely rewarding; it is money well spent. I could go buy myself a latte, but this small amount of money is changing someone’s life, and it is the difference between that child eating or not- and we all have to do our part in making others lives better and this is a meaningful way to do that. You walk away going, “I changed someone’s life today, and I helped give them something that they wouldn’t be able to get in another way”. The money is helping to make a difference and that is important even if you don’t ever meet the child. It’s a little money for all of us, but if we put it together, then we can be impactful and make a really big difference. And hopefully, they can be sustainable and more self-sufficient in a way and they can continue to succeed and move forward.

Meet Abel

“Hi, my name is Abel. I am in the tenth grade. My favorite subject in school is physics. My teacher describes me as active, sociable, and an excellent student. I enjoy reading and playing soccer. I live with my mother and sister. I live in a small, old rented room that has no running water or indoor plumbing. When I grow up I want to be an engineer. Sponsorship is important to me because it helps with my school fees and other expenses so that I can attend school regularly without a problem.”

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN ETHIOPIA?

You can sponsor a child in Ethiopia 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 Ethiopia that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | November 5, 2016En Español

If you travel around Mexico, as we have, you’re sure to notice that Monterrey feels a little different from the rest of the major Mexican cities. It may be wealth. After all, it’s the second wealthiest city in Mexico. But this capital of the state of Nuevo Leon is a distinctly more modern feeling. Its population of 1.1 million produces iron, steel, glass, furniture, automobiles, and electronic equipment amidst the Sierra Madre Mountains on all sides.

Here, the lower you stand on the income ladder, the higher up on the sides of the mountains you live.

I was so struck by the industrial-yet-contemporary feel of Monterrey when we arrived — it felt like the city had been prepared for its own growth spurt, with expansive highways and city roads that easily accommodated the traffic.

Above this, natural beauty drew my eye as I try to distinguish where the surrounding mountains ended and the sky began.

But despite its busy commercial face, Monterrey is also known for being home to thousands of Mexico’s unemployed and underemployed. As a result, families struggle, even in the middle of all this productivity.

Protecting the Vulnerability of Children

In 1970, Hogar Santa Maria opened with a mission to help the boys and girls of these struggling families, providing them with even the most basic of needs: food to eat, a bed to sleep in, and a safe place to do both. Despite being known as one of Mexico’s safest cities, Monterrey still carries a lot of danger for poor children left to fend for themselves during the day.

The home isn’t far from our hotel, but when we visit it, I see that it’s in a lower-income housing area. Here, the lower you stand on the income ladder, the higher up on the sides of the mountains you live. It’s cheaper there — fewer services are available, and no public transportation can get up the steep roads. The view from the houses is breathtaking, but within the neighborhoods is a less stunning view. Crime runs rampant here, with drug peddling and robberies pretty much status quo. Parents worry about their children becoming involved at a young age, as they so often do.

For three years, Sister Eloise has run Hogar Santa Maria with the help of a secretary and five other Sisters. Together, they provide what’s essentially daycare to twenty-five children, age six through twelve. All of the children go home on the weekends, and about a third of them sleep at home each night, with the Sisters making sure they get good meals and are en route to school at the right time.

Sponsored children eating lunch during our visit

In addition to the six Sisters running the show, the place subsists on donations from community individuals. There’s no government aid here, and because the model revolves around getting the children ready for, headed to, and picked up from school, the capacity of area schools sometimes affects Hogar Santa Maria’s allowed enrollment numbers. Schools in this area essentially determine how many students the home can take. For instance, right now, the home looks after twenty-five students, though the program is designed to accommodate sixty.

Leave it to these always-resourceful nuns to find alternate ways to make money, though. They run a used clothing thrift store in an area far away from their charges. This way, the place doesn’t become a market, the kids remain protected, and Hogar Santa Maria can generate a little income. Volunteers from the community, as well as university students, assist the home in mentoring the boys and holding fundraisers. Children Incorporated sponsors fill the gap with food, medicine, and school supplies for the children at the home.

The children themselves almost embody Monterrey’s juxtaposition of poor and thriving. From the poorest houses, everyone’s treated to a panoramic view of this incredible city, but they still can’t find work. Meanwhile, Monterrey enthusiasts keep coming from Latin American countries or other Mexican states, having heard there was plenty of work for all who needed it but finding nothing at all suitable. Instead of a growing job market, then, the city just has a growing population of poor and uneducated. And in the middle of all this, Hogar Santa Maria keeps quietly running along.

Children Incorporated sponsors fill the gap with food, medicine, and school supplies for the children at the home.

Looking for Help to Keep Their Kids Safe

After visiting Santa Maria, the sisters take us on a newly home visit to Pedro’s house. Pedro lives with his mother, two older brothers, and his mother’s boyfriend in a small house with separate bedrooms and a kitchen. He lives at home with his family, but he is at Hogar Santa Maria on weekdays while his mother works to clean houses.

He’s home this week, though, having just had his appendix removed.

Sister Eloise and the social worker smile and chat with Pedro, who smiles back at them. His mother, meanwhile, tells me about how she worried about leaving her son home alone. She says she feels much more secure about Pedro’s safety now, knowing that Pedro is being cared for by the sisters at Hogar Santa Maria while she works to provide for the family.

The other home on our schedule this morning was a home devoid of children — at least at the time we were there. The grandmother was home alone in a house with three beds, a plastic kitchen table, a small couch, and a refrigerator. She told us that three children, three adults, and she all lived all together in one room. It seemed to me that this had to mean that all the children slept in one bed.

While the adults worked during the day (including the youngest child, who went to work with her mother), the older children traveled to school all on their own. Again, at this home, the family we met expressed great concern that the children would get into crime or drugs if left to their own devices. They count on Hogar Santa Maria to keep their children safe.

I wonder what exactly Hogar Santa Maria needs in order to enroll enough children to meet its full capacity — more money, surely, to buy food and supplies — but also to hire staff and teachers. I wonder if these families look down at the city below and wonder what it would feel like to have everything they need all the time, including the luxury of safety.

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You can sponsor a child in Mexico 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 Mexico that is available for sponsorship.

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