Community Involvement
Raising children to help others creates a sense of connection and interdependence with other human beings. Learning that they are interrelated to each other in the community helps form a sense of obligation to other people and caring beyond one’s family (Lickona, 1983).
Corazon Comparte Food Bank
Every Monday, Fundación Corazón de Niña gears up to make a significant impact on the lives of those in need within our community. Welcoming approximately 60 families each week, we provide them with a hot breakfast of bean and cheese taquitos paired with coffee or tea. We also distribute food hampers containing essential staples like rice, beans, oats, sugar, and flour, complemented by a variety of fruits and vegetables graciously donated by Costco. This initiative is part of our broader community outreach program, aiming to alleviate the struggles faced by families with children and seniors living in poverty.
Our commitment extends beyond just feeding families. Recognizing the diverse needs of the families we serve, we've expanded our support to include clothing, school supplies, as well as diapers for both infants and seniors. This is a response to the challenges faced by families who, despite their best efforts, cannot afford these basic necessities.
Since 2022, our impact has reached beyond Puerto Vallarta, encompassing the communities of Los Lobos and El Ranchito. Through the tireless efforts of our dedicated team, we've been able to deliver food hampers to families residing in poverty in these small, neighboring towns.
Behind these transformative efforts are the hands of our incredible young volunteers. The children at Corazón de Niña actively participate in preparing these donations, meticulously measuring out portions of rice, beans, sugar, and more. This hands-on involvement instills in them a profound understanding of the value of helping others and the importance of giving back to those less fortunate. It is through this process that they learn the blessing of God’s abundance and the responsibility they have to share it with others.
Among the families we assist is a mother and her children, two of whom face disabilities that limit their mobility. Immigrants from Honduras, they arrived in search of better job opportunities. The mother, earning a modest $300 CAD per month, struggles to provide for her family's basic needs, including food and diapers. Living in a small shack on the mountainside without proper sanitation facilities, Corazon's food bank serves as a lifeline, allowing her to allocate her earnings to essential medications and other necessities for her children.
Our outreach also touches the lives of seniors who find themselves alone without family support. Take, for instance, an elderly woman who lives alone, diligently seeking work cleaning houses. Yet, many factors such as her age, and the fact that she is missing an eye, are a barrier as potential employers overlook her. These heart-breaking stories reinforce the urgent need for community care and inspire the children in our program to extend empathy to those in vulnerable situations.
As we witness the transformative impact on the lives of these families and individuals, we are reminded that hope is not a one-way street. Just as the children in our program receive hope, they, in turn, have the opportunity to give hope to others. Our mission goes beyond material support; it is about instilling a conscious awareness of those in need, encouraging our young participants to share God's love in a tangible and meaningful way.
Your continued support and donations enable us to expand our reach, touching more lives and making a lasting difference in the communities we serve. Join us in the journey of compassion, where every contribution helps build a brighter, more hopeful future for those facing adversity. Together, we can make a profound impact on the lives of these families and seniors in need.
Community Involvement
We instill a sense of reciprocity and responsibility both at home, in school and in our community through participation in community involvement projects that are now part of our school curriculum, including the collection and separation of garbage in our neighborhood, distribution of food hampers to seniors and families in need, planting trees, neighborhood mural ‘art with heart’, planting, weeding and composting in our gardens, literacy campaigns and their latest project, the Corazón community kitchen!
Families
Corazón has helped over 100 families, providing food formula for babies, counselling, medical attention. Corazón strives to keep families together, accepting siblings of all ages and genders, setting us apart from most residential programs who all have age and gender restrictions.
Shelter for Woment & Children
Temporary shelter for women and/or their children fleeing from situations of extreme poverty and domestic violence. Also, police call us when teens and young women who have been abducted for the purposed of human trafficking to provide shelter and support until family members arrive from their place of origin.
Youth with Addictions
Corazón works with treatment facilities to support youth and young adults recovering from addictions. 90% of our children and youth have one or more parents with addictions and many suffer the effects of Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) causing elevated levels of impulsiveness, inattentiveness and challenges with judgment and school performance - others with Neurobehavioral disorder associated with prenatal alcohol exposure (ND-PAE) have difficulty with daily tasks, social interaction, thinking and memory.
Making a Difference
Our Street is a full two blocks long, a classic Vallarta neighborhood with 15 mariachis, 12 dogs, 6 taxi drivers, of course a corner store...
When Melissa's mom, Sandra, bought the house there was shock and regret the first night she and her family spent there. There was no sleeping - dogs barking, roosters who missed the time change, a Mariachi band on one side and a Tecno party on the other - all night long. After the first month, the neighbor children began waiting for Melissa to get home from work, first so they could visit and before she knew it they were at her door daily, making their way inside spending all afternoon and evening in her house eating, playing, learning, laughing until she sent them home at 9pm - not because their mother's looked for them but because she was tired. They said their parents were arguing or didn't want them around or were still not home from work. As time went on, the information became more disturbing as little girls told of violence and abuse and did not want to go home.
It was a learning curve, coming from Canada where children are not allowed to even walk to school or play on the street - to see children running barefoot on the street at 11pm with cars driving by and people drinking in public. This is our neighborhood.
Things have changed drastically over the years with some people developing a conscience, taking pride their homes, respecting their neighbors, picking up after their dogs, not throwing their garbage on sidewalk! We are leaders in the community, raising the bar in every way and our children and youth are developing a very clear sense of responsibility. We have equipped them with the ability to observe and identify areas of opportunity and the tools they need to effect change and live well!
More stories to come!