Leaving Home
Supporting Post-Secondary Education for Casa Hogar Graduates
UNICEF estimates that there are 150,000 orphans living in Honduras. Many of these children come from abusive home situations and while they may have families, they have been forced to flee for their own safety. Unfortunately, life on the street makes them vulnerable to hunger, illnesses, violence, and, often times, being forced into prostitution.
Casa Hogar (Honduras) is a home for marginalized and vulnerable children and youth rescued from the urban streets of Honduras. The program at the home ensures that the physical, medical, educational, and spiritual needs of each child or youth are provided for within a “family” environment, each one receiving nurturing and love, and treated with dignity and value.
During the time children and youth spend at the home, there are several goals that the missionaries and staff are working towards:
That the youth graduate from Casa Hogar with real life skills, ready to face adulthood in one of the poorest and most violent countries in Latin America
That the youth have been equipped to have a healthy relationship with the Lord and the ability to continue to grow in their walk with Christ
The provision of an above-average educational opportunity to prepare a future generation skilled to contribute to positive change in their sphere of influence
Roughly half of the children living at Casa Hogar are teenagers or nearing that age. As they get closer to the end of high school, what the teens do and where they go after graduating from Casa Hogar becomes more of a focus. Post-secondary education is just as important in Honduras as it is in Canada. It opens the door for many more opportunities for stable and adequate employment, it contributes to the self-worth of the student, and it generates a greater confidence in the student’s ability to contribute to society and to create positive change in their community and country.
Funds raised through FAIR’s Journey with a Child special appeal will establish a post-secondary grant for Casa Hogar graduates moving on to the next phase in their education. Graduates will be able to use grant funds to help pay for education and related expenses at their own discretion. These grants will help ease the transition of these precious and still vulnerable youths away from Casa Hogar and into lives as independent students and functional adults.
You can invest in the future of a Casa Hogar graduate by making a donation to Journey with a Child today.