January 2020 Happenings
for Hope House in Mexico
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Here is our monthly (más o menos) newsletter to keep our friends and family updated on what is happening with Hope House Children's Relief (HHCR) and Hope House in Mexico. For those who don't know, HHCR is our not-for-profit 501(c)3 and all donations received are directed solely to Hope House (Casa Hogar Mi Esperanza en el Corazon) in Ixtlahacan, Jalisco, Mexico. The newsletter will provide updates on the boys - especially the new ones - a little insight into the staff, teams, vocational training, projects, and items of special interest. If you know of someone that would be interested in HHCR/Hope House, Mexico updates, they can subscribe here.
A copy of last month's newsletter can be found here. If you go to this website there is a link to all previous newsletters. |
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January was a relatively quiet month. It is back to normal with the craziness of Christmas behind them. However, there still are the monthly birthdays to be celebrated. The collage below of a couple of the boys celebrating their birthdays, with the other boys joining in on the fun as well as the cake.
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We included the photo below because it is typical of the smiling faces of the boys. This is our reward and why we are doing what we are can to provide what is necessary to keep Hope House a viable place for these boys to find safety, love, education, and a family atmosphere. Many visitors comment on the pleasant expression on the boy's faces and how well they are taken care of. For us, it is an irreplaceable reward and worthy of our time and effort.
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Every January and June a team comes down from Kentucky, They, under the direction of John Trinkle, are the ones responsible for construction of the Transition House, which is now has one occupant. This time they came to put the sidewalk in front of the rooms on the first floor. The guy with the thumbs up is the first occupant, Ulisis, helping the crew. Having the boys graduate to the Transition House as they work to gain independence has been a long-term dream of ours.
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One part of the team does construction and the other spends time with the boys doing crafts or even exercising. This is shown in the collage below.
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Local Volunteers Treating the Boys
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There are quite a few people in this area that have a heart for children in a home like Hope House. Charles and Ruthie Baker are a special couple for Hope House. Ruthie provides funding for the dental work of the boys through the proceeds of her bakeshop, Sweet and Treats, in the village of Ajijic. The things she bakes are very scrumptious. Charles is busy driving the van for the boys, and spends a lot of loving care with them. And many times he is the delivery man for groceries and anything needed. Somehow they found the time to treat the boys to a movie on New Year's Day, as shown in the photo below. Imagine yourself taking this number of boys of various ages to the movies - definitely a challenge but worth it to see the boys faces!
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In-house Tutor and Workshop Instructor
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Hope House is extremely grateful for the response received in providing scholarship funds for the boys' education. One of the strains on the daily budget is tutoring boys in their regular schooling. The tutoring program is very successful, and the boys in this program are performing significantly better in school as a result. A tutor in the morning works with the boys attending school in the afternoon, and a tutor in the afternoon helps the boys attending school in the morning. The cost is $75 USD per tutor per week, or $150 per week for all tutoring. If you would like to help with this, it makes a huge difference in giving the boys hope for the future. Donations can be made here.
Hope House is currently needing to add a teacher in the woodwork shop. Hope House has one of the most complete workshops in the area that is now primarily used to complete projects. We have been blessed with this workshop and it is beneficial and prudent to use it for training the boys in carpentry, as there is always a market for young men skilled in carpentry in the area. Donations can be made at the same link above. Two classes per week, each of three hours, is the goal.
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Just to remind you that Hope House has a program available for donors who would enjoy sponsoring a particular boy. In this program a specific boy would be assigned to you. More information on how this program works, and how you can be part of it can be obtained by contacting Karlee here. This program is administrated through Shepherd's Heart Ministries, one of many partners supporting Hope House.
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As mentioned before, HHCR recurring donations have almost doubled because of employer matching funds. To be able to bring in more boys, we have chosen to increase the monthly recurring donations to $4,000. This places monthly financial giving at 65% of our new goal of $4,000. You can see that using a seemingly small thing like applying for matching donations through your employer can have a huge impact. We would love to achieve the new monthly goal so that Hope House will be able to take in more boys.
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HHCR has been approved by PayPal as a legitimate 501(c)3 charity. This makes HHCR part of the PayPal Giving Fund. The impact is that all donations made through the PayPal Giving Fund are free of any fees. And since HHCR operates without any management fees, every dollar donated through use of the PayPal Giving Fund button goes 100% to Hope House.Some of our donors have already made use of this opportunity to donate to HHCR. Donations can also be made via Clover Donations through our website, bank transfer, or via check to our Laredo address.
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