We want to take a moment to say thank you to our volunteers in the US and our participants in Mexico for showcasing the worth and quality of Corazón. Our volunteers and sponsors have stepped up in a way that we never dreamed possible when we first started planning for a year without house builds.
Effective altruism, or the notion that people give to charities that maximize their donation’s impact and are close to their heart, seems to manifest itself in Corazón's current success. The outpouring of donations, along with the number of sponsors who agreed to have their construction funds used for direct financial support for our families in Mexico, has been nothing short of miraculous.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost every aspect of our work - including how we connect through house builds and how we provide financial and educational support for our Corazón families. The most rewarding experience from our organization is getting to work side by side with the people in our communities. Unfortunately, it continues to be unsafe for anyone to participate in our usual activities, therefore we revisited our program's goals.
As we’ve shared in previous newsletters, many of our Corazón families are experiencing unemployment, food insecurity, difficulty affording necessary health treatments, or loss in the family.
Because of these challenges, our organization has focused on providing direct financial aid to our families. This direct aid, along with dedicated support from our staff is what has kept our families strong and safe.
Corazón Education
Corazón remains dedicated to helping our students from home. Our staff in Mexico created new ways to provide educational assistance for our families through WhatsApp. Educational videos were developed to help parents learn how to help their children with technology through remote learning. Additionally, Corazón subsidized Wi-fi and cellphone support throughout the year.
Educational Scholarships continue to be distributed to students in our communities with a total of 416 scholarships, over $60,000 awarded in 2020!
Corazón Construction
House builds have been on hold since March, but this hasn’t stopped our sponsors from continuing to support our communities. Many of our sponsors have chosen to either redirect their build funds towards helping Corazón families with their immediate needs or have rescheduled their build dates so that families can still have a new home.
Eleven sponsors have redirected all or some of their funds to helping Corazón families with their immediate needs, including food, financial aid, medicine, etc.
"...any money we have on ‘file’ should get put to needs today.’"
Corazón Family and Community
Workshops
Corazón staff has designed virtual workshops to help the community learn about basic computer skills focusing on Gmail, Google Suites, and more. Committee members from each community will be participating in these virtual workshops to learn how they can help their communities and children during this time.
Meals
As of December 2020, 260 meal vouchers have been distributed for holiday meals for families.
Thank You
Once again, thank you for the endless support you all have shown towards Corazón.
Please take a moment to watch a thank you message from our students who received their tablets thanks to your support.
We wish you and your family a happy new year!
Sincerely,
Team Corazón