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March 2003
This document states the reasoning behind our sponsorship policy and
describes how we handle the sponsorship funds. While this is the rule of
operation at Casa Para Niņos, exceptions can and do occur and we reserve
the right to make necessary changes due to the conditions that apply.
Casa Para Niņos commenced in February, 1989 as a children’s home with a
family environment. Due to God’s faithful blessing and the favor of
various Guatemalan authorities, Casa Para Niņos has grown to nearly 500
children.
Shortly after establishing Casa Para Niņos, Mike and Dottie Clark
initiated a child sponsorship program with the objective that each child
would have someone who prays for them by name, remembers special days
and helps defer the costs of personal needs. Child sponsorships have
played a significant role at Casa Para Niņos, adding a personalized
outreach to individual children as well as providing additional funding
for operations. Having a family of hundreds of children has resulted in
thousands of interpersonal relationships. Many sponsors have even come
to visit us in Guatemala, which is a big event in the life of the child.
Initially, the monthly sponsorship amount for one child was set at $25.
However, this amount was raised to $35 per month in 2000 due to the
rising costs of operations. All sponsors at that time were considered
“grandfathered” at $25 per month. Many of those sponsors have stayed
committed at that amount, while others have chosen to increase their
gift to match their child's needs. The current monthly sponsorship for
children is $35.
Casa Para Niņos feeds, clothes, houses and educates all the children
without regard to individual sponsorships. Sponsors are advised that
sponsorship funds are pooled with the general support of Casa Para Niņos,
and that while every effort is made to use those funds to meet the
sponsored child's needs, there may be circumstances under which a
portion of these funds must be used to meet the needs of other Casa Para
Niņos children. Exceptions to this occur when sponsors send a small
financial gift for the child along with a letter or card; this money is
given directly to the child.
Some of our children have been here since 1989, but some have been here
less than a year. As children come and go over time, we experience some
children with multiple sponsors and some with no sponsors. Upon arrival
at Casa Para Niņos, every new child is added to our database which, in
turn, places a profile page on our website – complete with photo and
personal information.
Ideally, we would like to have at least three sponsors per child to love
and correspond with the children and help meet their emotional needs as
well as to fully fund their individual needs. The general rule of
operation is that a child is available for sponsorship if
1) The child has resided at Casa Para Niņos for at least six months; and
2) The child has less than three sponsors.
The reason for the 6-month condition is that we often receive children
for a short time while the courts sort matters out. Sometimes they are
returned to their families and do not become permanent residents. We
want to be reasonably sure that the child will be here long-term if we
are going to encourage these types of long-term relationships.
Sometimes children who have been long-term residents leave to go back
home to their family or for other reasons. In these cases, we do our
best to contact the sponsors individually, let them know that their
child is no longer with us and invite them to consider another child who
needs a sponsor.
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