Help Destitute Moms with AIDS Care for Their Kids

The roster of participants  in our FSP ( Family Support Program, the working name for our program ) remains stable.  As we had  reported before in  recent months, the FSP continues to face funding challenges  as  some of our loyal small donors are retired and cannot afford to continue their support.

• Although headline inflation in the US remains steady, recent  political headlines and policy changes have caused a general cutback in donations.
• Relevance: this means that scarce donor dollars are frequently  directed toward local or disaster projects.
• Job loss and early retirement of a number of our  donors has impacted donations

Our FSP has, for 25 years, provided compassionate care to fragile families impacted by HIV status and extreme poverty. For over 10 years, as Cambodia's economy has improved, we have worked steadily  to "place" individual participants with family members if at all possible. Even so, we continue our  support for 24 legacy participants: 7 children and 17 adults, of whom 4 are elderly,  age 75-85. The children are age 6 to 16.  Most, if not all, have no other  means of support. Our support historically provided the support for the entire family as those remaining family members either themselves had a serious medical  impairment or were elderly and unable to work. 

Our monthly funding need is remains constant at $2600 to support 24 participants

How we use your donations

All  of your donations are used only for direct  program expenses and to supervise the participants. . Mark and I do not, nor have we ever, received any salary or compensation what so ever. There are no offiice expenses and we personally pay for things like subscription costs like Constant Contact to create Kasumisou Foundation newsletters. We are very careful with your funds and we feel strongly that it is our duty to safeguard against any potential  loss of funds. 

During Mark's recent visit to Cambodia in October, he met with most of our participants , who without exception, voiced their deep  gratitude for the FSP  support, stressing that without this support they had no where else to turn, that  the FSP support was the difference between homelessness and utter despair  versus their ability to lead a very modest, but dignified lifestyle,  They also gave voice to their concerns as to what might happen without Kasumisou's support. 

We have not raised support allowances since 2022, even though  general price levels are about 10 % or more higher than in 2022. Even so, our single largest support level is $ 200 per month which provides rent at $ 50 per month and food security support at $150 monthly for a family of 4 . 

Your supportn makes all the difference ! 

One program family that is supported has a lady who collects recycles . She works  about 5 hours every day from  5pm to 10pm. On a good day, she will make about $4 ( $ 120 monthly) to contribute toward the support of herself and her two children. She is HIV positive.  Our support of $ 150 make the difference between homelessness and adequate food  and provides an  extremely modest but dignified life for this mom and her two children.  

None of this would be possible without your support . We are deeply grateful  to you for your donations!

Giving Tuesday is Devcember 2!

On Giving Tuesday, your donations up to $ 2500  will be able to receive a proportional matching donation from GlobalGiving. 

We are deeply grateful to you , our kind  donors, for your continued support. 

Barbara & Mark Rosasco