By Mark Kaiser | Founder and Director of Crescimento Limpo
16 de Dezembro, 2019
Itu, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Crescimento Limpo Year End Report for Supporters
This last year has been absolutely full of changes and new developments for our organization, and we are proud to say that our mission statement, to facilitate a healthy independence for our friends who seek recovery from homelessness and drug addiction, has been lived out well through these developments. We close the year thankful for the support we've received and with dreams for the future innovations that are already underway!
Report:
We have been developing our ministry to the homeless since 2009, when we began receiving homeless for lunch in our home. We progressed to helping our new homeless friends enter drug rehab facilities, and began our supportive housing services in 2011 as the Brazilian NGO, Crescimento Limpo (CL). CL now operates a large home downtown Itu where we receive up to twenty-five individuals including men, women and families. So far in 2019, forty nine individuals have lived at CL, including two families.
Our residents come to us from rehab clinics, direct from homelessnes, and this year fourteen residents have come as refugees from Venezuela. The variety of our residents' circumstances and difficult backgrounds have demanded a specialized team and programing.
In order to create discipleship and job opportunities for residents, we developed an urban garden in 2015, a café in 2018, and a small farm in 2019. These spaces are used to work alongside every resident as they begin their time with us, and we currently employ eight residents full-time. These three locations are owned by three separate community members who each offer their properties rent-free as a means of supporting our recovery ministry.
This year our CL team has been further developed by the addition of Fabiola, who this month graduates as a social worker, and the simultaneous graduation of her husband Rogerio in civil engineering. Rogerio has been on staff for four years and serves as property manager and house monitor. CL sponsored Rogerio's college education, who has already served our ministry immensely with his construction abilities as well as equipping our residents with skills to improve their professional capacities. Your financial support has been key in facilitating his studies, as well as Wayne's college - a previous CL resident who leads the kitchen of our café and will graduate with a culinary degree at the end of 2020.
At the moment:
Our current and most pressing need is for the building project of an urban farm, currently under construction. This site is being used to increase our discipleship and job opportunities, creating a place to develop closer interactions with the population of Itu (we plan to organize monthly Volunteer Saturdays for families, schools, and businesses in our community), and our residents in recovery, as well as providing a source of income for our organization. We estimate US$25,000 in order to conclude all phases of this project, which include material and labor for structure, electric, and furniture. We are currently fundraising this amount in order to conclude and inaugurate the farm building in the Spring of 2020. Any amount donated towards this need will help us continue to build unusual and transformative community in Itu, reflecting more the nearness of the Kingdom on Earth.
Your ongoing generosity helps us be present to the homeless of Itu and maintain an open door to those who would pursue a life of recovery.
We would like to offer a video as further explanation of our ministry. Please access the Crescimento Limpo channel on Youtube and see the video titled "Mark and Ali tell the story of Crescimento Limpo"
God has been gracious to us, and we are thankful for the favor we have found in the development of this ministry. We count our partnership with you as evidence of that provision, and will be grateful for the opportunity to continue for years to come.
Mark and Ali Kaiser for Crescimento Limpo
Links:
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