Institutions

Starting with a group of volunteers in La Florida’s Hogar Esperanza in 2004, VE has continued to seek small foundations with similar goals to serve as many children as possible through our institutional network. These orphanages, community centers, and schools work towards continuity, love and a better future for their children. The orphanages range from 12 to 75 children either same sex or mixed, and the children normally live there and receive an education and a family environment. The community centers serve around 100 children that arrive with varying schedules and are aided with their schoolwork and recreation as well as emotional support. VE also works with one school for special children and one daycare center serving children living in one of Santiago’s “campamentos” or shanty towns.

The larger orphanages have several houses, each one ready to provide a family environment. Only a few volunteer can live in each orphanage in order to integrate themselves into the family, but the network of volunteers is ready to train, support and aid each member.

Aldea María Reina:
Aldea Maria Reina, a home for young girls in Puente Alto, strives to provide a nurturing environment to girls who were removed from their families, developing in them a holistic work ethic to improve their growth and formation. The girls are raised in the Catholic tradition and encouraged to respect themselves and identify themselves as children of God. 

The Aldea Maria House has capacity for 85 girls, the majority of whom have had their rights violated through severe physical and psychological abuse. 

The home faces a great economic challenge in achieving its objectives and as such relies on local support networks. Since 1960, Aldea Maria Reina has collaborated with the organization of SENMAE and has relied on their subsidies as well as scholarships and donations from the Congregation of Diverse Houses of Studies.

Centro Comunitario Los Navíos:
Since 1998, Community Center Los Navíos has focused its efforts on the continuing problem of child abuse in its various manifestations, including neglect and physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. The Center has several programs working in tandem to combat the mistreatment of children. The staff is divided into teams of Promotion and Prevention, which offer an after-school program, workshops, home visits, academic help, and other assistance based on individual need. This assistance consists of everything from distribution food and clothing donations, medical clinics, and securing police intervention for protection in domestic abuse situations. 

The center provides homework help, psychological treatment, a listening ear, security, attention, and love on a daily basis.

Los Navios has been an important force in the community since its inception; an open, welcoming place for social interaction and support. It is a well-used and respected resource for the entire community. One need only take a walk in the neighborhood with a staff member (known as tías and tíos) to see the genuine bond those at the Center have forged with the community. They are greeted with warm affection and respond to the stories they are told every day by with empathy and action. Permanent contact with the community has allowed the staff members to educate, intervene, and treat the various factors associated with child abuse.

The Community Center serves 100 children, ages 5 to 16, and their families. Most of the children live in the neighborhoods of Los Navíos, Los Quillayes, San José de la Estrella, El Rodeo, and Juan Pablo II, in the La Florida comuna of Santiago. The socioeconomic condition in the area is one of social exclusion, high poverty, illiteracy and low academic achievement, domestic violence, and students at a high risk of academic desertion.

The Community Center depends on the Corporation of the Municipality of La Florida, a private non-profit organization. The Corporation oversees the education and health of all citizens of La Florida.

Club Domingo Savio:
“My Club” Domingo Savio was founded in 1979 as an hogar (children’s home) but in the past four years has transformed into an after school center. The club is located in La Granja, one of the poorest areas in Santiago. The club provides a long-term and family-like atmosphere for children without stable living situations. It focuses on programs that develop the abilities of the kids in high risk situations while continuing to have them live with their families whenever possible. The club runs each day for about 45 children between the ages of 5 to 14. There are workshops such as theatre, art, English, carpentry and a time everyday for homework or extra practice in subjects where the children need help. Underpinning the entire curriculum is a set of values that stress the importance of self – initiative, tolerance, and respect for oneself and for others. Many of the kids’ academic performance improve dramatically, and more than anything, the children receive a positive sense of hope about their futures.

Colegio Anakena:
The Anakena School (or colegio) was founded in 1987 as a special school for children with speech and language problems. Through the years, the school has expanded to serve children with emotional issues, autism, developmental delays and learning disabilities. Located in the La Florida section of Santiago, the school serves more than 150 students between ages 3 and 16 daily. They receive specialized instruction for hearing and speech problems, behavioral problems, hyperactivity disorders, autism and other disabilities. The students are grouped into classes according to age, educational level and type of disability, so that the tias (teachers) can most effectively use their pedalogical strategies, adaptions, and innovations to optimize their quality of life and facilitate social inclusion.

Beyond classroom instruction, Anakena provides a number of talleres or workshops, focusing on building computer skills, motor skills and social interaction.

Fundación Pléyades:
Fundación Pléyades is a non-profit organization that directs its efforts toward restoring the violated rights of children whose families have put them in at risk situations. The main objective is to reintroduce these children to a family-like atmosphere where they feel protected and loved.

As such, it is called a Hogar de Protección, or protective home, that receives children who have seen their basic rights violated, whether by abuse, abandonment or neglect, and need a place to accept them while their families try to recreate an environment of love and security to which they may one day return.

The home is equipped to receive no more than 13 children between two and seven years, since the home is looking to maintain a familial and personalized atmosphere. The children are cared for by an in-house team that counts on the support of a corps of volunteers. The psychological intervention is overseen by a psychologist and a social worker, who oversee the suitable physical, psychological and social development of the children, in addition to promoting change in their families and home environment.

Likewise, through the program “Cable a Tierra”, the Pléyades staff members are connected with children who live in a highly complex urban setting and pass the better part of their time hanging around in the streets.
A group of volunteers implements educational and recreational activities with the kids, in addition to hanging out with them, which put a special emphasis on communication and encouraging affection. These moments lay the groundwork for prevention by promoting knowledge and allowing the children to exercise their basic rights and develop social skills.

In these instances, one can count on the work of positive volunteers, willing to connect with the children and motivated by the desire to create change in their lives. In the home, volunteers are needed every day of the week and every hour of the day to accompany, teach and support the children who live there. As part of the program “Cable a Tierra”, the volunteers gather every Saturday afternoon to support the educational and recreational activities with the kids.

To visit the official website of Fundación Pleyedes, click here.

Hogar Esperanza: Casa de Lactantes:
Formed in 2001, Hogar Esperanza's second home, the Casa de Lactantes currently serves 16 children between the ages of 0 and 9. The casa is currently undergoing radical changes. The Casa de Lactantes and Casa Grande have effectively switched homes. This will see the number of children at the baby house expanded to 24. The majority of these children will be between 0 and 5 years old.  The home works to prepare the infants for adoption and there are many comings and goings in the home, this results in a fast pace where the volunteers and tías (nannies) work in a fun but constantly changing environment.

To visit the official website of Hogar Esperanza, click here.

Hogar Esperanza: Casa Grande:
Originally formed in 1984 in the rural outskirts of Santiago, the first orphanage, Hogar Esperanza housed 40 children. Much has changed since then, and as Santiago has grown around the home, the number of children has reduced to just 8. The Casa Grande serves as a permanent home for these children and they are welcome to stay until they are able to support themselves independently. The Casa feels like a true home, with the Jorge working as director for more than 20 years (and several tías working more than a decade in the home) there is a true sense of stability for the children.

To visit the official website of Hogar Esperanza, click here.

Residencia EntreTodas:
Formed in January 2003 from the dismantling of a larger hogar called Ciudad del Niño, Residencia EntreTodas serves as home for girls aged 9 to 22. A part of the larger organization, ¨Consejo de Defensa del Niño¨ or CODENI, this shelter protects girls whose basic rights have been violated; these girls have been physically abused, sexually violated, abandoned and/or come from families that can no longer support their fundamental needs. Some reside in EntreTodas for as little a week but some have lived there for years. The staff at EntreTodas with the aid of VE volunteers attempt to create a family environment and to guarantee their rights to food, good health care, education, recreation and emotional support and love, a truly heroic effort considering that EntreTodas is underfunded and understaffed. VE volunteers have introduced weekly talleres (workshops) teaching art, English, yoga, and karate among other things. Volunteers also support the staff and girls in daily chores, help with homework, play games, or simply discuss the latest telenovela with the girls. The EntreTodas girls are also regular participants in Liga de Futbol and have the distinction of being among the first partcipants in the Vamos a Leer! program. The reality of their tough backgrounds can never be erased, but the talleres as well as the hard work, smiles, laughs and hugs of the volunteers have really brought out the best in the girls of EntreTodas.