We’ve reached a milestone! February 21st marked the 10th year since Children´s Shelter of Hope Foundation 
was officially accepted as a 501(c)(3) charitable corporation in the US. Our mission then and now is: “to support the needs of children and families living in the Bay of Banderas (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico) area through direct cash grants and donation of needed equipment or items to approved mission partners and programs.”
During this decade we have accomplished a lot with your support. We have been major funders to our two main projects in Puerto Vallarta – Refugio Infantil Santa Esperanza (RISE), a full-care shelter for children who have been temporarily removed from their families because of abuse, abandonment, neglect, or extreme poverty; and Pasitos de Luz (PDL), a day-center for many impoverished children with extreme handicapping conditions. Children´s Shelter of Hope Foundation, with your support, provides monthly contributions to help pay for the basics – staff salaries, medical and dental needs, food, electricity, etc. We also fund special projects – shoes, educational supplies, tuition and uniforms for special schools, appliances, surgeries, etc. We created our 10 X 10 child sponsorship program which currently benefits many of the children living at RISE.
We have grown rapidly through these 10 years, with your support; and now have over 700 donors, 1,450 people who receive our newsletter, and over 1000 people who have “liked” us on Facebook. And, we are currently 
expanding our horizons a little by donating monthly funds for staff at Sendero de Esperanza y Amor (SEA), a new family-like shelter for teenage girls (see article below). Please help us to continue this trend by spreading the word about our work and accomplishments to others who care about children and want to donate to an organization that is small, hands-on, and “walks their talk.”
Our board is comprised of a small group of energetic, enthusiastic, passionate volunteers who are focused on one main goal – helping children and families in need in Puerto Vallarta. We are careful guardians of your donations with direct involvement in all of the projects we support. We look forward now, with your support, to the next 10 years. There is much need and more work to be done; however, “poco a poco” (little by little) we are making a major difference.
This past Spring CEA (Camp Athletic Evolution) invited the toddlers and kindergarten-age children at RISE to participate, free of charge, in a rigorous health and sports development program at their new, modern, well-equipped facility in Nuevo Vallarta. Their “Boot Camp” is an innovative, stimulating, structured training program emphasizing the fun of physical activity and sports participation. Several of us from Children’s Shelter of Hope Foundation, have had the opportunity to go along and observe these young children as they crawl through tunnels, jump over hoops, and walk on balance beams, while they giggle in delight.
And, through the summer months, Boot Camp training, under the direction of Sports Manager Eduardo Figueroa and his capable staff, is being offered to the school-age children from RISE as well. What a wonderful way to promote physical conditioning and exercise to insure a brighter future of hope for these special children.
