logogr

From Houses to Homes
De Casas a Hogares
Guatemala

  
   United States

    PO Box 85
    Mt. Tabor, New Jersey  07878-0085

   Guatemala
    Calle del Hermano Pedro #9
    Antigua, Guatemala
    tel: 7832 5074

    US to Guatemala is a local call
    using this number
    tel: 973 241 4925

  

  www.fromhousestohomes.org       287 Homes Completed  

 
 
 

FROM HOUSES TO HOMES-GUATEMALA

Our Mission

From Houses to Homes aims to strengthen community harmony in highland Guatemala by building lasting, healthy homes, improving access to health care and education, and inspiring participation between the poor and civil society.
Home Building
In the poorest areas of highland Guatemala, improper building materials, a lack of appropriate resources, and unsustainable architectures turn houses to foul rubble in the blink of an eye. Many families live in makeshift homes that are constructed of nothing more than cornstalk or cardboard walls with dirt floors. Decrepit housing quashes hope, fuels health problems, and destroys family unity. From Houses to Homes-Guatemala, Inc., recognizes that flourishing homes and thriving communities begin with improving actual home structure. From Houses to Homes works with the poorest of Guatemalan families to build or rebuild houses making them strong, safe, culturally appropriate, and affordable to maintain. These homes become the foundation for a community building process
Each home costs approximately $1,500. Our homes are 13 x 19 foot homes, made entirely of concrete block, with cement floor, corrugated metal roof, with skylight, a metal door with lock, and a metal-framed window with glass. The home is stuccoed and painted inside and out with colors chosen by the home owner. A plaque with your name will be placed on the home honoring your donation.
How We Select Our Families
There are over one million corn stalk shacks in Guatemala. Some communities consist entirely of these provisional houses which sometime include additional scavenged resources, like corrugated metal siding, scraps of wood, or even plastic bags as siding. All houses have dirt floors, occasionally a bed, and most with leaky roofs.
We at FHTH try to visit every family three or more times over several months at unannounced times to see how the families are actually living. The only requirement to receive a home is that they are very poor and can prove ownership of the property.
We then try to select the families with the largest number of members so there will be a benefit to the largest number of people. A single mother with five or more children will head the list. During our first four years of operation we have averaged six members per home. This means that FHTH has provided a safe home to approximately 1250 people.
Health and Education
While home building is our main focus, we recognize that houses just remain structures and communities remain collections of impoverished families without proper health and education. In addition to homes, we believe that providing poor families with better access to healthcare and education most effectively helps address community deterioration in highland Guatemala. From Houses to Homes makes health and education possible by subsidizing health care costs and school registration fees. While we can't combat this problem in its entirety, we try to assist the neediest families in the highlands.
Organized And Responsive Communities
To provide the foundation for a hopeful future, communities must become more than a collection of families. Both individuals and families must be inspired to participate for the greater good of a neighborhood. From Houses to Homes, works with families and civil society to demonstrate the value that a clean and well functioning community has on the quality of life. We strive to bring people of all ages and backgrounds into the fold of a tightly knit community.
What is from Houses to Homes?
From Houses to Homes is a New Jersey-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in September 2004 to build homes and improve the lives of the rural poor in Guatemala. FHTH is currently funded through private donations, corporate giving, and contributions from private foundations. Nearly 100% of all donations go toward building homes and providing health and education to revitalize disadvantaged communities in Guatemala.
About the Founder
Joe Collins is a licensed New Jersey private investigator who first became familiar with the needs of the Guatemalan community when, in 1999, he visited his son Darron who was studying the language and culture of the Q'eqhi'-Maya people, an indigenous group in northern Guatemala. During his stay, he witnessed firsthand the devastating extent of poverty in Guatemala and, profoundly impacted by his trip, he began volunteering for an organization in 2001 that gathered service teams to build homes for the poor. He returned home empowered to further help families, and with generous help from friends, raised funds for this organization and returned to Guatemala on 11 different occasions, sometimes for 3 months at a time, to enhance the building efforts of that organization. Recognizing family homes as the cornerstone for improving lives and developing communities, Joe started From Houses to Homes (De Casas a Hogares) in late 2004, providing individual families with a better home and a fresh start in life. Joe does not take a salary from From Houses to Homes.


CURRENT EVENTS

To our project

OUR NEXT PROJECT: The J. Brian Moran II Medical Clinic in Pastores, Guatemala. Also in 2010, we hope to have a Community Center and Clinic in Santa Maria de Jesus followed by a new school in Santa Maria de Jesus.

donation

School Dedication
The dedication of the new Cambiando Vidas school took place on September 25, 2009.

Cambiando Vidas


White Rose of Peace Ceremony
National Palace, Guatemala

White rose ceremony

Joe Collins and From Houses to Homes were the recipients of the Ambassador of Peace Award from the Government of Guatemala and were the host for the replacement of the White Rose of Peace in the Courtyard of the National Palace of Culture of Guatemala on September 24, 2009. Thank you all.


The Order of Malta
American Association Newsletter, Summer 2009, is now online at:
Malta Newsletter

Please read what the Knights of Malta have to say about our charity that they so generously have supported in 2008 and 2009.

presentation

Oscar Mejia, Galim Morales, Congressman of the Republic of Guatemala and Joe Collins
On May 28, Oscar & Joe spoke to Congressman Morales and the governor and all the mayors of the Department of Sacatepéquez along with Janeth de Reyes of the Cambiando Vidas Project. They provided information on their organizations and the ways they are helping change the lives of the children and families in their Department.


NEW SLIDE SHOW
Have a look at some of Joe's favorite photos. Click here  under construction


FACEBOOK
We are now on Facebook.
Click here.
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HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
Volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, Newark, New Jersey, constructed two homes for poor families in Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala, with From Houses to Homes -
See their story.

happyfamily

   
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From Houses to Homes PO Box 85, Mt. Tabor, New Jersey 07878-0085
In Guatemala Calle del Hermano Pedro #9 Antigua, Guatemala
Guatemala Oficina 7832 5074 --- Celular 4063 9881
Executive Director, Joe Collins info@fromhousestohomes.org
Project Director, Oscar Mejia decasasahogares@hotmail.com