Search Nonprofits

Perched atop the buried pre-classic Maya city of Chocola, the village of Chocola on the back slopes of the volcanoes that form Lake Atitlan, is poverty stricken yet poised to become a model of cultural celebration and self-sufficiency. What it needs most is leadership training and technical support to develop its potential for diversified agriculture, archeological-tourism, health care for its families and education for its children. In its simplest terms, the mission of Seeds for a Future is to help this impoverished community plan and achieve prosperity based on balanced development principles that protect cultural tradition, the natural environment and preserve the Mayan and post-colonial history of the town. Seeds for a Future traces its roots to the period from 2003 through 2006 when many Earthwatch Institute volunteers came to Chocola to work on the archaeological site, which was then being excavated under license from the Guatemalan government. The volunteers embraced being associated with an important archaeological endeavor and learned about the vast pre-Classic Maya city that may hold keys to the early development of Mayan language, system of time and other fundamental cultural practices. At the same time, many of us fell in love with the community, its families and children and the fabulous, healthy mountain environment. As a result, groups of volunteers organized to help a community struggling with terrible poverty and deprivation to find a way to prosperity without destroying their way of life or the delicate balance of their natural environment. A vision emerged among a core of volunteers, Guatemalan visionaries and local leaders in which Chocola is seen as lifting itself into a more healthy and prosperous community based on its historic farming skills, adding value to its coffee, vegetable and cacao producers and through community cooperative action. In the future, there is great promise for the development of Chocola as a tourist destination based on archaeo-tourism; conservation of the natural resources in which the community is embedded and conservation of one of the first and greatest coffee processing plants (beneficios) established during the 1890s. But we also discovered in the early years that before Chocola could begin to realize its potential, the people needed training in identifying their own vision for the future, learning to work together and acquiring the technical skills needed for success. Overcoming 500 years of economic and social servitude is not easily done, but real progress is being made and our program has been recognized as ground-breaking, by the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture and others. Four operating principles guide the work we do: We provide information and technical assistance to the people of Chocola to help them evaluate new opportunities and to plan. We provide direct funding and other forms of support for community requests for assistance on specific projects. These requests must come through Chocola leadership and must demonstrate sustainability and a willingness and capability of the community to provide part of the needed resources. All programs must aim at achieving self-sufficiency. We will help with programs that governmental agencies believe may be of value, provided that they too meet the same test as is noted for the community above. All such requests must be consistent with our mission to help the people and do no harm to either the Maya archaeological site or to the 1890 Coffee Finca site. In all of our programs we try to ensure that the participants become more engaged in the social and civil fabric, that they gain self confidence in their ability to change their own future for the better, and that we provide knowledge and coaching for a sufficient period of time that their activities and new ideas become self-sustaining in the community.

Story Tapestries is a leading arts service organization that serves our Montgomery County, Maryland community and beyond through: 1) Professional performances in storytelling, theater, dance, spoken word and other art forms in a variety of public spaces including community centers, local theaters, libraries, and schools; and 2) Workshops and in-depth training programs for adults and children to develop skills in various art forms, cultivating how to use the performing, visual, and literary arts to develop their voice, share their stories and increase their literacy, social-emotional and STEAM skills. We use the arts as a bridge to increase accessibility and equity in educational and community settings. Our aim is to establish coalitions of organizations and individuals prepared to support meaningful, long-lasting arts-based programs. Since becoming a 501c3 in 2010, we have reached more than 840,000 individuals collaborating with over 1,300 organizations. We present programs employing a team of 30 professional artists, who are also master educators. Our motto “Empower. Educate. Engage.” guides us to create collaborative arts programs that cater to communities’ needs through free or affordable performing arts events and workshops for families, children, community leaders, artists and educators. We collaborate with local arts and humanities organizations to design sustainable, multi-year arts programs with support from individual donors, foundations, corporations and government entities.

Mercy in Action is a non-profit organization that focuses on the crisis in Maternal/Newborn/Child health care worldwide. We have been establishing and funding free birth centers for poor families in the Philippines since 1992, and to date more than 12,000 babies have been delivered free of charge for the poorest of the poor in Mercy In Action's Birth Centers, and literally tens of thousands of lives have been helped and healed in the medical outreaches. Mercy In Acton also teaches clinical internships, seminars and training retreats to prepare midwives, medics and nurses to meet the global shortage of skilled birth attendants, and to help primary health care workers prevent unnecessary child deaths.

Mission To win children away from a life of war and delinquency, with love, through education and the holistic development of their academic, personal, and social abilities, empowering them to construct and achieve their own life projects. Vision That the children of Ciudad Bolivar will be capable of breaking their cycle of poverty and become the kind of persons that they desire to be. Values - Love and respect for oneself and for others - Always put oneself in the place of the other - Pursue excellence - Seek justice About Pintando Caminos Who We Are Pintando Caminos Asociacion para Recrear el Futuro (Pintando Caminos Association to Recreate the Future) is a registered non-profit that, for more than 12 years, has provided spaces and opportunities to improve the lives of boys and girls who live in the oppressed and impoverished neighborhood of Potosi, in Ciudad Bolivar (Bogota, Colombia). We desire to break the cycle of poverty in Colombia ad to provide the children and young adults with all the necessary tools for them to succeed in life in a dignified way, and to help the youth become complete and integrated persons, with values that make it possible for us to build a better country in the future.

Her Equality Rights and Autonomy's (HERA) overall aims are: (1) to prevent trafficking and re-trafficking of young women; (2) to assist trafficked and other women survivors of violence, conflict, and exploitation build on the resilience they have demonstrated to achieve their ambitions for a better life; and (3) to engage the business community in countering trafficking and support women's entrepreneurship.

Charity Centre for Children and Youth Development exists to supporting HIV/AIDS education, Persons living with disabilities, orphans and vulnerable children, youth and women in Solwezi district of Zambia by providing them with, educational support (provision of school requisites and literacy materials), health and life skills and vocational Training. These enables disadvantaged members of our society live life of independence and contribute to the national economy. We envision a society that will work towards eradication of vulnerability and illiteracy among Orphans and vulnerable children, youths and women. The Organization's mission is to promote and enhance the capabilities of children, youth and women in Solwezi district and beyond to effect positive social change that would necessitate the development of their lives, communities and the nation at large.

Supporting Zimbabwean communities to keep children in school and out of poverty.

Our Mission: The Branch Foundation aims to work alongside marginalized communities in South-East Asia to support sustainable community development through education, capacity building and renewable energy solutions. Our Vision: Cohesive South-East Asian communities empowered to be self-reliant and able to participate in opportunities available in the wider community around them.

The Movimento de Saude Mental Comunitaria do Bom Jardim (MSMCBJ) was initiated in 1996 as part of the outreach of the Comboni Missionaries in the Northeast of Brazil. MSMCBJ seeks to improve the lives of the people of the economically impoverished peripheral regions of Fortaleza, primarily the area of Grande Bom Jardim. To imagine a mental health project in a peripheral neighborhood like Bom Jardim, where the majority of people live in at-risk circumstances - in which extreme poverty, violence, a lack of housing and basic sanitation, street children, and unemployment predominate - is to believe that, even within pain and suffering, we can harvest flowers. That is, personal and social realities can be transformed. The challenge that MSMCBJ has been overcoming throughout its years of community action has been to demonstrate that, through the Community Systemic Approach, working with people's self-esteem results in greater self-awareness, which empowers people to create paths of liberation, thanks to the sense of participation and co-responsibility that MSMCBJ activities favor. The Movimento de Saude Mental Comunitaria do Bom Jardim welcomes the human being, respecting their bio-psycho-socio-spiritual dimensions, promoting the development of their potential, through the restoration of human rights and cultural values, with the goal of improving the quality their personal, interpersonal, and community relationships, for the promotion of the gift of life. We welcome and accept all people, despite their social class, race, religion, gender, or age; We stimulate the development of quality personal, group, community, social, and ecological relationships; We believe in the diversity of cultural roots as a principle on the strengthening of identity for the liberation and development of the human being; We exist within and are nourished by a loving spirituality in the search for personal and social integration and liberation; We offer a space for affective listening as an essential therapeutic instrument for the awakening and development of life; We participate in the development of human potential with the vision of autonomy and co-responsibility in the construction of the project of life; We value and recognize the talents of the individual, encouraging transparent and affective relationships as an opportunity for personal and professional growth; We believe in a work relationship that encourages the overcoming of conflicts as a form of maturing and growth; We encourage the awakening of a new consciousness that cultivates the essential values of love, peace, and justice; We gladly welcome partnerships that help to realize these life-restoring actions.

Project1808 promotes sustainable community development in Kabala, Koinadugu District, Sierra Leone by aiding young students in their efforts to identify and address the root causes of poverty, public and environmental health challenges, and other community-identified concerns. Among our project's specific aims are the following: Fostering academic excellence and nurturing a resilient knowledge base through student mentoring, tutoring, internships, and teacher training programs. Stimulating curiosity, creativity, and innovation through student generated projects that enhance knowledge and encourage students to implement their ideas in ways that benefit their communities. Facilitating local and global partnerships for knowledge exchange, training for students, teachers and community members, student mentoring, and resources to sustain the community knowledge base Our Model Project1808 Model for sustainable development At the core of our sustainable community model is an investment in disadvantaged youth, schools, and their communities to form the building blocks as LEGOs of healthy communities in Sierra Leone and Africa. Through specific GLocal (Global and Local) partnerships, we practice the concept of thinking globally and acting locally, enhancing the exchange of knowledge, increasing the cultural competency, and expanding the worldview of all of our participants. Project1808 is committed to optimizing partnerships between educational institutions locally, within Africa and overseas, particularly with the involvement of other African countries. We want to bring back hope to youths (and whole communities) whose lives, homes, families, schools, infrastructure, institutions were destroyed by 11 years of war in Sierra Leone.

Project Have Hope works with a group of 100 women in the Acholi Quarter of Uganda and helps them transform their lives and the lives of their families. Through the sale of their beautiful hand-crafted goods, as well as through our adult literacy, vocational training, and children' education programs, the women can feed their families, send their children to school, and look forward to a richer future.

The Arkana Alliance is committed to raising awareness about the current environmental and social crises in the Amazon; supporting the creation, connection and strengthening of strategic networks and regional and community-based alliances; and inspiring positive change at local, national and international levels to protect and preserve the people, environment, and ancient traditions of the Amazon Rainforest.