May 3, 2013

“And he laid the foundation on rock” (Luke 6:48)


The Bible teaches us that a house should be built on solid ground.  This is also true of an organization.   These past 10 years have provided solid foundations through the experiences which have taught us and strengthened us as a community development organization. Focussing on housing and habitat, we seek to mobilize human and economic resources in order to serve families in need.

On these foundations, we now take on the challenge of doubling the number of solutions we have provided in 10 years, in the next 3.   Our main project, Developing Neighbourhoods, will mobilize 3.3 million US Dollars to work in Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Rosario, and serve 6500 people.  To achieve this, we expect the support of thousands of volunteers and donor in our country and abroad, driven to put their faith in action to change the lives of those living in poverty housing.

Simultaneously, we look forward to completing the first apartment block to implement Fair Rentals in La Boca, and the implementation of hundreds of repairs in remote communities around Argentina.

Those solid foundations we have laid, include some key pillars: 

- Our projects stem from our belief in the ability and the will of communities to work towards their own development.

- Our projects are implemented by volunteers who tend bridges between the various sections of society, and build hope as well as walls.

- Our projects are financed by donations from individuals, companies and institutions, and we are committed to the stewardship of the resources we are entrusted.

We need everybody’s help to changing the reality of those living in poverty in our beautiful country.  Let’s put our faith in action and, by the grace of God, be a part of that change.

Ana Cutts
Executive Director


The first volunteer event of the year

To celebrate the resumption of work, members of the Team, HPHA’s National Board, and international volunteers organized a construction event to help in the final stages of the “Seed Houses” of the Seeds of Hope Event 2012 in La Matanza, in the suburbs of Buenos Aires on March 2.





In the day-long event, the construction volunteers carried out tasks such as applying plaster to the walls and ceilings of the houses as well as mounting the walls, together with Noelia and Johanna’s families.


Working Meetings in Buenos Aires and Santa Fe


Throughout last December, the Development of Neighborhoods Project, together with the families in Santa Fe and Buenos Aires, carried the working meetings of the end of the year through. In this framework, those who attended celebrated the achievements of 2012 and in some meetings there were also Christmas celebrations.

Neighborhoods of Villa del Parque and Barranquita Sur, in the city of Santa Fe:

This was the first working meeting, taking place on December 4 together with two organizations that HPHA is associated with: ACDI and la Escuela Cristo Obrero. In addition, la Asociación Vecinal de Villa del Parque, the local radio and several neighboring families of the neighborhood Acería - where HPHA works together with la Iglesia Rayo de Luz – also took part in the meeting.



The gathering started off with a small service by Miguel Monese of the Board of HPHA, and continued with a brief presentation of the accomplishments of the year given by Cecilia Mayano, a local representative of HPHA.

Next came one of the most important moments of the day, which was the presentation of the team of Volunteer Families of the Development of Neighborhoods Project. The program was created in 2012 with the objective that the families be those that mobilize the neighborhood, through the diffusion and notification of activities. This presentation was led by Blanca, one of the volunteers of the Team of Families of Recreo.




In addition, Virginia Ferrero of ACDI, as well as Marisel Somaglia of the Escuela de Cristo Obrero, shared with those present about the work with HPHA and the desire to continue the same work in 2013. In the end, a special thanks was given in recognition of the volunteer trainers and technical volunteers that participated in the project throughout the past year, putting their faith in action.

Ciudad de Recreo, Santa Fe:

The working meeting took place on the plaza Arco Iris in the neighborhood “Hábitat”, and was organized entirely by the Team of Volunteer Families, with the help of Silvia Leguizamón, Project Coordinator in Santa Fe. More than fifty people took part in the meeting, split up between families, representatives of the Municipality of Recreo, volunteers, employees and former employees of HPHA, and members of other NGOs.




Each of the achievements throughout the years of the implementation of the project, particularly those in 2012, was shown on posters in a booth that all guests visited to learn more about the work that HPHA and the families had carried out.

Additionally, there was time for the dedication of the three last Seed Houses that originated from this project, belonging to the families Schneider-Gómez, Pereyra-Paselli and Sánchez-Delgado.

It is important to highlight the presence of several employees of HPHA of Buenos Aires: Nadia Otero (Administration), Ariel Sosa (Coordinator of Projects) and Ana Cutts (Executive Director).




Neighborhood “22 de Enero”, Ciudad Evita, La Mantanza, Buenos Aires:

This was the last working meeting of the year, which took place in the framework of the Christmas celebrations of the Chapels Santa Rita and María Auxiliadora that belong to the Casa María Crugnola, one of the organizations with which HPHA works. During the gathering, the progress of the project was shared and all the families in the neighborhood were invited to participate in the project.

The day began with a live nativity organized by children and adolescents in the neighborhood and concluded with a toast with sweet bread donated by the Catedral Angelicana San Juan Bautista. Then, Sister Marta Riccioli was presented a certificate of recognition for her consistent contribution and commitment to the work of HPHA, specifically with families that are today part of the Revolving Fund of the neighborhood. It was a very emotional moment since Marta bid farewell to the neighborhood and the families as her congregation had given her a new mission in the south of our country.

In this gathering, Analía Bachor (Consultant for Human and Community Development) and Ariel Sosa (Coordinator of Projects) of the HPHA team participated.

Continuing to grow


Our mission is possible thanks to the generosity of companies and individuals. During 2012 donations totalled $3.040.672,06 an increase of 31,56% over the previous year.


Also, during this fiscal year, several companies joined the cause of adequate housing for all families in Argentina, by contributing corporate brigades of volunteers, and donations.

In 2013, we are working to further expand our fundraising to offer more housing solutions to more families. We know that the support of each person and company adds up and makes a difference in the lives of those that are today living in inadequate housing conditions.

Your contribution build!

Join as with your company across Brigades of Corporate Volunteers: brigadas@hpha.org.ar


Join as a donor of the Homes Fund: donantes@hpha.org.ar



“Being part of the same path of transformation” (Alejandra Ramírez)


Alejandra Ramírez Rivera is a Colombian social communicator and journalist, who arrived in Argentina at the beginning of 2012 to study for a Master’s in Latin American Studies at the Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Soon after arriving here, she decided to look for a volunteer position that would allow her to serve the community in the same way as she did in her home city, Cauca, Colombia.

Thus, she joined the team of volunteers in the area of Communications and shares today a short testimonial about her volunteering experience with HPHA.

“It is without a doubt that my volunteering is related to the life that I was leading in my country, in Colombia, and where I come from, the province of Cauca, where I became witness of brave survivals in the face of inequality and violence expressed in thousand ways.  That country of my affections, a country of dreams, pain and hope, was definitely that which from the beginning formed within me a spirit of service, tied to the conviction that remaining passive in the face of reality would always make me part of the problem rather than the solution.

I was reminded of that same reality when I arrived in Argentina, when I recognized myself in the faces of the people that, like in my country, encounter reality without simulation. This is what led me to search a volunteer position, which eventually connected me to HPHA.

As social communicator and journalist, I served various solidarity projects with vulnerable communities in my country. Essentially, I believe that my decision came from a human commitment, and the conviction that there lack hands to transform the reality. In HPHA, I found individuals to share this commitment, in addition to a sensitive dialogue and a valuable hope that transcends welfare, as a result of the empowerment of the families, in order that they be the protagonists of the transformation of the present conditions of their homes. Throughout 2012, I worked as volunteer in the area of Communications, and served as contributor with journalistic background in the area of testimonial records and photographic support, for which I stayed in constant contact with the beneficiary families of the housing projects. In addition, I authored texts that contributed to the diffusion of the mission of the organization. Now that I look back on it, I feel that it was more about what I learned and gained than what I could offer, especially with what I was able to share with members of the beneficiary families, who opened the doors of their homes to me so that I could relate to their lives and dreams of the future.

I believe that this was the most valuable aspect of my volunteering since it allowed me as a professional, and particularly as a person, to become closer to the reality of these neighborhoods in the suburban belt around Buenos Aires, where the courage and the strength of anonymous heroes and heroines highlights many stories of survival. This will always be an unforgettable experience for me.

I am convinced that to know what life is about, it is vital to learn about it from the roots, from situations, where you persisted and emerged with hope. And, without a doubt, I believe that my volunteering experience enabled me to encounter this. I feel that much of the value of this experience is based on the fact that, regardless of where you are, your goodwill will be welcome and is needed by those that are as much part of you as those from your homeland.

To be volunteer, to recognize oneself in others and not become closer through differences but through the acceptance that comes with being part of the same path of transformation that is what makes it all worth it.”



Just like Alejandra, you can also join our projects.


Click here and find out about how you can join.

Actions speak louder than words


Every weather event that affects the living conditions of Argentine families causes an organization that strives for everyone to live in decent housing pain. These incidents seem to be backwards steps on a path which itself goes uphill.

The storm in Buenos Aires and La Plata affected neighborhoods with distinct characteristics in different ways. Although HPHA has specialized in providing assistance to remote communities in events of this nature, the organization does not intend to withhold its support from those who assisted the victims with such solidarity.

Brigade of Volunteers for the clean-up of houses

For this reason, HPHA brought together volunteers to join a brigade for the cleanup of houses on Saturday, April 13. Here, HPHA offered its volunteers to two churches in La Plata: el CentroCristiano de la Unión and Puertas del Cielo.


The 21 participating volunteers were divided into groups to help eight families clean up the destruction that the storm had left. They cleaned floors, walls, and even furniture. In addition, a group toured a more precarious settlement to evaluate the damage.

Weather events afflict the most precarious communities throughout the year, in many parts of the country. There is much to do in the most remote communities. 



You can join the Team of Volunteers for Remote Communities and Disaster Response!

Assisted Rents in La Boca


In middle February, the basic concrete structure of the building in Hernandarias 674 was completed. Meanwhile, the preparations to continue with the workshops for the families of the neighborhood in La Boca - introduced last year together with the FoundationForge are progressing. 


The Seed Houses in La Matanza are making progress


There are five Seed Houses that are in the process of self-construction - in the neighborhoods Un Techo Para Todos and 22 de Enero, in La Matanza - and they are already in the last stages. So far in 2013, the families are showing promising commitment to complying with the scheduling of the construction. We hope to celebrate the dedication of each of these houses by the middle of this year.

Here are photos of each of the houses.







HPH Guatemala has designated its tithe to HPHA


Habitat for Humanity Guatemala confirmed the designation of its tithe to HPHA. Ana Cutts, executive director of HPHA, traveled to the Central American country to receive the tithe in the setting of the event Pathto the fifty-thousandth house, which took place between April 22 and 26.

Calendar


4-12 May Global Village Team - Mike Boylan.

7 July Day of Thanksgiving for the Tithes Program of Hábitat para la Humanidad.

June Fundraising Event (tbd).

September Annual Seeds of Hope Event with the participation of legends of Rugby of Northern Ireland (details to be determined).