We recently received a $450,000 challenge gift. Your gift, combined with this challenge gift, will have an even more powerful impact!
Jennifer lovingly protects her little brother, Jordy, from the harsh conditions of living in a flimsy, dirt-floored home.
Most of the poorest families in Guatemala live in rural areas, where almost six out of 10 people are born into poverty they may never escape. More than one million homes in rural Guatemala are considered substandard, with dirt floors, leaking tarp-covered roofs, and no basic water or sanitation services.
We invite your parish to join us this Advent as we build a future of hope by helping families move into safe homes with sturdy walls, metal roofs, solid floors and full bathrooms.
By engaging your community, you will help empower ministry partners in Guatemala to build 240 safe homes in 22 impoverished communities across six dioceses and archdioceses. When the Church moves as one, miracles happen.
Our free Advent resources will make it easy to engage your Catholic community this season. Fill out the form below to learn more, schedule a speaker to visit your parish, or order our free resource materials.
Poverty in rural Guatemala feels like a trap.
Without a quality education or gainful economic opportunities, young people have no way to build a path out of the poverty they were born into. Families continuously face challenges that are difficult to overcome.
Each day, hope runs dry inside makeshift homes that offer little protection. Guatemalan men, women and children stuck in the cycle of poverty turn to God for help, praying for his mercy.
Sources: World Food Programme and The World Bank
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After
Our work with Catholic ministries follows an approach that prioritizes localization and subsidiarity. The dioceses of Santa Rosa de Lima, Sololá-Chimaltenango, Suchitepéquez-Retalhuleu, Escuintla and the archdioceses of Santiago de Guatemala and Los Altos have local ministry workers who make decisions because they have the best insight into community needs.
Our work of mercy in Guatemala begins with a grant to a small shelter for women fleeing domestic violence
Our projects in the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima expand to build 17 homes in partnership with the Pontifical Council Cor Unum.
Build a Future of Hope
Santiago lives with a nagging pain every day. Despite working hard in local farm fields, he can’t make enough to keep his family safe, raising his children in a crowded tin shack that can’t even keep out the rain. “All of the money we make is barely enough to buy food for the family,” he said.
Watch this video to see how your parishes can be part of the Lord’s intervention for this precious family.
With your support, our goal is to build 240 safe homes for impoverished families living in 22 destitute communities in partnership with:
The new homes in each diocese will feature:
Safe housing is the foundation of our transformational efforts in Guatemala — but that’s just the beginning! Our larger ministry partners, the dioceses of Santa Rosa de Lima and Suchitepéquez-Retalhuleu, engage in multiple projects tailored to meet the spiritual and material needs of local families. Many of the families there receive integral support through the provision of:
Offer scholarships for 216 impoverished children and support teacher salaries and operations at a Catholic secondary school, with enrollment expected to reach 400 students.
Equip 510 families to grow nutritious food and earn income by expanding crop fields and livestock businesses or establishing home gardens.
Ship and distribute more than 5.1 million nutritious Vitafood meals to hungry Guatemalan families.
Support small-group Christian communities, seminarians and priests and provide operational expenses for Catholic lay ministry workers.
Enable 125 families to expand their home-based farming, as well as baking and retail businesses, so they can become financially secure.
Create an expanded health clinic in one village where a physician can treat patients three times a month and support the efforts of health promoters in nine communities.
Surprise children with what may be their first Christmas gift and remind them of God’s love.
Download these free materials to promote the outreach among your parishioners. You may also request copies of these materials by clicking the button below.
You can download and print these resources or contact us to order free copies shipped directly to you.
It costs $21,225 to build a sturdy new home, and a gift of any size will help protect a vulnerable family. Your parish’s support, combined with our challenge gift, will double the impact of your gift!
Complete the form below to receive more information about engaging your parish in this memorable outreach, schedule a speaker, or order materials.
Cross Catholic Outreach launched its ministry in 2001 with the mission of mobilizing the global Catholic Church to transform the poor and their communities materially and spiritually for the glory of Jesus Christ. As an official Catholic charity, we are registered with the Diocese of Palm Beach in Florida, and we are listed in the Official Catholic Directory.
We received two apostolic blessings from the late Pope Francis and currently collaborate with the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.
“When families receive keys to a new house, they weep. They can’t believe it … That is why it is important for the Church to step in and give a helping hand.”
General Director of Caritas Santa Rosa de Lima
A family lives in this wooden-plank structure that does not offer real protection from the elements.
