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More than a million times a year, a terminally ill patient in the United States is enrolled in hospice care. Each time, the family confronts a decision that, while critical, often must be made almost blindly. More than a thousand new hospices have opened in the United States in the past decade, and many of them operate on a for-profit basis. But the absence of public information about their quality, a void that is unusual even within the health-care industry, leaves consumers at a loss to distinguish the good from the bad.
Roatán is the largest of the Bay Islands, and is located approximately 35 miles off the northern coast of Honduras in Central America. Roatán is 32 miles long and varies in width from one to three miles across. The highest point of Roatán is roughly 900 feet above sea level. The island's topography includes white sandy beaches, mangrove wetlands, rocky shorelines, rainforest-covered hills, and lush valleys. Roatán is rimmed by a spectacular section of the second largest reef system in the world. The population of the Bay Islands is estimated at around 80,000, with about 60,000 of those on Roatán. English is the first language of the island but there is a large Spanish influence with an influx of people from mainland Honduras.
Super Typhoon Haiyan left a massive trail of devastation across the Philippines on November 8, 2013. Nearly five weeks after Typhoon Haiyan tore through the Philippines, the government now says more than 6,000 people have been reported dead. Nearly 1,800 more are still missing. In all, 15 million people have been affected across nine regions of the country.
The Foster Care system is able to provide many of the basic needs — the ―tangibles — for the children and their Foster Parents. However, it takes more than just the basics for youngsters struggling to overcome their traumatic beginnings. For the youth who aren’t returned home or adopted by the age of 18, they are discharged from the foster care system. Economic security for them is fragile. Becoming a productive adult is an uphill climb. The statistics bear witness to these challenges. Within 2 years of ―aging out of the system
Update on Westside Community Center
In 2010, overburdened budgets within Colorado Springs City Government has led to the scheduled closing of four local community centers. Community centers are the heart and soul of their neighborhoods, and for some seniors, they’re a place to get a $2 lunch and escape the loneliness of being home alone. For parents, they’re a place to send their children to preschool or hang out while the parents are working. For teens and young adults, they offer a place to exercise or play league basketball instead of hanging out on the streets.
The Shepherd Center
In a time of crisis, it is sometimes reassuring to know that other families have been in your shoes and can help guide you through the turbulent waters ahead. For families of severe brain and spinal injury victims that reassurance comes from the Shepherd family.
James Shepherd set out on a backpacking trip around the world in 1973 after graduating from the University of Georgia. While bodysurfing off a beach in Rio de Janeiro, he was slammed to the ocean floor by a wave. James, who was 22 at the time, sustained a serious spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down.
Mission House
Through the years and visits to the Choluteca area, we have had an opportunity to observe and assess many needs, but one need that has been a recurring concern are the limited options for comfortable, safe accommodations in this area for families who would like to come to Honduras and help. Most missionary teams find themselves in a situation where they have no idea where they will be staying or where they will be sleeping. Safety, food and water are also a concern for most. Although most of us have camped and know how to survive for 10 days or so at a time in this environment, we have often asked ourselves if there is a way to accommodate and house groups that can be effective and cost efficient. There is nothing like a long hot day followed up by a long HOT night of rest.
I would imagine it is the tiniest of Tucson’s city parks – not even a stone’s throw across – but its message looms large.
Garden of Gethsemane Felix Lucero Park clings to the west bank of the Santa Cruz River at the Congress Street Bridge. Thousands of busy Tucsonans whiz by on Interstate 10 every day without even realizing the peaceful little refuge is there only a couple of hundred yards to the west. What’s special about this place in this day of legal loopholes and technicalities is that it is a monument to a promise that was kept.
The Homeless in Colorado Springs
There are no last names among the homeless of Colorado Springs’ streets, but they are people with identities just the same. Based on a rough census, there are about 1,000 homeless souls who mostly live in downtown Colorado Springs. Many are alcoholics. Few pose any real danger to anyone other than themselves.
Overburdened budgets within Colorado Springs City Government has led to the scheduled closing of four local community centers. Community centers are the heart and soul of their neighborhoods, and for some seniors, they’re a place to get a $2 lunch and escape the loneliness of being home alone. For parents, they’re a place to send their children to preschool or hang out while the parents are working. For teens and young adults, they offer a place to exercise or play league basketball instead of hanging out on the streets.
You may recall from our first quarter 2009 newsletter we mentioned a new program “Narrow Gate” that the Salvador Foundation had recently started funding. Following is a letter from the Community Relations Director of Narrow Gate and a letter from the recipient of this funding which shows how quickly a gift can show results when guided by God.
So many times people see problems like homeless people in Honduras, or the AIDS epidemic in Africa and feel like they are powerless to do anything. Governments and big organizations focus on those problems, but what could an individual possibly do to make an impact? Our last visit to Honduras provides another example of how a single person can have a big impact on people’s lives when they set their mind to it.
The streets have become the place where children orphaned by HIV/AIDS often turn to supplement lost wages, find refuge, and sometimes to find an escape from stigma. Many children work the streets 12 hours a day to beg, work, or to seek food, and then return home to sleep. Children as young as 2 years old are sent out by their families to beg for food and money.
In late March, we visited Choluteca Honduras to review progress on a few of the projects we have been involved in over the past 3 years. While we were there, we visited the tortilla factory, malnutrition clinic, a newly built bakery and some homes we’ve built for homeless people in conjunction with GCLA and King of Glory Church. To be honest, I was exhausted from the stress of work and was kind of reviewing projects as if they were engineering programs back home. However, one evening all of that changed when we were invited to an outdoor dinner in Limon with the local people of that village. There were Government officials and pastors from local churches, but most importantly, there were local families who lived and worshiped God in Limon, Honduras.
Choluteca, Honduras
Hurricane Mitch was one of the deadliest and most powerful hurricanes observed on record, with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph. Mitch formed in the western Caribbean Sea on October 22, 1998 and after drifting through extremely favorable conditions, it rapidly strengthened to peak at Category 5 status. After drifting southwestward and weakening, the hurricane hit Honduras as a minimal hurricane.
It's often difficult to know where to turn when an unexpected pregnancy occurs. Well-meaning friends and acquaintances may recommend abortion as the easiest solution to a difficult situation. Yet counseling centers around the world receive thousands of calls from women who have made this choice and later regretted it.
May 01, 2006
Local Outreach in Colorado Springs
Nelly Madore lived like an American for 12 years. Residing first in Texas and then Colorado, the Mexican citizen stayed home and took care of her children while her husband (a US-born citizen) worked. When her marriage ended last year, she quit living like an American.
November 01, 2005
In October 1998, Hurricane Mitch dumped huge amounts of rain over Honduras for days. Over a ten-day period, peak rainfall reached up to four inches an hour. Rivers broke their banks, destroying crops and dumping sand and rocks for miles. In some places, the debris still lies thick enough to make once-fertile farmland look like desolate beaches.
Up to 1.5 million people were left homeless, and starvation was widespread throughout the country.
October 01, 2005
The Salvador Foundation is committed to serving God by bringing people from all walks of life together for the common cause of helping our fellow man. We, as the body of Christ, have a responsibility to care for those in need. By helping and enabling people one project at a time, our goal is to share encouragement, hope and faith.