Mensaje de los Fundadores

Dear friends of the Hogar Jesús de Nazaret,

There is a place inside our hearts for our God, our creator. God is love and it is our duty to spread that love to others and especially to children.

While visiting the inmates at our local prisons, we realized that one of the worst problems affecting our society, both at the local and global level, is child abuse. When children are abused, through neglect and other ill intended aggressions, all aspects of their development are stalled, and their self-esteem is destroyed. If the self-esteem is not restored, these children may end up in our prisons.

For this reason, we wanted to drive efforts to help combat this problem in our city of Mayagüez and in all of Puerto Rico. This is how, in 1991 we set about to organize and recruit volunteers to establish the first home for children victims of abuse in Mayagüez. The Hogar Albergue para Niños Jesús de Nazaret, Inc. (Hogar) opened its doors in 1995 as a non-profit home to give shelter to boys and girls removed from unsafe families or environments. Here at the Hogar, the children are provided all their material needs, but above all, they receive lots of love to heal their emotional wounds and foster stability, excitement for learning, and love for God and others. As of this writing, the Hogar has served more than 650 boys and girls from over 43 of Puerto Rico's municipalities.

We have been able to appreciate and observe the changes the children undergo over the course of their stay. When they arrive at the Hogar they are often sad, malnourished and fearful of others. With time, they begin to transform into sweet, safe, disciplined and well-nourished children. They are nurtured by the Nannies, who treat them as their own.

Our dear brothers and friends, thank you for all the help you have given us for the past 20 years to allow us to provide our children with an oasis in the dessert of abuse. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!

We are counting with your help to continue the excellent work in the lives of our children, who deserve a happy childhood filled with love. Your prayers and donations will save our children!