Children’s Center
The heart of our ministry
Children’s Center
The heartbeat of all we do revolves around our Children’s Center. As we looked out at the most urgent needs in our neighbourhood we could see that it involved single mothers and their children.
When an impoverished single mother is the sole provider for her family, it comes with weighty decisions. If she leaves her children alone while she works, they become susceptible to so many harms; abuse, neglect, trafficking. If she must take them with her, it limits her employment opportunities. If she stays home with them, she can not provide even the basics of life; food, safety, adequate shelter.
It’s at this point that a vulnerable single parent often makes the decision to leave her child to orphanage care.
At Casa de Luz we believe where possible and safe, families should be resourced to stay together!
Our Children’s Center allows single parents welcomed into the program to drop their children off for the day at no cost while they work or pursue education. Children who were once left alone at home or on the streets are brought into a place where they are safe, well cared for, and loved.
In addition to the safe, stable, and loving environment, our Children’s Center provides meals, hygiene care, emotional and spiritual support, and just plain fun where kids get to be kids.
Our teachers also work to bridge education gaps with the children and they quickly become role models and mentors.
We have seen that our Children’s Center is preventing children from being abandoned to full-time orphanage care.
For some families, it has even allowed them to take the children out of an orphanage and move them back home to live with their family.
The majority of the children who arrive at our Children’s Center are suffering from some form of trauma. Abandonment, abuse, neglect, malnourishment and so many other traumas are a part of their stories. Over time, we have witnessed the hope that is brought to lives by being a part of Casa de Luz. The hardest faces, toughest attitudes, most deeply embedded mistrust, begins to melt away and we see glimmers of joy returning to little lives.
By welcoming children into CDL, we are meeting some of the most critical needs of our neighbourhood and the most vulnerable children now have what they need to thrive.
It’s in this place that little lives are being restored and families are being transformed through the love and hope of Jesus.