COAR (through your gifts) Serves the Whole Child, Into Adulthood, Through Partnerships in El Salvador that Strengthen the Entire Society
Beginning last year COAR entered into partnership with a Salvadoran charity called Across Mission. It is an evangelical organization that supports three projects in El Salvador. Because of their work with COAR’s director, Marta Calderon, and their confidence in our graduates’ character and upbringing, they created a residence specifically for COAR.
Called Casa de Paz, it helps our graduates navigate into adulthood: learning to budget, balance work and study, understand public transportation, etc. There are two missionaries (house parents) at all times. The project is funded by a network of US based evangelical churches. All four of our current residents earned partial scholarships to their colleges and Casa de Paz provides the other 50% of the needed scholarship funding.
2018 graduates – the 1st group of scholarship students in Casa de Paz
with the healing power of friendship and professional support
of housemothers and psychologists
Claudia – scholarship to: Escuela Tecnica, nursing . . . it all began with the health specialization in COAR’s high school (pictured here) 
Ana Ruth – scholarship to: Universidad Don Bosco, foreign languages for tourism (pictured here) . . . 
Ana Ruth . . . it all began by welcoming guests at COAR (pictured here)
Estefany – scholarship to: Universidad de El Salvador, business administration . . . 
Estefany – Universidad de E. . . It all began with the entrepreneurship program at the COAR high school (pictured here)
You may ask, “Why doesn’t COAR provide this help?” Two reasons:
1st: our fundraising barely keeps up with the needs of the resident children every year. They need a much greater level of care than adults, as well as attention to their special needs and trauma. It is this level of care that enables them to heal and become the young adults who can benefit from the transitional housing.
2nd: it is tempting to think that it is simple and easy to care for children who do not have families. But without government enforcement of childcare laws, human trafficking quickly follows. So, COAR, under the direction of San Salvador Archbishop Escobar, is fully committed to working within the Salvadoran government’s requirements. That level of care is expensive and requires a much higher degree of professionalism than either the transitional housing for adults, or, the previously prominent network of informal foster-care houses that dotted the country.
Your gifts are providing the most comprehensive support available to enable success of the COAR children into their adulthood. That is a lot of syllables to say: thank you for the love and support.