Hearts of Gold has over 10 years of service under our belts. We began by providing direct services to vulnerable individuals and grew into an organization that strengthens the skills of nonprofit leaders through education and mentoring and fundraising. Hearts of Gold has the honor of partnering with nine community organizations, and also direct beneficiaries. working on education, selfcare, acquiring skills to find jobs and much more

Covid-19 has not changed our mission, only our method. The Cuenca Soup Kitchen continues to be committed to providing food to those most in need. Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, the Cuenca Soup Kitchen served hot meals and provided access to clothing and other basic items for Venezuelan refugees. In addition, its Outreach program provided sack lunches for the Ecuadorian working poor. The current pandemic has deepened our challenge.

Every child deserves to dream, but in Ecuador dreaming is a privilege.Some children do not know when their next hot meal is going to be.Others study by candlelight, and many more lack the medicine they need to make it through the day.We are honored to work with 5 organizations that are serving 350+ vulnerable youth, covering their basic needs and giving them the chance to dream.Now, we want to show Ecuadorian children that dreams do come true, and we need your help to fulfill each one of them.

Fundacion El Arenal, founded in 1997, is a nonprofit community center for youth and children whose parents work around Feria Libre, one of the poorest sectors of Cuenca, Ecuador. The foundation serves over 60 children and adolescents and offers an after-school program, mental health counseling, and a nutritional lunch program. Most families who rely on El Arenal are rural, indigenous migrants who come to the city's largest market to sell their wares.

Fundacion Azulado's goal is to eradicate child sexual abuse and maltreatment in Ecuador. We have already impacted the lives of over 30,000 elementary school students and their families by deploying the My Shield (Mi Escudo) child sexual abuse prevention program in over 90 low-income schools. This program teaches children self-protective behavior, boosts self-esteem and assertiveness, and helps kids learn which adults they can trust. We also train parents on healthy child rearing.

OSSO Orphanage serves 22 children living with special needs in Cuenca, Ecuador. These children live with conditions from autism to cerebral palsy, and are 100% dependent on the orphanage for medical care, therapies, medicines, daily care, nutrition and education.

CETAP-Lucy is an early stimulation center in Ecuador that is transforming the lives of poor children with learning and physical disabilities through academic support and a therapy program. The center serves 50 children living in severe poverty conditions, and most of whom have learning challenges and physical disabilities that are not supported in their school or home life.

Path to Womanhood is a project designed to empower and educate young women about what to expect as they journey into womanhood. The nature of this project is to remessage the period with curiosity and anticipation and to remove the shock, shame, and embarrassment often felt by young women when it comes to menstruation. The aim of this is to cultivate an interest in learning and celebrating monthly cycles, so that every young woman can have a deep and holistic understanding of what to expect

An alarming fact is that 75% of nonprofits in Ecuador close within a 3 year period. This means that struggling communities lose the critical services they need. Hearts of Gold has been working to transform this reality through the pilot year of the CAP, providing workshops, mentoring, dialogues & networking opportunities. The CAP program emboldens each mission, each leader, each organization, to reach their potential in their service to the community.

We want each woman to stand up and say: watch me live, watch me strive, watch me succeed. Mirame (watch me) is a newly launched initiative focused on enabling Ecuadorian women to reach their full potential. This project will lay the groundwork for a structured & strategic women's empowerment program to discover the next wave of women leaders through hope, empowerment, and education! Join us and give voice to a grassroots movement where women are mobilized to ignite change from within.

Fighting a stigma against special needs in Ecuador, the NOVA Education Center is working to promote an inclusionary education model. NOVA brings 95 children with special needs and normal children into the same classroom. This project works to promote diversity, respect, and community involvement. By sponsoring a child at NOVA you can ensure that children with special needs and children who can't afford education are given the opportunity to learn and grow, while promoting a culture of diversity.