Introduction to Niños con Valor

We believe that every child is a unique creation of God with innate value, having rights and deserving respect. While we desire to help as many children as we can in the most effective way possible, we also believe in the power of the ripple effect, believing that improving the life of even just one child can begin an infinite succession of positive changes in the future. Our focus is on quality of care, over quantity of children cared for, promoting in our children’s lives their potential to transform the world around them.

The principal goal of Niños con Valor, both in the US and Bolivia, is to transform the lives of disadvantaged children in Bolivia. This is accomplished through combining our resources and skills to provide individualized care to children and families in need through prevention programs, daycare, residential care, transitional housing, training and counseling. Our work is unique in its incarnational and holistic approach, addressing the physical, mental, emotional, psychological, social and spiritual needs of each individual and integrating all children regardless of history, health status, gender, or physical, mental and educational needs.

A secondary goal is to share our model of care with other residential programs, schools and disadvantaged families, in order to promote healthy homes for at-rsik children and youth.

Residential Family Homes

Corazón del Pastor, which opened in 2006, and Pedacito de Cielo, which opened in 2008, are our two residential children’s homes, providing both temporary and long-term care to children who have been orphaned, abandoned, or removed from high-risk situations.

We are a leader in providing care for children with special needs – specifically those living with HIV and other immunodeficiencies – and our vision is to train other agencies to ensure that in the future, this care will be more readily available in other parts of the country.

Our homes are run as loving families by an incredible staff of  men and women who recognize their role as more than a simple “job”, and strive to meet the physical, mental and spiritual needs of the 34 boys and girls currently in our care.

In 2019, in order to bring siblings closer together, ensure that we have the space and infrastructure needed to provide the best care possible, and increase the amount of green space available to our children, the homes were united onto a single site (see photo to left).

Residential Therapy Center

Caminos Abiertos al Cambio (est. 2017) is our residential therapy program for teens who struggle with serious emotional and/or behavior disorders. It was launched as a pilot program when we realized that there were no healthy options for teens who are expressing their frustration and anger through acts of delinquency.

The program consists of 3 stages:

Stage 1: The teens have limited freedoms, living separate from the residential homes, as they begin to establish limits in their lives. The goal is that by the end of their time in this stage (max 4 months) they are able to recognize the actions that led them to the program, accept responsibility for these actions, and make a committment to develop a plan forward that will enable them to make better life decisions and channel their frustration in more healthy ways.

Stage 2: The teens continue to live separately, however, they now begin to engage more outside of the program, putting into practices the values they are learning and plans they are establishing, in order to integrate back into the family homes and society in a way that is productive rather than destructive.

Stage 3: At this point, the teens return to live in the family residential homes, putting into practice all that they have learned, in a context where the triggers that led them to make poor decisions in the past, yet now with new tools to help them respond in more healthy ways.

Outreach Programs

One way we are helping families in need, is through our Fondo+ (est. 2016). This is a fund that was created in collaboration with 5 other organizations working with people livign with and/or affected by HIV, and is available to disadvantaged families with children who are living with HIV. Families can apply for financial support to help cover the costs of the medical needs of their children, in cases where state programs do not cover all of the expenses.

We also have a small street outreach program, Street Light, providing our teens with the opportunity to serve their peers who are homeless and living in precarious situations. At this time, it is strictly a program of accompaniment. However, we hope that it can expand in the future to provide opportunities that can help the teen and young adults we work with get off the streets.

As mentioned above, we are also developing a program to work with disadvantaged families directly. This program will be focused on prevention, and will gradually be introduced over the next couple of years.

Ninos con Valor, Inc, a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization based in Redmond, WA. Fundación Niños con Valor is a registered Bolivian charity.