About the Project:
Project: Securing the perimeter of a Local Partner site to open the doors of a new safe home.
Location: Belize City, Belize
For 20 years, this Local Partner has been fighting slavery throughout Belize. Currently in an offsite facility during the day, our Local Partner is able to provide teen moms a place to come for their children to be safe, and to learn new vocational and life skills that enable them to resist traffickers. This partner also educates children and teenagers on how to keep themselves safe from trafficking through prevention programs in almost every school in the country. All of these provided activities have created demand for a residential facility that provides overnight, long-term restorative care and services for survivors of exploitation and their children.
To meet this demand, our Local Partner plans to utilize a 4-acre property they own just outside Belize City. This beautiful property already has education and vocational classrooms, a 9-bed residential facility, and a kitchen. However, this site requires several upgrades, remodeling and security fencing before they can operate and serve survivors at this location. Until then, this property can unfortunately only be used for admin office space. Belize City is extremely dangerous and home to significant gang activity that directly endangers any property in the region. Without a secure perimeter, our Local Partner cannot open its doors to provide overnight restorative care which is an urgent need in the area. Local police are able to identify victims of exploitation, however without overnight care available, there is no long-term solution available. The safe home structure is 60% ready, and once completed, it will be able to open its doors to clients for the first time.
The Investment: $75,000
This investment will provide the necessary security around the perimeter of the 4-acre property and will allow us to move the current kitchen into the secure perimeter. With this secure perimeter, this facility will finally be able to open its doors to trafficking survivors for overnight restorative care. Many organizations have invested in the construction of these buildings, but no one else has been able to make this a fully functional facility. We believe that Christ the King is the perfect partner to take this project across the finish line.
Additional Investment: $30,000
In addition to securing the perimeter and moving the kitchen, our Local Partner is in need of reliable transportation. The van they are currently using to transport women to and from Belize city continues to break down in dangerous areas and put the staff and the women they care for in a vulnerable situation $30,000 will provide them with a new van.
Long term investment:
The unique benefit of our global partner network is that we are able to share and build on expertise across partners from all over the world. Sharing resources, knowledge & expertise allows us to fight slavery faster and more efficiently globally. One of our most advanced Local Partners in Uganda currently operates a robust and successful restorative program. Together, we will be able to come alongside our Belize partner to provide the necessary programming, mentorship, staffing, and training to launch the restorative program. This will be a two-year process and will cost $500,000. Once fully operating, it will cost $150,000 annually to offer all of these restorative and preventative services.