Our Programs
We seek to make an investment in each young person to discover and pursue the path that God has laid out for them.
Caminando Juntos Mentoring Program
The single most common factor for children who develop resilience is at least one stable and committed relationship with a supportive parent, caregiver or other adult. The combination of supportive relationships, adaptive skill-building and positive experiences is the foundation of resilience. This is why we started Caminando Juntos (Walking Together).
Our mentoring program contributes to the deinstitutionalization of children and adolescents living in residential care. We partner with institutions that work with youth from difficult pasts by providing reliable and secure mentors. The mentoring program helps promote resiliency and reinforces connections with the community as they prepare for a life outside of residential care.
Our mentors are all trained in the Trauma Competent Caregiver Training. Over the course of a year, they have committed to meet two to four times a month with their mentee.
Trauma Competent Caregiver Training
Trauma has a potentially life-altering impact in every developmental area for a growing child. It deeply impacts a child’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual development.
The Trauma Competent Caregiver (TCC) course is the foundation of our mentoring program. Training in trauma-informed care and using this as a formative view for providing care can enable caregivers and mentors to help children heal and break the cycle of intergenerational trauma.
We are affiliate trainers with Trauma Free World and use their course as material for our trainings.
Our mentors have shared that they are especially encouraged by this material since it has given them new perspectives and practical skills that they can begin to implement right away in their day-to-day ministry with the kids.
Comunidad Girasoles
We are partnering with our friends at Health Bridges International in the development of the Comunidad Girasoles Program (Girasoles Community), specifically focusing on working with youth and young adults who are transitioning or who have already transitioned out of the Casas Girasoles residential care homes that HBI operates. This work begins well before the youth begin their transition out of residential care and continues well beyond the day that they leave the home.
Our work promotes resilience as we walk alongside and help them pursue a holistic sense of wellbeing. We encourage the development of deeper connections with the community around them and we help identify and develop life skills necessary for adulthood.
Our team provides information and orientation to the Girasoles graduates as they navigate different life circumstances. We seek to help them find their voice, developing a sense of autonomy and responsibility for their decisions. Also, we emphasize each individual’s need for healthy community and a robust support network. The program has implemented a support fund aimed at providing specific opportunities and meeting individualized needs as these adolescents transition into adulthood.