|
Casa de la
Madre y el Niño is a non-profit organization that provides a home for children
without families and pregnant women where they are cared for with specialized
attention, orientation and preparation. La Casa was founded in November of 1942.
We
comply with the norms and standards that apply to this kind of organization.
ORGANIZATION
Casa de la Madre y el Niño is directed by a Board of Directors constituted by
eight (8) members. The current director is Barbara Escobar de Vargas
HUMAN RESOURCES
La Casa de la Madre y el Niño has a team of highly
qualified personnel:
·
Pediatrician, obstetrician-gynecologist,
nurses, psychologists, psychiatrist, speech therapist, social workers,
nutritionist, pre-school teachers, occupational therapist, among others.
·
Child care workers
·
General services personnel and kitchen
assistants
·
Administrative team
·
Volunteers
·
Student assistants and technicians
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
The buildings were specially designed
and constructed by the architectural firm Cuellar Serrano Gomez.
There are dormitories for each age
group, bathrooms, dining rooms, kitchen, laundry area, nursery, infant
development stimulation area, playroom, gardens and a play yard,
chapel, house for pregnant women, primary care and nursing services, area for
visits, classrooms, art room, computer classroom and administrative offices.
FINANCIAL RESOURCES
All the programs that La Casa offers are
free. We do not charge any fee for the adoption process.
The financial resources come from
limited government support, private donations, proceeds from sales of
Christmas cards and Christmas decorations, and mainly from the generosity of our
benefactors.
Government payments come from contracts
signed with welfare agencies whose payments for the maintenance
of a total of 45 children represent only 53% of the annual budget. The
remaining 47% of the expenses for the care of the pregnant women and the babies
and the best possible care for the children comes from the generosity of donors
and the work of the volunteers in fundraising projects.
The funds are used to pay for
administrative expenses, medical services, supplies, food, building maintenance,
as well as education, recreation and training expenses.
ABOUT
US
Children
La Casa has an installed capacity for 65
children from newly born infants until 8 year old children.
·
45 are cared for
under contracts with governmental welfare agencies
·
20 are the
infants born of women in the program and their children. Pregnant women are
allowed to have their children under six (6) accompany them during their stay.
Pregnant Women
The program has a capacity for 20
pregnant women. The women can also participate in
the programs as day personnel.
·
Between 2000 and
2005, 310 pregnant women participated; 266 babies were born in the program and
86% were placed for adoption.
OUR HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY
History
La Casa de la Madre y el Niño was
founded in 1942 by Maria López de Escobar. The founder was driven to start the
program when she saw babies who were left on the doorstep of the welfare office
of the city. This motivated her to search for a way to give these
children love, respect, a home and the possibility to find a family where they
would be welcome instead of being sent to an orphanage.
Her active and untiring personality
along with the efforts of the first coworkers and the very creative and
resourceful volunteers permitted the consolidation of the project. Along with
all the activities, they focused on caring for the children that required
special attention, and since financial conditions were precarious, to do so they
built an incubator for premature babies using household materials.
The concept Colombian society had of
adoption started to change due to the tenacity and work of the director and the
volunteers. This change was also due to the confidence and trustworthiness La
Casa obtained in the community as they brought happy faces to many couples in
Colombia and other countries.
The intelligence and leadership of the
founder assured the existence of the organization. In order to consolidate its
stability a person with vocation and generous spirit and as committed as the
Founder was needed. This person could be no other than her daughter, Bárbara
Escobar de Vargas who for more than 30 years has dedicated herself to the
program. She has counted on the support of some of the people who worked with
her mother, specially Inés Elvira Cuellar de Fajardo and Maria Cristina Uribe de
de la Torre and other volunteers who have
dedicated time to serve La Casa. This group has given La Casa continuity and has
known how to adapt her to the needs and demands of new times. The group is
presently made up of parents who have adopted
children, mothers and grandparents as well as adopted young people who offer
their love, enthusiasm and professional experience.
The home for pregnant women was inaugurated in 1978. Since
then approximately two thousand five hundred pregnant women have received
support and assistance.
La Casa has actively participated in
supporting the legislation to protect children and pregnant women. Due to these
efforts and to the efforts of other organizations, adopted children were
recognized as legitimate children by Colombian law with all their rights and
obligations.
La Casa collaborates with government
organizations in the care of children, a vulnerable group of the population.
International agencies such Associazione La Dimora and Istituto "La
Casa" in Italy, Children's Home Society And Family Services,Waiting
International Child Program in U.S.A, Adoptionsföreningen La Casa in
Sweden, and Mission de l'Adoption Internationale in France, have been a
great help in finding families for the children.
What makes us stand out is
the quality of the service offered daily to the children, adoptive
parents and pregnant women. This is made possible by continued improvement and
the satisfaction obtained through good work.
With our daily work we hope to
strengthen the bonds resulting from team work with other institutions to
consolidate a network of programs oriented
towards the community. Our most important purpose is to protect the right to
life and to offer support with love.
ALL SERVICES ARE FREE
AWARDS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
La Casa de la Madre y el Niño is respected in the
community. Her achievements have been acknowledged by the
Colombian government and the community:
·
Cruz de Boyacá in 1967 (Boyacá Cross) a maximum
distinction in the country for nongovernmental organizations.
·
Fundación Alejandro Angel Escobar (Alejandro Escobar Non-Profit
Organization) granted La Casa the Premio a la Beneficencia, 1985, (Award for
Social Welfare programs)
·
Orden Centenario Banco de la República del Banco de la República
of Colombia ,1978, (Central Bank)
·
Sociedad de Mejoras y Ornato de Bogotá (Society for the
Improvement and Decoration of Bogotá),
·
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Award, 1971,
·
La Casa was given the keys of the city of New
Jersey,1974,
·
Orden al Mérito Civil de la Ciudad de
Bogota,1992, (Award for Civil Merit of the city of Bogotá),
·
Orden al Mérito del Instituto Colombiano de
Bienestar Familiar, ICBF, 1992, (the Order for Civil Merit of the Colombian
Family Welfare Program)
·
Mención de Solidaridad “Diario el Colombiano”
of Medellín (the Mention of Solidarity of the newspaper “El Colombiano” of
Medellín, 1993
·
María López de Escobar, founder of La Casa, was accepted as
Miembro Honorario de la Sociedad Colombiana de Pediatría in 1973 (Honorary
Member of the Colombian Pediatric Society)
·
When La Casa completed 50 years of
existence, Adpostal (National Postal Service) donated a national circulation
stamp allusive to the program. When La Casa
completed 60 years of activities, Villegas Editores published a book as a
testimony of the achievements of all these years, with stories and
acknowledgements from our children and adoptive parents from the entire world.
MISION - VISION - QUALITY POLICIES
MISSION
Since 1942 la Casa de la Madre y el Niño
orients, protects and cares for children who for diverse reasons do not have a
family. Additionally La Casa orients, protects and cares for pregnant women
offering them all the necessary assistance to ensure the right to live of the
infant to be born.
We search for and orient adoptive
parents for children to enable them to grow up and be successful.
VISION
§
To consolidate the image and prestige of La
Casa de la Madre y el Niño at a national and international level in order to
increase the number of donors.
§
To improve the quality of the service and
attention offered to the groups we attend in the different programs.
§
To improve the working conditions of the people
who work in La Casa.
QUALITY POLICIES
Our
commitments are:
§
To satisfy the needs and expectations of the
children, pregnant women and adoptive parents by offering a confidential and
effective service. We will comply with all the legal requirements that apply to
this kind of organizations.
§
To develop strategies to consolidate our image
and improve the programs based on competent human talent, trying to ensure their
well being.
§
To defend the right to live of the infant to be
born.
Guidelines of the Quality Policies
§
To satisfy the needs and expectations of the
children, pregnant women and adoptive parents.
§
To offer an effective and confidential service
of orientation, attention and protection.
§
To comply with the legal requirements.
§
To develop strategies to consolidate our image.
§
To improve the programs of La Casa de la Madre y el Niño.
§
To have competent human resources.
§
To ensure the well being of the members of La
Casa.
§
To defend the life of the infant to be born.
|
