Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – Compassion for the Family Inc. takes domestic violence against women very seriously. So seriously that, in 2015, they opened the Banderas Bay Women’s Shelter in a discrete location in the greater Puerto Vallarta area. Non disclosure of the location of the facility is imperative to provide abused women and their children with a safe refuge but, here, David Zude shares the non-profit organization’s latest news.
Dear Friends of the Banderas Bay Women’s Shelter,
This year has been challenging for everyone including not for profit organizations in Mexico. For most, government support has disappeared, and others have experienced a significant decrease in funding.
Fortunately, shelters for women and children, such as Casa Esperanza Refugio Para Mujeres (Banderas Bay Women’s Shelter), our new shelter Casa Esperanza Guanajuato, and other similar shelters across the country are considered “essential” for protecting human rights and have continued to receive federal government support. They have, however, experienced significant cuts in financing.
Casa Esperanza lost financing for the educational psychologist and one of our two social workers. These cuts have come during a year in which we have seen a sharp upturn in the number of domestic violence cases referred to our shelters.
Both shelters have been full or over capacity during the entire year so far… I want to thank the people who have continued to support the shelter this year. Because of you we have been able to continuously provide all services to the families.
Thanks to a generous donation from the Pearl Health Foundation, we were able to add three new spaces to the shelter this year, psychology, child psychology, and education. The space that was formerly shared by psychology and child psychology was converted into another room for families.
One final note. Due to security reasons the decision was made to change the name of the shelter. The Banderas Bay Women’s Shelter is now officially know as “Casa Esperanza Refugio Para Mujeres.”
About Casa Esperanza Refugio Para Mujeres
Casa Esperanza Refugio Para Mujeres is working with Vida Reavivida/Compassion for the Family Inc. and Mexican Social Services to provide an immediate, temporary and safe living environment for women and children who are the victims of domestic violence; to prepare them to be financially independent through jobs, education, English second language education, non interest small business loans; and to assist them in living a life free of violence through professional counseling.
Vida Reavivida A.C. is a not for profit charitable organization that is registered with the state Jalisco. For more information about Vida Reavivida A.C. and the Banderas Bay Women’s Shelter, please visit CompassionForTheFamily.com, find them on Facebook, or contact David Zude at compassionforthefamily(at)yahoo.com.mx.
