OUR STORY
Common Hope promotes hope and opportunity in Guatemala by partnering with children, families and communities who want to participate in a process of development to improve their lives through education, health care, housing and family development.
We work to end the cycle of poverty for children in Guatemala through a holistic, relationship-based model. While education is at the heart of our work, we believe a comprehensive approach to human development is critical for children and families to reach their full potential.
Just as every student has goals, we have goals for every student:
- Graduate from high school or a vocational equivalent
- Develop critical-thinking skills
- Become a multiplier of our work and agent of change in their community
What Sets Us Apart
Comprehensive model
We remove barriers to educational achievement for students and empower families to improve their own lives. Our holistic approach is inclusive of programs in education, health care, housing and family development.
Required participation
Our families seek benefits with responsibilities. Common Hope requires active participation and acknowledges that we are not an organization making handouts – but rather a hand up. This preserves dignity and builds ownership in the process.
Innovation
Generational, cultural change requires real-time evaluation. We actively work within cultural and systemic change to ensure effective and efficient modeling. We seek resources, feedback and engagement with country and family.
Use of funds
On average, 83 percent of funds go directly to programs and the people we serve. When you give to Common Hope, you can feel confident about where your money is going.
Personal relationships
Human development works best when it happens in the context of personal relationships. We know each family member of every child we serve. We participate in an exchange, partnering together to create lasting change.
Proven approach
Common Hope students are 3 and 4 times more likely to graduate from high school than the national average. Common Hope graduates are healthier and more optimistic than their peers as demonstrated by a long-term impact study by the University of Chicago.
Sharing best practices
Common Hope builds, evaluates, and shares best practices. Defining what works and what doesn’t work, watching trends, and sharing successes are true marks of cultural change.
Timeline of Hope: A generation of milestones from 1986-today
Where we work in Guatemala
Common Hope works in 27 communities helping more than 14,000 impoverished children and adults create a better life for themselves. Our programs in education, health care, housing, and family development are offered through four main locations: Antigua, San Miguel Milpas Altas, San Rafael, and New Hope.
Spirituality Statement
Common Hope welcomes anyone willing to serve the poor, and we serve those living in poverty without regard to religion. We honor all beliefs that lead people to health. We embrace spiritual values such as hope, forgiveness, compassion, respect, love, service and the pursuit of peace. Common Hope recognizes that people, whatever their beliefs, are equal and deserve respect. We value the strength that diversity offers, and acknowledge that we are all connected.
Political Statement
To ensure the safety of its staff and the families served by Common Hope, we are not politically active in the United States or in Guatemala. There is a difference between charity and justice. Justice is deeper. It works toward making systemic change that eliminates the causes of poverty. Our primary work is in Guatemala, where we attack poverty at its roots without becoming politically active. In developed countries, Common Hope educates people about their role in creating poverty, as well as their responsibility and power to eliminate it.
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Accomplishments
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