The Solution

Preparing Underserved Youth Every Day for a Better Future

NPH Provides Family for Children Who Don’t Have One

For more than 65 years, NPH has prepared children to meet their futures and overcome obstacles to individual achievement. We take care of the whole child’s needs and prepare them to achieve their dream so they can one day give back to their communities.

Our whole-child comprehensive approach focuses on:

  • prevention
  • protection
  • preparation
  • family
  • faith

Latin America remains one of the regions with the highest levels of violence and inequality in the world. That’s why the commitment by NPH — and by you — to this region is just as important as ever.

NPH provides safe, healthy environments for orphaned, abandoned, disabled, and poor children to learn and prosper. Our solution to fighting generational poverty is to care for the whole child — heart, mind, body, and spirit — throughout their young lives, giving them the tools they need to succeed and give back to the community as adults.

Our programs help support our work and provide for families and children

NPH Cares For the Whole Child

Care for the Whole Child Graphic with an icon of a girl surrounded by four sections of a circle with the words Mind, Heart, Health, and Faith.

Heart—Because Family Matters

Unlike other institutions or government programs, children are not asked to leave the NPH family when they immediately turn 18. At NPH, beneficiaries leave when they are ready to be on their own. Children with serious, chronic health conditions may remain their entire lives in an NPH program.

Family is at the heart of all that NPH does. The children that we support live in a community with a family member or in one of our homes.

We strive to give them what’s best about family:

  • love
  • security
  • nourishing food
  • healthcare
  • education
  • a future

When family reunification is possible, we go to great lengths to trace family members who have lost contact with children in our care. Siblings remain together when placed in one of our homes. We are not selective. Whether children are healthy or not, academically able or not, or struggling with disabilities or other problems, we keep them together. Because family matters.

Children supported by NPH who live in one of our NPH homes are welcomed with their brothers and sisters and become a part of the larger, stable NPH family environment. This gives them a chance to focus on education and personal growth. We provide psychological support and counseling to children and youth to help heal the trauma that comes from a life of poverty, insecurity, and sometimes violence. Knowing that a loving support system will be in place for them, the children grow, learn, and become contributing citizens in their own countries. In doing so, they become a model for others to follow and build a more caring society.

Body (Health)—NPH Takes Care of Medical Needs

Our local and international medical services team of health care professionals provides quality care with a child-centered approach in countries where the basic human right of access to health care is often difficult to accomplish. Our medical programs strive to provide the best care possible for populations of children living in NPH homes and for those in the surrounding communities.

NPH Medical Services uses an integral, holistic, and comprehensive approach that takes into consideration environmental, psychological, preventive, and curative factors. Each regional medical coordinator assists in monitoring children with chronic conditions, delivering vaccinations, coordinating therapies and annual well-child checkups, ensuring the appropriate use of cost-effective drugs, procuring specialized medicines, and implementing public health interventions.

 

The NPH Medical Services’ motto is “what would you do if this patient were your own child?” The answer is obvious. Even if the necessary treatment can only be found abroad, NPH will do it! For the past 10 years, NPH has sent nine children to Italy and Spain for difficult surgeries or treatment, among them kidney transplants, congenital heart diseases, leukemia, oncology diseases, and severe orthopedic problems. All of this is possible thanks to generous surgeons, hospitals, airlines, and NPH fundraising offices. What we can do working together as a team has no limits.

Mind—The Power of Knowledge to Reach their Full Potential

NPH believes in education. It is the cornerstone of our philosophy for nurturing children today to become resilient, caring adults tomorrow.

Our goal is to help disadvantaged children achieve their full potential. NPH is a leading Latin American childcare organization preparing young people to live independently.

In 2020, NPH celebrated 125 college graduates, 71 of them women.

Some of the degree earned by NPH young adults:
Medicine, Odontology, Civil Engineering, Economics, Law, Physical Therapy, Finance, Communications, Chemistry, Public Relation, Education, Marketing, Nursing, Physiology, Accounting, Economics and Law, Industrial Engineering, Accounting, Social Work, Biology, Dentistry, International Relations, Psychology

We believe that quality education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and improving the lives of children. We strive to give each child a strong foundation of basic academic and interpersonal skills through our educational programs. While our programs vary by home, we provide an extensive variety of educational opportunities, from Montessori preschool through university, as well as vocational trade certificate programs.

Every year we have college graduates—whose education is supported completely or a majority mostly by NPH—who start life with an amazing advantage and a bright future.

Spirit (Faith)—Exploring their Spirituality and their Sense of Self

Father William Wasson, founder of NPH, was a Catholic priest who combined his spirituality with an intensely practical approach to improving the lives of children.

NPH operates in countries with a strong Catholic culture. Bringing children up in the Catholic faith is part of our work. If children profess another faith, we support them in observing it. We also embrace family members who do not profess a religious faith, provided they share our commitment to children and respect the faith of our family.

We foster pride in the local culture of each country. NPH began in Mexico more than 65 years ago. It spread east and south to Honduras, Haiti, and Nicaragua eventually extending to Bolivia and Peru.

For the children who grow up in NPH homes, we foster pride in the local culture of each country. We celebrate the customs and traditions of our rich and diverse culture.

And we celebrate and teach our Catholic faith. This faith, bolstered by the values and principles first instilled in NPH by our founder Fr. Wasson, make us strong and make us mindful of the call to serve one another and humankind.

Learn more about our Stories of Hope in the NPH family.

Future—Creating a Sustainable Future through Earth-Friendly Practices and Farming

As a children’s organization, NPH has a strong commitment to leaving our planet fit for future generations. NPH strives to make our operations and programs sustainable and Earth-friendly.

We use and promote:

  • renewable energy for water heating
  • solar panels for electricity
  • garbage separation and recycling
  • composting and organic gardening

We run a number of social businesses where farms produce vegetable crops,eggs, chicken, pork, and fish to supply our kitchens or are sold to generate income for our programs.

Agriculture and sustainability and go hand in hand at our NPH homes.

Giving Back to the Community—Children Leading by Example through a Year of Service Program

Our goal is to prepare NPH children to lead by example in their local communities. Before leaving an NPH home, young adults give a year of family service, typically working in a home to support the NPH family that has allowed them to grow so well. This is a very important part of their formation and strengthens their self-esteem. It is important that each NPH family member can contribute something back to the community.

NPH Services that Help Children Thrive and Grow

As a United Nations-designated Civil Service Organization (CSO), NPH is committed to furthering the work of conscientious companies committed to protecting the planet and human rights and dignity for the benefit of all.

In 2019, in conjunction with our CSO designation, NPH committed to focusing on three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that align most closely with our mission and areas of strategic focus:

  • Goal 1: No poverty
  • Goal 3: Good health and well-being
  • Goal 5: Gender equality

HOMES: We provide a safe and loving home environment to our children in nine countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

FOOD & HEALTH CARE: Every child receives a health check and vaccines, treatments, and therapies as needed, and three healthy meals a day.

Promoting health and providing basic and advanced medical services in a primary care health system covering eight countries in Latin America, plus a pediatric hospital in Haiti, comprise a core competency for NPH.

EDUCATION: We provide children with a variety of educational opportunities, from Montessori preschool through university, as well as vocational trade certifications.

SUSTAINABILITY: Our homes strive to be as self-sufficient as possible to help lower expenses, teach children valuable skills, and reduce the impact on the environment.

GIRLS’ EMPOWERMENT: We educate, support, and empower women and girls to realize their fullest potential.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH: Our homes assist thousands of people each year by providing health care services, education scholarships, and more.

You Can Become Part of the Solution