We are charging into the 'back half' of a very strange year. For all that it has brought I am proud (and relieved!) to say that Crescimento Limpo continues to find a path forward to live our mission.
One of our dilemmas early into this year's pandemic was seeing a previous resident relapsing back into addiction. I will call this friend José here, to protect his privacy. José lost his job because of the pandemic, and with it lost hope and belief in himself. Other previous resident of CL sought me out concerned for José, and we faced some difficult barriers in finding ways to help. Due to the necessary public health measures, our halfway house was not permitted to receive new residents at the time, so we needed to think creatively. Our friend José desperately needed to re-focus and believe in his own worth again, and our café (Caféla) had suffered a break-in the previous night. It's funny how alligning two crisis can bring about a solution! That night José accepted my request that he serve as our night security for our café. It was the spark he needed to believe in his own worth again! He spent the nights at our garden café, and volunteered his days helping with maintenance and animal care on our small farm. He told me that the first few days would be extremely tough as his alcoholism had progressed to the point of causing hallucinations, but he faught through the days of withdrawl and reestablished his sobriety. José continued, essentially living at our garden property, until restrictions were loosened allowing us to receive him back as a resident of our halfway house once again. We are proud to have him back, and he is proving to be a very possitive influence amongst our other residents.
In June we finished the two small kitchenettes we were working on since March and made them available for family residents. We received a request from a young couple named Leonardo e Elizmar. They are Venezuelan refugees, Elizmar was seven months pregnant in a high risk pregnancy, and they were set to loose their housing in the city of São Paulo. They are now housed with us, Leonardo has a full-time job, and they are awaiting the arrival of their little one at the end of August.
Our second kitchenette went to a single mom who needed to establish an independent residency to work towards regaining custody of her daughter. She works with us in our café and is very proud to have her own home.
We are now permitted to receive residents into our halfway house from rehab clinics. But as a means of protection againt introduction of COVID-19 to our house, new residents must submit themselves to a week long quarantine within the house upon arrival. Three new residents have successfully completed this process and are now integrated members of our supportive recovery community!
I couldn't have imagined what this year would bring, but I am proud to say that our house has met the challenges with courage. We are thankful to God for the continued path towards restoration that has been made possible. We are also thankful to those of you who have contributed towards keeping our doors open and our staff paid! Your kindness provided the opportunity our friends needed to find hope and restoration.
Links:
This week Ali listened to a podcast on the current state of services to the homeless in Ohio. It was reassuring to know that we are not off in left-field in our preparations for the looming dangers of C19. Here's what they said that matches our last month -
For people serving on the frontlines, this is both a sprint AND a marathon.
We are in a sprint to get ready for the massive danger that is moving in fast. Ohio's response, like ours, has been to prepare two new types of housing: de-concentration shelters and isolation housing. Interestingly enough, Crescimento Limpo had prepared to offer for-rent housing in 2020 for residents transitioning out of our halfway house; which means we were well positioned to adapt our plans and meet the immediate needs of this crisis. This was a good reminder of the God who goes before us and comes behind us.
Our halfway house held 18 residents when Itu's time of quarantine began. We were able to prepare a second house as our de-concentration shelter. Six residents made the move to this new facility, and one resident returned to his family, reducing the occupancy at our downtown location to 11 residents.
We are currently working to create isolation housing. We were in the process of remodeling an existing space behind our original halfway house to create two small lofts. That construction continues, but with a different purpose nowadays; in two weeks we hope to have space available for the isolation of sick individuals, where they can recover and receive the needed care.
So now begins the marathon. We are relearning how to minister to our friends in these new days. We shuttle residents from the house to our farm where they can breathe new air and feel productive, since pursuing employment isn't possible. Our team works an adjusted "check-in" schedule in order to continue to accompany and care for our residents, now in two locations, while protecting ourselves. I am using movies (I would love to have your movie suggestions) with positive messages as a therapeutic tool to generate content for the conversations we have at the Casas CL. Sunday mornings I watch our online church service with our CL residents as a way of keeping our connection to our church family.
This virus will bring difficulty for the foreseen future, for all of us, in every area. We know that as our expenses just went up, the income security of our donor base just went down, and everybody is dealing with this same crisis in their own extremely personal way.
Please pray for us as we work our way through this crisis. If you still have the means to offer financial support, know that all organizations that work in support of the vulnerable are counting on those who can support to support. Our recovery ministry, Crescimento Limpo, can easily be supported through GlobalGiving.
Here are the specific needs we encounter as we prepare and live through the covid-19 crisis:
It is quite daunting to launch a fundraiser for US$42,400 in the midst of a global crisis, but this is the work that God has entrusted to us, so we are counting on His provision as we care for the vulnerable.
Any donation, big or small, will help towards our Covid Sprint & Marathon Costs.
We count on a God that is bigger than this crisis. We take our lead from Jesus who lived a life of humble service even to the point of death, and beyond. We will get through this. May we all find His peace as we walk the road that we find ourselves on today.
Peace to your home,
Mark and Ali Kaiser
Operating services at CL always try to be aware of the immediate realities facing our residents and our city. This year has kept our creative energies pumping!
In 2019 we received fourteen Venezuelanos to live with us at our halfway house. We have been able to help many of these individuals bring their families from Venezuela and move on from their initial stay at our halfway house to independent living. Finding dignified housing is always a challenge for our more vulnerable friends. We see them pushed out to the margins of society and over charged for sub-par housing. This year we have developed some partnerships to offer better options.
For example, Jhoandelys, who moved to Brazil without speaking Portuguese and without personal resources, was exploited by employers who provided housing as a means of entrapment, and she found herself working six months without pay. Living at CL, her story changed; she got a full-time job at a hotel and had the opportunity to create savings and build towards her independence. From the first day at CL house, she had the goal to bring her four children and mother from Venezuela to Itu to live with her. Recently I had the pleasure of celebrating this victory with her! The family (her mom, four sons, and a cousin) arrived in January 2020. In March she also received her sister, brother-in-law and nephew. That brought her household to a total of 10, crammed into her one-bedroom apartment. This month we were able to facilitate a larger house for a better rent within our neighborhood so we can be a closer support during her family's development. It's a "learn-as-you-go" experience, and we are learning as fast as we can to provide support and facilitate community resources.
As you might imagine, serving so many individuals within a confined space has produced it's due concerns as COVID-19 has become a new global issue. Our recent group sessions have focused on personal and communal hygiene and disease understanding/prevention and we have equipped our house with multiple new soap and alcohol gel dispensers. We are trying to use this moment to make the necessary adaptations that communal health requires, and also as a teaching moment to help our residents be aware and ready to react to the many complicated situations that life will present.
Our residents tend to appreciate these nudges and promptings towards thoughtful living. Silvio, a current resident, describes his housing experience at CL, "Hello. My name is Silvio, I am 49 years old. I arrived at Crescimento Limpo seven months ago looking for a new direction for my life. After many years of suffering with addiction- because I am a recovering alcoholic, I looked to CL for support. I was able to start living again! But I did not only find support, but a whole new direction with solid foundations established in sincere and honest relationship. I found people really willing to help in this new stage of my life. I found not only a shelter but all the support- emotional, psychological, spiritual and even financial. I can see a different tomorrow and a cleand and sober tomorrow. To sum it up in one word: GRATITUDE! Support this cause! "
As 2020 continues, we keep an eye on the horizon of social change.
We are very grateful for the support that allows us to continue to care for the most vulnerable. Thank you for your commitment to our cause. The Crescimento Limpo motto is, "Tudo Renova", or in English 'All Things Renew' and your support keeps that door of opportunity open. Thank you!
16 de Dezembro, 2019
Itu, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Crescimento Limpo Year End Report for Supporters
This last year has been absolutely full of changes and new developments for our organization, and we are proud to say that our mission statement, to facilitate a healthy independence for our friends who seek recovery from homelessness and drug addiction, has been lived out well through these developments. We close the year thankful for the support we've received and with dreams for the future innovations that are already underway!
Report:
We have been developing our ministry to the homeless since 2009, when we began receiving homeless for lunch in our home. We progressed to helping our new homeless friends enter drug rehab facilities, and began our supportive housing services in 2011 as the Brazilian NGO, Crescimento Limpo (CL). CL now operates a large home downtown Itu where we receive up to twenty-five individuals including men, women and families. So far in 2019, forty nine individuals have lived at CL, including two families.
Our residents come to us from rehab clinics, direct from homelessnes, and this year fourteen residents have come as refugees from Venezuela. The variety of our residents' circumstances and difficult backgrounds have demanded a specialized team and programing.
In order to create discipleship and job opportunities for residents, we developed an urban garden in 2015, a café in 2018, and a small farm in 2019. These spaces are used to work alongside every resident as they begin their time with us, and we currently employ eight residents full-time. These three locations are owned by three separate community members who each offer their properties rent-free as a means of supporting our recovery ministry.
This year our CL team has been further developed by the addition of Fabiola, who this month graduates as a social worker, and the simultaneous graduation of her husband Rogerio in civil engineering. Rogerio has been on staff for four years and serves as property manager and house monitor. CL sponsored Rogerio's college education, who has already served our ministry immensely with his construction abilities as well as equipping our residents with skills to improve their professional capacities. Your financial support has been key in facilitating his studies, as well as Wayne's college - a previous CL resident who leads the kitchen of our café and will graduate with a culinary degree at the end of 2020.
At the moment:
Our current and most pressing need is for the building project of an urban farm, currently under construction. This site is being used to increase our discipleship and job opportunities, creating a place to develop closer interactions with the population of Itu (we plan to organize monthly Volunteer Saturdays for families, schools, and businesses in our community), and our residents in recovery, as well as providing a source of income for our organization. We estimate US$25,000 in order to conclude all phases of this project, which include material and labor for structure, electric, and furniture. We are currently fundraising this amount in order to conclude and inaugurate the farm building in the Spring of 2020. Any amount donated towards this need will help us continue to build unusual and transformative community in Itu, reflecting more the nearness of the Kingdom on Earth.
Your ongoing generosity helps us be present to the homeless of Itu and maintain an open door to those who would pursue a life of recovery.
We would like to offer a video as further explanation of our ministry. Please access the Crescimento Limpo channel on Youtube and see the video titled "Mark and Ali tell the story of Crescimento Limpo"
God has been gracious to us, and we are thankful for the favor we have found in the development of this ministry. We count our partnership with you as evidence of that provision, and will be grateful for the opportunity to continue for years to come.
Mark and Ali Kaiser for Crescimento Limpo
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
Make a monthly donation & get 
