Gawad Kalinga (GK) is a Philippine-based non-profit with the mission to end poverty in the Philippines by 2024 by engaging all sectors of society to contribute to a lasting and sustainable solution. To date, about 2,500 communities have been built for tens of thousands homeless families, restoring the dignity of the poor and getting them started on the path to recovery. Gawad Kalinga USA, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization is the official representative of Gawad Kalinga in the United States.
GK USA-Boston has adopted the residents of the Ark of Noah Community. The 78 families of the community came from temporary shelters along the railroad tracks of Bocaue, Bulacan, a city about 50 kilometers from Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The community subsequently organized itself with the help of Gawad Kalinga, and has been patiently waiting for permanent homes for the last nine years.
With the TripAdvisor grant for 20 homes and GK USA-Boston's ongoing fundraising effort for another 20 homes under the GK Boston Global Summit village project, over half of the community will be slated to receive homes by December 2016. We have completed 30 homes to date and another 8 homes are being built. By building homes, we aim to restore the dignity of these families, give them hope, and get them on the path to prosperity.
The Gawad Kalinga vision does not stop with providing homes. Consistent with our 'hand-up, not a hand-out' philosophy, GK USA-Boston is also in the process of incubating community health and social entrepreneurship initiatives at the Ark of Noah GK site to provide a well-rounded and sustainable solution to poverty for these beneficiary families. Funds raised in excess of our $28,000 target and continuing fundraising efforts will be used to support these initiatives.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
