Elizangela e Chiquinho
We met Elizangela and Chiquinho after a tragedy struck their family: the loss of their year-and-a-half old son. Chiquinho worked with us as a painter at that time. With this loss in the family, they were totally unmotivated to continue, so we set out to give them hope. 
We poured out emotional support and helped with food baskets until we identified that Elizangela knew how to crochet. We decided to invest in her skill with encouragement and business training, and that's how JL Crochê came about. We helped her with some parts of the business plan like the logo and the financial plan, so that she could fully develop the business.
Luan
Luan is a young, shy boy who is a self-taught artist and who wishes to help others. He has an incredible talent to create very realistic drawings using only common colored pencils.
He had no life perspective and was not able to get any work. Depression was isolating him and he was struggling with suicidal thoughts. The only thing that kept him going was his passion for art. When we met Luan, we immediately saw how sweet a person he is.
We were able to get a donation of art supplies form a university in Sao Paulo to give him the opportunity to produce his first public art exposition to promote himself as an artist, and Hear the Cry. Going forward he would like to go to art school, and teach art classes in the community center.
Raimunda
Dona Raimunda is 85 years old and has a beautiful smile and unshakable faith. She lived in a house that was loaned to her, but the owner asked for the house back. The community then mobilized and got a mud house for her to live in temporarily, but she still carried the fear of not knowing what would happen to he r in the future. That's when we met her and injected a little more hope into that heart--the hope of one day having her own home. In addition to facing homelessness, Dona Raimunda was also facing breast cancer, which she defeated after a few sessions of radiotherapy. Through both of these trials she continued to work her business, selling lingerie in the region. So we invested a little more in the form of merchandise so that she could get back on her feet and support herself, always thinking about her personal development.
In the end, Justice, Compassion, and Hope was able to build a small house for her to live in and run her business. She can now live in peace and support herself, without fear of ever getting evicted again.
Our homes consist of a cement floor, cement block walls, and simple ceramic tile roofs. They have a 3-stage septic tank to help protect the at-risk water supply. Flooding and inadequate septic systems pollute the groundwater and pose additional health threats. Our home design helps improve both situations and the construction itself provides jobs for local craftsmen.
Creciane
Creciane and her husband were vulnerable and practically homeless.
Creciane and her husband were living in a Taipa house that had no mud on the walls, and no running water. They had to bring water from 2.5 miles away. She had to leave her son with someone else because she could not feed him, and there was nowhere to sleep. She also had several health issues and was malnourished. We built a house that was adequate for her and her son, and he is back with them now and her health has improved a lot.
Our homes consist of a cement floor, cement block walls, and simple ceramic tile roofs. They have a 3-stage septic tank to help protect the at-risk water supply. Flooding and inadequate septic systems pollute the groundwater and pose additional health threats. Our home design helps improve both situations and the construction itself provides jobs for local craftsmen. They cost about $25,000 to build, depending on the exchange rate.
