Bolivia: Case Study
By: Paul Woody (2000)

Program: Homeless Children International

Location:

The organization is based out of Knoxville, Tennessee and supports programs and ministries in Bolivia, Kenya, Vietnam, Peru, Romania, Brazil and Thailand.

A majority of its most recent work has been done in Bolivia.

Mail can be sent to-

Homeless Children International, Inc.
PO Box 53026
Knoxville, TN 37950-3026

Sponsorship of program:

Homeless Children International is a non-denominational, Christian, non-profit organization established in 1991 by David Hill who is its driving force. HCI’s goal is to help street children by identifying, developing and supporting programs to prevent homelessness around the world. This includes organizing foster parenting programs, beginning and supporting orphanages, starting and maintaining programs for street children, and facilitating changes in the environment that contribute to homelessness. The organization is dependent on volunteers and the generosity of concerned individuals. HCI operates with a staff of 25 volunteers and 9 full-time employees worldwide. History of program: In 1983 David High, now the organization’s president, was on vacation visiting his brother who was doing missionary work in Brazil. While working with his brother at Brazilian orphanages David realized his passion for bettering the lives of street children all over the world. He has since researched the problems facing abandoned children and helped raise money for orphanages in Brazil, eventually starting Homeless Children International in 1991. Over the past decade, HCI has formed many partnerships with churches, organizations and individuals that have already proved their effectiveness in serving homeless children in their local communities. In Bolivia HCI has formed extremely successful relationships with Mission Timoteo and the First Baptist Church of Santa Cruz. Program Services: Homeless Children International provides a wide range of services in conjunction with organizations all over the world. In Bolivia, Homeless Children International has two successful partnerships:

Wayne Walker Home: In partnership with the first Baptist Church of Santa Cruz (Bolivia’s second largest city) HCI has built the Wayne Walker Hogar de Ninos in Los Chacos right outside of Santa Cruz. The orphanage was built in conjunction with a dairy farm in order to make it a self-sufficient operation.

Mission Timoteo: Mission Timoteo is a home for children of prisoners in Santa Cruz. It currently cares for children taken from Bolivian jails. HCI began a partnership with this ministry in 1996.

Approximate number of children served:
 

Thousands of children worldwide are assisted by HCI. In Bolivia, about 200 children are cared for at the Wayne Walker Home outside of Santa Cruz. Numbers were unavailable for the Mission Timoteo program.

Characteristics of the children served:
 

The only, overriding characteristic of children served by HCI is that they are homeless. Different programs focus on specific groups of homeless children. Under the belief that only the healthiest, better-looking kids are accepted into normal orphanages, the Wayne Walker Hogar de Ninos aims to house children who don’t have much of a chance of getting into other homes. The Mission Timoteo program serves children taken from Bolivian jails.

Financial basis of program:

Total expenditures for Homeless Children International totaled $180,929 in 1998. 62.9% of that amount went to help build the Walker Home in Bolivia with the rest of the budget divided between partner organizations in Kenya (28.3%), Bolivia (5.3%) and Brazil & Peru (2.3%). Only 1.2% of HCI’s total budget was spent on administrative overhead.

A huge percentage (94.4%) of HCI’s annual revenue comes from donations. This is an impressive statistic given the fact that one of the guiding principals of the organization is not to solicit funds. During the construction of the Walker Home the founder of HCI sold his house in Knoxville in order to make sure that the organization did not go into debt. The other 5.6% of revenues are generated from investments.
 

Philosophy:

Based on Christian values, Homeless Children International places a tremendous emphasis on the power of religion. HCI was "established upon the belief that change comes through the sharing of hope based upon faith founded in the love of Jesus Christ." As a result it is dependent on volunteers and donations from individuals who believe that caring for homeless children is both necessary and mandated by Christ.

Special Features:

Because of its commitment to Christian beliefs, thousands of churches and missionary programs all over the world are eager to form partnerships with Homeless Children International. In this way, HCI is able to tap resources that might be unavailable to other organizations.