Consuelo Foundation’s 25th Anniverary from Thirtysixomedia on Vimeo.
This is one of the most amazing foundations I have ever encountered. Thank you Mia Andal Castro for inviting me and sharing Consuelo Zobel Alger with Heart2Heart! A few days ago I was talking to my youngest son about people who give to charity and how some people who have no family pass on their inheritance and just give everything to charity. And here it is a true story about a woman who gave everything she had…the beauty of which will help generations and generations to come. What a wonderful woman with a big heart. I am so happy to have discovered this foundation even 25 years after. Please take time out to read about the foundation and about this woman. And go catch the exhibit at the Ayala Museum which was extended till the 16th of April
The Consuelo Foundation may well be one of the most genuine untold charity stories in the Philippines.
That’s because for over 25 years, one foundation has been quietly helping those in need, particularly children, women and families in the Philippines and Hawaii. Untold stories like Consuelo Foundation’s are interesting in that it projects a true sense of wisdom. Both the story and its works have stood the test of time; a testament to the purity of the vision and passion of one woman.
It began in 1987 when wealthy heiress Dona Consuelo Zobel Alger had been approached by Child and Family Service Philippines (CFSPI) head Patti Lyons for funding. Consuelo eventually became CFSPI’s main benefactress, which later on opened a Consuelo Zobel Alger home, a residential center for street children in Baguio City.
It was here where Consuelo Zobel Alger found her inspiration. Having no children of her own, it was the children supported by her program that she cared for as her children. In 1988, she created her own private foundation, the Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation to improve the quality life of disadvantaged children, women and families in the Philippines and Hawaii.
The foundation focused on supporting programs for the prevention, protection and recovery of abuse victims as well as programs that created opportunities for disadvantaged children, women and families.
When Consuelo passed away in 1992, her endowment was given to the foundation where it was invested. This is where her legacy lives on. Today, the earnings from the investments are sustaining the Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation. Since its inception, the foundation has given over 75 million dollars or 3 billion pesos to help her cause.
Apart from illustrating Consuelo’s passion to her cause, it shows off her financial sense. The foundation is a prime example of an organization that illustrates the impeccable use of financial savvy to create self- sustaining philanthropy.
It is this quiet yet highly involved foundation that has quietly given throughout its 25 years devoid of corporate or political motives that illustrates a true sense of charity. A pure mission to give to those in need may explain how it has continued to give for 25 years, even after Consuelo’s life. It’s a testament that genuine and sincerity stand the test of time, a true legacy that can be passed on for generations.
About Consuelo Zobel Alger
Born in the Philippines in 1914, Consuelo Zobel Alger grew up in a prominent Manila family whose ancestry dates back some 400 years to the Spanish conquistador Ponce de Leon.
Consuelo married a young American officer, James Dyce Alger, who was stationed in the Philippines. He retired and resettled in Hawaii with Consuelo where he died in 1986.
In an act of extraordinary grace, Consuelo Zobel Alger created the Foundation in 1988 to improve the lives and living conditions of disadvantaged children, women and families throughout the Philippines and Hawaii.
Consuelo passed on November 29, 1990 though her memory lives on forever through the legacy of good works perpetuated by her establishment and endowment of Consuelo Foundation.
“My mission will begin after my death. I will spend my heaven doing good on earth…”
ABOUT CONSUELO FOUNDATION
Established as a private operating foundation under U.S. laws, Consuelo Foundation operates programs which are focused on prevention and treatment of sexual abuse and exploitation. Its vision is to “renew hope for those who have lost it and give hope to those who never had it.”
Consuelo desired to serve “the most needy or the poorest of the poor for it is those who have no hope.”
Consuelo Foundation Programs
Early Childhood Care and Development
OUR HEALTHY START PROGRAM addresses early childhood care and development for high risk families with children ages 0 to 5 years old. It’s anchored on the belief that nurturing children and providing them with positive stimulation will prevent child abuse and neglect.
Parenting education is provided through homevisits and sessions that empower parents to learn what young children need to grow healthy and well. Various other services are provided to the parents and their community to ensure a caring and safe environment for their children.
Youth and Empowermentcted, abused, and exploited children,
OUR LIFE SKILLS FOR CHILDREN AT RISK PROGRAM helps teens from poor families improve their sense of self-worth and protect themselves from neglect and abuse. It provides them access to life skills training, alternative learning systems, technical and vocational training and civic engagement.
We also provide maternal and child health interventions, adolescent reproductive health education and livelihood support for women by linking them with successful social enterprises.
Child Abuse Prevention and Advocacy
OUR CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION NETWORK (CAPIN) promotes and implements a strong multidisciplinary approach to child protection.
Stakeholders in a community, composed of police, courts, social workers, attorneys and doctors are brought together to create an efficient and effective network with a standardized approach to helping child abuse survivors. Together they create a locality that is responsive to the needs of survivors and protective of all children. Among its goals are the development of case management systems, limiting the retraumatization of victims by reducing the number of times they need to recount their ordeals, and the institutionalization of these initiatives in the local governments where they operate.
Protection and Recovery of Survivors
OUR PROTECTION AND RECOVERY PROGRAM provides intervention to survivors of child sexual abuse. This program allows us to give hope to survivors of abuse through the implementation of our holistic Caring, Healing and Teaching approach in various shelters and institutions across the country.
“GIVING HOPE” – AN ART EXHIBIT (Open to the public from April 6-16, 2013)
The “Giving Hope” exhibit highlights the child abuse prevention and treatment programs of Consuelo Foundation gathering artworks of children and young adults from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and Metro Manila – a fitting tribute to celebrate 25 years of Consuelo Foundation. Consuelo’s vision was “to renew hope for those who have lost it and give hope to those who have never had it.” It is the same vision that guides her Foundation and inspired this exhibition.
The artworks were created by children who are either survivors or at-risk of abuse, neglect and exploitation under the tutelage of art educator, Bambi Mañosa of Creative Kids Studio.
They created their own interpretations of themes that resonate imageries and traditions of the different regions where the workshops were held like large-scale flowers, paper machie birds, huge lanterns using a variety of medium.
The artworks reflect the hope and aspirations of children ages 4 to 21 who have experienced a renewed sense of hope through the generosity of Consuelo Zobel Alger.
Click below to go to their website for more information
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Rica, when I was in Honolulu for the summer of 1990 I did volunteer work for their Hawaiian based philantrophic institution with Lynn and Jeff Watanabe. I met them as they are close family friends of Ramon & Frannie Jacinto. Consuelo Zobel Alger left a wonderful foundation as her legacy.