COUNTRY: Argentina            

PROGRAM: The Don Bosco City of Children, main project/site of the of The Felices los Niños (“Blessed are the Children”) Foundation

LOCATION: Hurlingham, Argentina

SPONSORSHIP OF PROGRAM: The overall project is run by the Felices los Niños Foundation.  The foundation receives funds from the federal government, individual contributions, and corporate sponsorship.  

HISTORY/BACKGROUND OF PROGRAM: Father Julio Cesar Grassi founded the foundation in June 1993 after working for fifteen years with homeless children (“children from the street”).  The Don Bosco City of Children was constructed in 1994 as the foundation’s first major project.

APPROXIMATE # OF CHILDREN SERVED: 1,000 (total # of children who benefit from the 6 programs that make up the Don Bosco City of Children.)

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHILDREN SERVED: The program serves both “children from the street” (those who are truly homeless) and “children in the street” (those who have a permanent residence, yet work or wander all day through the streets) who are as old as 18.  Special programs are also geared towards single homeless mothers with children,  and children who live in oppressive home situations in which they are beaten and/or not paid attention to.

HOW CHILDREN ARE RECRUITED/SELECTED:

PROGRAM SERVICES: The program is divided into six parts, consisting of housing services   for boys and girls based on age, housing services for single mothers and their children,    and educational services.  Although approximately one-fifth (200) of the children served  by the program live on-site, many more benefit from the extensive education program,   which includes: intellectual, physical, and emotional education, “education in will,”  social education, moral education, artistic education, and job-oriented training.  There is   no comprehensive plan for mothers, who are asked to work outside the shelter while  their children are integrated into one of the various programs.

FINANCIAL BASIS OF PROGRAM: The foundation gets its income from state aid, individual contributions, corporate funding, and through its own productive actions.  A comprehensive search is conducted in order to locate financing sources to supplement the state support, which is quite random.  Individual and corporate aids are sought   through promotional plans, by means of collection arrangements.  The foundation’s most  recent annual finance report notes an expenditure amount of $2,800,538, with an average monthly cost per child of $200.

PHILOSOPHY OR APPROACH: The program and the foundation seek to protect and support those children who undergo moral, religious and material abandonment, and who lack familiar affection and the level of assistance and education that their age requires.  By  providing children with a foundation of Christian principles, the program works to develop an education that enables children to attain full human dignity while gaining  practical skills that they can apply towards earning a living when they reach adulthood.

SPECIAL FEATURES: The 158 acre site includes a farm and an orchard, giving children the opportunity to receive training in farming techniques, as well as training in a single trade.  The program also includes a foreign language lab, and specialized workshops for   children and adolescents in hair cutting, technology and alphabetization.  In order to  meet children’s psychological needs, there is also a “psychopedagogic assistance office.”