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Quarterly Newsletter

CRHF Fourth Quarter Newsletter

The last quarter CRHF newsletter of 2024 is full of activities and projects.

Our thrid quarterly CRHF Newsletter update highlighted numerous successes and our ongoing upward spiral model work. We focused on health, health education, general education, sports, hosting a family from France/UK, building bunk beds, and much more.

For the final quarter of 2024, we proudly inaugurated a health clinic created and managed by Francisco in collaboration with the local indigenous association, the Ministry of Employment, and the CCSS. This project was financed by the Swiss Embassy in Central America and the CCSS.
Read more about the clinic here.

We also unveiled the new CRHF HQ: Casa Quetzal Retreat and Conference Center, a developing project designed to host volunteers and beneficiaries while focusing on preventive health, health education, peace, and collaboration.
Read more about it here here.

Our food program continues to provide over 2,000 people with nutritious meals every week, laying the foundation for their independence. Additionally, we offer dietary and health education to beneficiaries through this program.
Learn more about it here.

In October, Gail was invited to be a keynote speaker at the Sustainability in a Global Environment Conference hosted by Troy University. She shared the stage with experts from PROCOMER, Universidad Fidélitas, and other distinguished professionals.

Children’s Programs

We resumed our monthly children’s program for the youth of Uvita. Looking ahead to 2025, we aim to expand this initiative and welcome volunteer teachers and donors to support its relaunch. The program, paused during the pandemic due to funding shortages, costs approximately $800 per month to operate.

In September, we celebrated Children’s Day with movies, popcorn, and snacks. Nearly 800 youth enjoyed a leisurely day.
See part of the celebration here.

Later in the month, we participated in Costa Rica’s Independence Day festivities on September 15th, which included dances, costumes, faroles, and a lively parade featuring thousands of youth from neighboring communities.
View highlights here.

Volunteer Contributions

In October, a group of volunteers from Ohio delivered a generous supply of school materials. The children expressed heartfelt gratitude, and the volunteers learned more about our Model of Poverty Reduction and community efforts.
See their visit here.

On October 12th, we celebrated Gail Nystrom’s 75th birthday with collaborators and youth from La Libertad. It was a joyous day filled with dancing, singing, and heartfelt moments.
See the celebration here.

We welcomed the Yoga Teachers from Lakshmi Rising lead by Liz. We have been working on strengthening the physical and mental health of our beneficiaries through different meditation, breathing and yoga techniques. This will be Lakshmi’s second season with the CRHF and we look forward to building this relationship into the future.

Other notable volunteer contributions included:
• Stephen, long-term individual volunteer, continues to support our regular activities, give english classes and invent creative ways to help educate youth.
• Hannah from West Virginia, having never left the states and who braved new experiences to work with youth development.
• Valeria, a psychology student, who provided mental health resources during her university service.
• Keren Hernández from the University of South Carolina, who conducted PhD research on food security among refugees.
Learn more about their contributions.
• Adriana and Ramon who came in during the holiday’s and provided interpretation for the Amigos optometrist medical crew.

We also hosted a multidisciplinary group through a partner organization. Their visit, centered on health and health education, included creative puppetry workshops to engage communities.
See more here.

Success Stories


• In November, we secured funding to provide a new home for a family of eight in La Carpio. Thanks to our donors, the younger children now have the opportunity to grow up in a healthier environment.
Read the full story.
• Alan, a beneficiary we have supported for years after a workplace accident, received a prosthetic leg and is walking independently again.
See his progress.
• We also bid our farewell and safe passage to our longtime collaborator Jairo. He has been with us for almsot a decade working in the foodbank and other activities. He is off to Spain supported by the IOM and the CRHF. We will be here to ensure he gets settled in safely. 
View more here.

Partnerships and Events

In late October we were invited to a NGO Fair hosted by ServiceNow focusing on CSR. We were able to showcase our work, alongside other NGOs, to the employees of the company. We are working on increasing our collaboration in the CSR field with the numerous offshore and local companies in Costa Rica.
View more here.

We hosted chiropractic care for nearly 300 beneficiaries with the help of new friends from Minnesota. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and we look forward to their future visits.
Read more.

The year ended with our annual Christmas Parties, bringing joy to over 800 youth with gifts, snacks, and activities—made possible by our dedicated donors since 1997.

The Grupo Diplomatico de Costa Rica continues to support the CRHF in many ways with focus on education. They also visited Casa Quetzal Retreat and Conference Center where we hope to continue to host conferences on Peace and Collaboration.

Finally, for four days including on New Year’s Eve, Amigos Eyecare provided eye care, totalling nearly 1,000 beneficiaries in La Carpio for the year. They also conducted a reconnaissance visit to indigenous territories for future collaborations.
See their impact here.

Looking Ahead

We remain committed to improving lives in 2025 and beyond. Thank you to all our donors, volunteers, and partners who make this work possible. We continue to work with La Carpio, Rural, Coastal and Indigenous communities through our Poverty Reduction Model of Development. Thanks to all your efforts and support we are a force to reckoned with and are making significant improvements in the lives of our beneficiaries.

We will be publishing our full 2024 Year End Report in the coming weeks.

We now have

Thank you for sharing our dream!

Housing, La Carpio, Success Stories

Success Stories From the Field #9 – A Home for “La Carpio 8”

At the beginning of the year when we were doing one of our community educational visits when were we presented with a new housing challenge. In one the most impoverished zones of La Carpio, we found a small one-room shack housing 20 people. 8 of these persons were a family of women and girls living in the squalid conditions.

Donor

This was a high risk situation for the family and we took this on as an urgent case. We asked they present us with a possible solutions including building a house on new land or purchasing something already existent. In the meantime we began to muster up interest among possible donors to cover any costs linked to this.

Donor

Initially, they found a house in Cartago in an area where we have relocated other families. Funny enough the house belonged to the cousin of someone we had helped relocate and find housing in that area many years ago. However, this plan didn’t work out.

Undeterred, we continued to search a feasible solution and donations. After several months we finally found the place for these women and girls to forge a healthy, happy and free life. We will continue to monitor and support them until they can reach a place of complete independence.

Donor

“This family who I call the Carpio 8 was living in squalor and grave danger in La Carpio. Thanks to generous donors they are now in a renovated shack in a safe neighborhood. If only we could do more like this…” – Gail

Success Stories from the Field Vol. #9

Charitable Contribution, Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, La Carpio

A Day in the Life: Gail’s Shared Joy and Grief

Saturday, June 9

Today, like every day, I see what are called my cases. I have an office, and people lined up to see me.

Jony:

A Nicaraguan refugee from 2018. Both his brothers were murdered. He lives in a house with his wife, 17-year-old son, and autistic son, whom he loves with all his heart. He has a chronic ailment. We provide him with monthly rent relief and a weekly food basket. His autistic son has been having constant, uncontrollable seizures. I provide Jony a safe place to cry.

Maria:

A Nicaraguan refugee with cancer. She has one child and has been diagnosed with cancer. Her chemotherapy and radiotherapy were suspended because she can’t pay for insurance since she can’t work. She lives with her mother in a house where the owner is an angel on earth. This kind landlady helps Maria get to our place and carries her food basket for her. I provide both her and her neighbor with food and talk with her gently. On Monday, she shows up beautifully dressed, smiling, her wispy hair combed, and thankful to us for our help.

Hugo:

An ex-Contra fighter with an extensive family. He always shows up with something to give so we can provide him with free food. I always banter good-naturedly with him because I am Gringa, he is Nica, and I was Sandinista.

Carla:

A young mother of three, including a very fragile newborn. We give her clothes, diapers, food, and love for her kids. She can’t work. I provide her with some rent relief. I see she is scared, and I see her.

Maria and her 13-year-old son:

He is trying desperately to stay in school and graduate sixth grade. He comes every day to help carry up the food. They just got evicted. I gave her rent relief, and our team decided to make him a formal member and provide him with weekly financial help and a food basket.

And So The Days o By

If I did not have the support of the donors, none of these fragile and gentle people could get their needs met. A listening heart is good, but a listening heart with some financial power is better.