History

HISTORY

 In November of 1994, Hand in Hand Ministries co-founder Wayne Fowler visited Kingston, Jamaica, and his experiences there forever transformed his life. Taking a short holiday from his teaching job, he traveled to Kingston to visit an orphanage for handicapped and abandoned children. It was his first trip out of the United States, and it not only changed the way he looked at himself but his country and the world. It was not only the children and the condition of the orphanage that greatly affected him, it was the tens of thousands of children and families living in hovels made of zinc, cardboard and found pieces of wood that wouldn’t pass for a doghouse in the United States.

Wayne and his brother, the Rev. Joseph Fowler, began helping in small ways until January 1997 when he led a group of 29 people to Kingston to do construction and medical work. Several weeks after the group returned, they had a potluck dinner where they shared stories and photos of their trip, and 75 or 80 people showed up. People who’d made the trip were so excited that they’d brought their spouses, family and friends to share in their experience.

In many ways, that was the birth of Hand in Hand Ministries.

Fowler left teaching and began working full time to serve the poor on July 1, 1997. Hand in Hand Ministries was subsequently incorporated in August of 1999 to work with the poorest of the poor in Central America and the Caribbean.

BELIZE

In 2002, Hand in Hand Ministries opened an office in Belize City, Belize. Since that time, HHM has developed the following programs to serve the poor of Belize.

Building for Change  Hand in Hand Ministries has built more than 175 homes for the poor in Belize City. The program began slowly in 2002, building only a handful  each  year, but has grown substantially.

Hand in Hand Ministries not only builds a home for a family but provides them with life-skills classes on topics such as hygiene, personal finances and parenting. It is our hope that a long-term commitment will yield a lifetime of hope and a better future.

Hand In Hand Ministries Outreach Center  The Outreach Center is a combination day treatment center and outreach program for children who either have HIV/AIDS or are greatly affected by it – which usually means that one or both parents are infected with the disease or may have already died from its effects.

The HHM Outreach Center was the first and is the only facility of its type in a country that has the highest per capita incidence of the disease in Central America. Currently, children attend the day treatment center and our staff cares for families in our outreach program. HHM provides two strains of medicine for the children who need treatment, two nutritious meals a day, a structured day in a clean environment and, sadly, more love and attention than most will receive in their homes.

Too many families in Belize face the same life-altering cruelty of AIDS. Hand in Hand Ministries’ Outreach Center is the first and only facility there to offer comfort, treatment and support for a child with HIV/AIDS.

Scholarship Program  Education is a key to helping raise a person and a nation out of poverty and into self-sufficiency. To that end, Hand in Hand Ministries currently offers 30 scholarships for at-risk students, 15 to high school  and 15 to college students.

NICARAGUA

Hand in Hand Ministries became part of the relief efforts to help the poor in Nicaragua shortly after Hurricane Mitch devastated the country in 1998. Partnerships made after that time grew to include feeding centers for children living near the city dump in Managua and assistance for a school for the poor. HHM opened an office in Managua, Nicaragua in August 2005. Today’s programs include scholarship opportunities, home repair and help for preschools in some of the poorest neighborhoods of Managua, Nicaragua.

Pathway to Change  Pathway to Change is a scholarship program for children from poor families, giving them an opportunity to get an excellent education and  break the cycle of poverty in which their families are trapped. Forty-five percent of children starting school in grade one in the public school system are no longer in school by the fourth grade. Experts agree that the surest way to escape poverty is through a quality education.

HHM sends selected children to good schools and  HHM staff  “Family Coordinators” continuously work with the families, schools and the children as part of  the education process. HHM feeds the children breakfast and mid-morning snacks, provides transportation, uniforms, supplies and school books.

 In 2011 we currently have more than 60 children enrolled in five high-quality schools in Managua with plans to increase the number of scholarships in 2012.

Adult Vocational Scholarship Program  This is an opportunity for qualified adults to continue/complete their education to improve their employment and income earning options.

Home Repair and Construction Program  Using the resources provided by visiting Immersion groups, HHM assists poor people in Nicaragua by improving their living conditions. With 80 percent of Nicaraguans surviving on $2 or less a day it is no surprise to see hundreds of thousands of people living in vastly inadequate conditions. Immersion Groups are an important part of taking a family out of a shack and enabling them to live in a decent home.

APPALACHIA - THE AUXIER CENTER

The Auxier Center was begun by Charlie and Sue Schaffer at the behest of Rev. Ralph Beiting, who founded the Christian Appalachian Project in 2000 as the new hub for community activities. It has since been a source of education, recreation and a gathering place for social events for four counties in Kentucky and parts of West Virginia.

The Auxier Center became a part of Hand in Hand Ministries on January 1, 2007 and has raised funds to repair and update the existing facilities – which include a former school and an adjacent building.

The primary goal of The Auxier Center is to bring Appalachia into the 21st Century by providing free computers to those who complete the center’s computer course. In 2010, the Auxier Center delivered over $500,000 in food, clothing, furniture, toys and the basic necessities to families in Appalachia.

Hand in Hand Ministries volunteers made 22 immersion trips to Appalachia in 2010 and have scheduled 25 for 2010.

The Auxier Center's programs include:

Home Repair Program
• Repair trailers, homes and build wheelchair ramps
• Over 400 volunteers worked more than 10,000 hours each year

Outreach Program
• Provided hundreds of families with clothing, bedding, baby items, furniture, etc.

Food Pantry
• Distributed food to over 400 families

Spring and Fall Classes
• Educated adults in the basic computer classes, quilting, sewing, healthy cooking and other life’s skills classes

Kids Summer Camps
• Hosted children for various activities each summer

Computer Give Away
• Distribute computers to low-income adults  and children in West Virginia and Kentucky and offered free computer repair to families in need.

Library
• Provided a free library for the community with hundreds of books donated to HHM and organized by volunteers.

The Auxier Center donated books and supplies to several other local organizations.

Why give to Hand in Hand Ministries?

What Makes Us Special?
Many worthy charitable organizations exist, So why donate your time, talent and treasure to Hand in Hand Ministries?

1. We’re special. We say that not to boast but because people who’ve seen or experienced our work tell us that almost everyday. The reason for such praise is that we save lives and we change lives–the things donor want most.

We’re not just an organization; we are a community. Whether our volunteers and donors live in Klamath Falls, OR, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Chicago or Louisville, we are a community of people who’ve dedicated ourselves to making life better for the children and families we serve. We work to foster community with the people in Belize, Nicaragua, and Appalachia –anywhere we work – because we believe that building relationships can be as important as building homes.

2. We’re a fast-growing, grassroots organization where your gift – whether it’s $25 or $25,000 – still makes a difference, yet we’re still accessible to respond to your calls. You can still call our office and talk to the Executive Director if you have a question or a concern.

3. We invite you to join us for an immersion trip and experience the people and the work first hand. You can hold the children who live near the Managua city garbage dump in your arms, play with them and help educate them. You can begin to know people in another part of the world in ways you never dreamed possible. We guarantee that if you make a trip with us, you will never look at a map of the world in the same way.

People who’ve made more than one trip with us are amazed at the progress that’s been made in the programs when they return.

4. In 2010, 90 percent of donations went directly to our programs, and we averaged more than 85 percent on programs in our previous years of existence. While we may not be the only organization that operates at that level, it certainly ranks us far ahead of most.

5. In the end, we believe that the work we do transforms those who serve as much, or more than, those who are served.

One of the comments we hear most often after a trip is, “You know, I got much more out of this trip than I gave, and that really surprised me.” That’s the spirit in which we make our trips and perform our work.

6. Do something that will make you feel good. Study after study has shown that people who donate money to charity are happier than those who don’t.

As Margaret Mead, the famed anthropologist, once said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”