The Love Foundation projects fundamentally define and solidify the organization and its work. Projects are multi-dimensional in that they integrate with all other aspects of the organization’s work including action, community building and relationship building. Projects provide opportunities to build a relationship with beneficiaries and stakeholders as well.
OVERVIEW OF PROGRAMS
Program 1: 2014 (CARSI GRANT)
MEDIA ARTS ACADEMY (Invest In Kids After School Program) Invest in Kids After School Program addressed the needs of 250 children 8 -13 years old, impacted by the complexities of the criminal justice and socio-economic system. The overarching goal was to improve communication skills and reducing participation in negative activities. The program provided opportunities for children and parents to express themselves creatively in areas of creative writing, drama and creative expression, music and art. Yoga and meditation was also included in an effort to reduce stress and trauma improving coping skills.
Program 2: 2015 (US Embassy Grant)
ALTA Program (Advocating Leadership Through Awareness) Advocating Leadership Through Awareness (ALTA) and created a movement in primary schools by recruiting and training children ages 11-14 years old as peer educators and facilitators. These young people created training materials and information pamphlets that are disseminated during facilitation of workshops; a comic book was also created with puzzles and other activities that educate, inform and engage younger children. They developed partnerships with the National Aids Commission and increased the number of males tested by 15% the first year and 8% every year thereafter.
Program 3: 2016 – 2018 (CARSI Grant)
LEAP – (Learning, Earning and Parenting) The LEAP Academy is an innovative, first- time initiative to empower, educate and rehabilitate one hundred and fifty (150) out -of -school, gang- affiliated women ages 14-25 years old, seventy- five (75) who currently residing in residential facilities and seventy- five (75) residing in various communities located in Belize City. The program provides meaningful, sustained opportunities for employment and achievement of their educational goals, thereby empowering these young women with the necessary skills to become effective advocates for their children, decrease their participation in crime and other negative behaviors, and assume productive leadership roles in their respective communities through civic engagement and community transformation activities.
Program 4: 2017 – 2018 (UNDP Grant)
MEDIA ARTS ACADEMY PROGRAM – The Media Arts Academy is an out–of-school, prevention-focused program targeting children 8-13 years old who have at least one parent who is incarcerated, remanded or died as a result of violence. The Media Arts highlight the intrinsic and extrinsic benefits associated with sustainable, low-cost, evidence- based programs that increase protective factors among youth. The Media Arts Academy demonstrates the potential of art-based programs for mitigating risk factors associated with anti-social youth behaviors and gang involvement. The Media Arts Academy leverages opportunities to promote the social-emotional benefits associated with the arts, reflective writing, and pro-social activities and the role that schools and communities can play in increasing protective factors for youth. The Love Foundation targets 200 children who live in the following areas: Belize City’s South Side, Roaring Creek and Las Flores.
Program 5: 2018 – 2019 (Canada Grant)
LEAP – (Learning, Earning And Parenting) The LEAP Academy originally funded by US Embassy CARSI Program was recognized and funded by the Canadian High Commission for its successful, innovative approach. This new funding allowed the Love Foundation to create partnership with the Ministry of Human Development, Women’s Department and graduated another 100 young women. The program is now an integral part of the training provided to Boost and BoostPlus participants.
Program 6: 2018 – 2019 (British High Grant)
LEAP – (Learning, Earning and Parenting) This grant complemented the funding from the Canadian Commission and assisted the Love Foundation in the establishment the OneStop Employment Center, a center that provides skills development, career exploration, and general employment services for anyone who has been displaced, is unemployed or underemployed. It is a resource for employers by providing various employee trainings, employee screenings, recruitment for call centers, resume writing, basic word processing and other computer software related skills. The project provides ongoing professional support to home and work life. Over the long term, the participants will be able to support their families to make better life decisions when advocating for their children, thereby leading to a healthy, sustainable lifestyle.
Program 7: 2018 – 2020 (CARSI Grant)
SOCKIT – (Stomping Out Corruption, Kicking In Transparency) SOCKIT seeks to invest in the education of established public officers and members of civil society organizations as well as build transparent leadership skills in youth. The Love Foundation plans to accomplish this by (1) Developing training modules in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Service, leaders of Civil Society Organizations and the University of Belize, focusing on ethics, transparency and good governance. These modules will be adopted by the University of Belize and offered as an elective valued at two university credits. (2) Provide training workshops to departments within key government ministries such as The Ministry of Natural Resources, Finance, Environment, Education, Health etc. The Ministry of Public Service will also include these training modules as a component of the mandatory training offered to public officers seeking promotion within the public service, and (3) Develop a comprehensive multimedia public relations campaign utilizing youth interns from the University of Belize.
Program 8: 2019– 2020 (YAP)
YAP – (Youth Ambassador Program)The YAP Outbound Exchange Program will allow 9 youths and 1 mentor to participate in the US Exchange Program. The Love Foundation will recruit, screen and select the participants. Also, they will provide a pre-departure orientation, and re-entry activities for the participants. This program will allow participants to spend three (3) weeks’ in the United States. In addition, this program seeks to bring high school students and adult mentors from countries across the Americas to promote mutual understanding, increase leadership skills, and prepare youth to make a difference in their communities.
The YAP Inbound Exchange Program will allow 14 youths and 2 mentors to participate in the Belize Exchange Program. Georgetown University will recruit, screen and select the participants. This program will allow participants to spend two (2) week’s in Belize. In addition, this program will provide the US participants with an in-depth understanding of Belize’s culture and contemporary society.
Program 9: 2020- 2021 (US Embassy Grant)
ECTET (Empowering Communities to Empower Themselves) is a community based, poverty reduction initiative in three of Belize’s most poor and crime ridden gang communities aimed at achieving SDG #8, which promotes sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work. The three communities are Yarborough, St. Martin’s and George Street. The project links entrepreneurial opportunities with the necessary and needed skills training, mentorship, and social development opportunities to intentionally empower and transform each community, to build relationships aimed at strengthening each community, to incorporate and increase the
competitiveness of these three communities into Belize’s formal sector and to decreases the motivation and participation of at-risk young people and other vulnerable individuals towards crime and violence, aiding in Belize’s rule of law/citizen security initiatives.
Program 10: 2020- 2022 (CARSI Grant)
EDU (Education for Integrity) is intended to leverage resources to improve school curricula and teacher training by adding a Social Emotional Learning Component focused on areas of good governance, ethics and transparency for children ages 5- 19 years old. (Pre-K – Standard 6 (Grade 8) and High School Students Form 1- 4 (Grades 9- 12) to the national curriculum.) This will be done by using a cross-curricular approach of integrating public integrity lessons into existing subject materials, such as English Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science. This approach will be used at both the primary and the secondary levels, with texts and stories, games, song and art aimed specifically at student needs. Lessons will be designed to enable students to identify and apply the integrity concepts in their existing contexts and educators will link lessons on public integrity to materials about human rights, rule of law, and the structure of government etc.
Program 11: 2021- 2023 (IAF Grant)
ECTET (Empowering Communities To Empower Themselves) will work in three gang-affected neighborhoods in the south side of Belize City to reduce violence. LF will address trauma through arts and media, train adults and young people in the use of peace circles, and support the entrepreneurship of adult community members. LF will convert one vacant lot in each of the three neighborhoods into multipurpose community hubs. Each hub will heave an income generating activity, garden, mural and safe space for young people that encourages academic achievement and creative arts production. Project activities will benefit around 250 people directly and 1500 indirectly.
Love Foundation 