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Ambergris Caye's Children's Home is coming along great. Just a few more donations needed to complete the second level of the building. See how you can help.

Please help! Read the last paragraph for information on how!

MAY UPDATE FOR HOPE HAVEN: We are mere weeks away from completing the second level of our children's home! We have also started renovations for the first floor! How exciting!

In order to finish (upstairs) we need your help and donations for the following items:

� 1,200sq ft of linoleum flooring (any color or style you would like to choose for us!).

� 5x 5-gallon buckets of primer (pre-paint) for interior walls and ceiling.

� 3x 5-gallon buckets of water-based paint (enamel; your choice of color, but we prefer a light blue) for interior walls.

� 2x 5-gallon buckets of water-based paint (flat; white please) for ceiling.

� 280ft of baseboard (your style!).

� 2x 12,000 BTU Air conditioning units (split units; energy-efficient preferable).

� Tile for bathrooms have been graciously donated by Steve and Dayna Harp. Thank you! (Please be like Steve).

This list will be edited as donations are made.

To make a cash or material (see list above) donation, please leave us a message here or call Brittney ODaniel at 630-1241. If you know someone that would consider making a donation, please share this post with them. We are at the finish line, and have been working tirelessly to get the shelter open. None of this would have been possible without you. Thank you so much!

Hope Haven Children's Home expected to open in November

San Pedro's first children's home Hope Haven is just weeks away from being completed, with opening day expected for the first week in November. According to representatives from the non-profit organizations (NGOs) Raise Me Up and Shaping Healthy Identities through Nurturing and Empowerment (SHINE) all that is left are some final touches on the building floors, furniture and painting on some of the walls inside the building. The shelter is still in need of items like air conditioner units and kitchen utensils that could be donated to the facility. It is expected that once complete it will accommodate the community's vulnerable groups and provide adequate assistance to victimized children and women on the island.

The shelter is located on Lion Street, across from Maya Island Air. The two story structure will host activities held by organizations like SHINE on the ground floor. SHINE, a program founded by former Miss San Pedro and Miss Costa Maya 2017-2018 Michelle Nu�ez, teaches girls' topics of self-esteem/self-confidence, body image, sexual risk behavior, drugs and alcohol, decision making and communication skills, as well as setting future goals.

Hope Haven Children's Home and SHINE Center Opens!

On Saturday, November 4th, Hope Haven Children's Home and SHINE Center officially opened their doors to the island community. With the inauguration comes a much needed service to the wellbeing of the children and women of San Pedro Town.

A Home For Kids on Ambergris Caye: The MOVING Opening of Hope Haven Home
Yesterday was a beautiful day in more ways than one. In the afternoon, under the shining Belize sun, a group of persistent, motivated, hopeful women cut the ribbon for the Shine Center and Hope Haven Home in downtown San Pedro, Belize. The home was filled with donors and supporters for this AMAZING project that doesn't just give hope and sanctuary to children who have suffered greatly in their short lives but gives hope to a community that like others around the world, can feel overwhelmed at times. Two years after dreaming up a MUCH needed home for children on Ambergris Caye, a powerful group of women cut the ribbon for new Hope Haven Children's Home. 2 years of dreaming, begging, scraping, soliciting donations, fundraising - incredibly hard work, INCREDIBLE persistence. It can be easy to assume that nothing will change or say "I'm not the one who can change this" - none of these women stopped there.

Hope Haven & Shine Center Inaugurated on Ambergris Caye
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Saturday, November 4th to inaugurate the opening of Hope Haven and SHINE Center. The center aims to provide shelter for abused women and children of Ambergris Caye. In attendance were the Mayor of San Pedro Town, Daniel Guerrero, and Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Manuel Heredia Jr., Founders of Hope Haven & SHINE center, San Pedro Lions Club (SPLC) Members, Belize UNICEF Representative, Dr. Susan Kasedde, Media Corps and invited guests who were happy to celebrate the long-awaited opening of the center. At 6PM, Pastor Clive Welsh led the opening prayer and blessing the center. Brittney Travis of Shine then took over by welcoming everyone to the momentous occasion. "If you are here today, it is because you contributed to the completion of this center in some sort of way. This center will aim to bring hope back to all those girls and children, who have lost hope during the course of their life," she said. Hope Haven's Brittney O' Daniel also shared a few words "The reason I pushed for the construction of this center was I knew it was because a necessity on the island. I want to thank the San Pedro Lions Club for donating building