INTERWEAVING STORIES PROJECT

By recognizing the importance of the roles played by the resident caregivers (housemothers), Chain of Love offers a space of continuous training with active listening, dialogues, interaction, approach, knowledge, and exchange of experiences aimed at improving the caregiver’s health and the care she provides to the children and teenagers.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The training courses are given to groups of 11 resident caregivers in monthly meetings with three facilitators —a coordinator, psychologist, and social worker. Other professionals may participate as special guests according to the topic discussed. Every meeting has a specific subject and lasts two hours.

“Hello! My name is Gabriela Oliveira. I‘ve been a Chain of Love housemother/resident caregiver in Off-Campus Home 4 for 17 months. I like what I do. It is my first time as a housemother/resident caregiver and during this time, I participated in the training courses given by Chain of Love. I must say that they were extremely important for the performance of my role to the children and teenagers in care.”

“Hello!  My name is Fernanda Ferreira. I’ve been a resident caregiver/housemother in House 6 at Chain of Love for more than five years. The training courses represent to us, housemothers, the importance of caring for children. We learn to deal with several difficult situations that were new to us. We learn how to act better with the children/teenagers. We also learn different ways and strategies that facilitate our daily routine in our position.

In these training courses, we interact with other people with different experiences and stories that, when we hear them, we relate to. So, we can analyze every situation and learn new approaches to solve conflicts and even to keep them from happening. Besides this, they represent growth in my personal life.

Anyway, the training courses are an important means and necessary learning to help our children, which is our main goal.”</>

TUTORING

In this project, volunteer teachers of a variety of subjects such as Math, Portuguese, Chemistry, Physics, and English generously donate their time to help children and teenagers with learning difficulties due to traumas and losses achieve success in areas in which they are struggling.

JOIN US!

Are you interested? Send us an email at eqtlarcolmeia@gmail.com, eqtlarcolmeianh@gmail.com or chainoflovehomes@gmail.com

INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Are you a Social Service, Psychology, or Physical Education student? Are you willing to put into practice what you learn in theory in a classroom?

What about knowing more about working in the nonprofit sector through Chain of Love and experiencing an incredible opportunity of unique learning through internships offered in the organization? Are you interested? Would you like to apply for an internship and be part of the history of this rewarding and loving ministry?

JOIN US!

Are you interested? Send us an email at eqtlarcolmeia@gmail.com, eqtlarcolmeianh@gmail.com or chainoflovehomes@gmail.com

SOMANDO SABERES (SPECIALIZED MULTIDISCIPLINARY SERVICES) PROJECT

In order to develop a higher quality of life for the Chain of Love children and teenagers, Somando Saberes Project offers specialized consultations in areas such as psychology, psychiatry, educational psychology, and speech-language therapy, which enhance the care of children and teenagers.

The goal is to ease the suffering from their lives that they experienced prior to coming to Chain of Love, to pay attention to and look after the children and teenagers in a unique way, to strengthen them in the areas they are skilled in, to develop their feeling of belonging, to improve their process of learning, to diminish their aggressiveness in school, to strengthen bonds of love between the ones in care, houseparents, their families, and the community, and to guarantee the rights of the COL children and teenagers in a whole and progressive way.

PREPARED STAFF – For this, Chain of Love has a skilled multidisciplinary technical staff, with the above-mentioned specialties, who contribute to the whole care of the children and teenagers who live here.

ALÇANDO VOO (TAKING HIGHER FLIGHTS) PROJECT

In consideration of how important it is to build a life project with a teenager concerning his/her independence as well as the process of his/her eventual disconnection from the organization, the Taking Higher Flights Project (or Projeto Alçando Voo, in Portuguese) was created.

LEADING ROLE – The Taking Higher Flights project aims to organize meetings with the Chain of Love teenagers who are 14 years old and older, where we promote dialogue and interaction and work on their self-esteem, autonomy, and the construction of their life project to strengthen their independence. The meetings aim to:

1. a) establish interaction and bonds;
2. b) promote a time for dialogue;
3. c) offer a space for knowledge and self-knowledge;
4. d) encourage self-esteem, autonomy, and independence; and
5. e) encourage the construction of a life project.

One action for their independence is their referral to professional courses at SENAI (National Service for Industrial Training), SENAC (National Service for Commercial Training), and ASBEM (Association for the Welfare of Children and Adolescents) among other organizations or to the labor market. 

Because of this, Chain of Love staff is focused on supporting the children and teenagers in care in the knowledge of their aptitudes, skills, and vocations as well as in their performance in job interviews and preparing job resumés.

HOMES IN ACTION PROJECT

Who wouldn’t like to live in a cozy, organized home and be able to enjoy moments of leisure in a family? And what about watching a movie while eating popcorn on a comfortable sofa?

As we all know, being in charge of the routine of a family is not easy and in a group home, the housemother/resident caregiver needs to be aware of the individual needs of each person in care. Because up to 10 children and teenagers are cared for in each home, it is fundamental to use equipment to facilitate the routine of a housemother in the making of food, cleaning and organization of the home, and laundering. Because of this, the goal of this project is to provide tools to facilitate the daily care routine, so that the housemother/caregiver can spend more time with the children and teenagers

WELL-BEING AND COMFORT – Aiming to revitalize furniture, appliances, and household items used in all of the regular homes and the Transition House, Chain of Love created the Homes in Action Project to meet the daily needs of each family. Because of the high number of items used daily, it is vital to change broken or outdated items over time. However, the financial resources of the organization are not enough to meet the numberless needs.

To provide well-being and comfort to the children and teenagers in care, Chain of Love relies on your help through financial donations that must be sent to NAB (please specify the purpose of your donation). You can access https://nabconference.org/give/chain-of-love/ to donate.

EducActive PROJECT

Created in 2014, the EducActive (Education + Active) Project aims to improve the children’s and teenagers’ health, physical conditioning, and school performance. It also aims to diminish the tensions and aggressiveness in the social relations between children, teenagers, houseparents (resident caregivers), schoolmates, teachers, and the community in general.

We understand that practicing sports results in discipline, self-control, respect, and integration and helps in motor coordination and the development of skills.

In this project, we provide indoor soccer, volleyball, and basketball classes and recreational activities like dodgeball and backyard cricket.

Currently, this project serves on average 45 children and teenagers in care and happens three times a week. The classes take place in the sports gymnasium or the outdoor court.

Big Brother / Big Sister Program

Be a big brother or big sister to a child or teenager  (for residents of Brazil only) 

Be a super-agent of transformation of lives!

 

Big brothers/big sisters participate actively in the life of a child/teenager. They can take the child/teenager to spend time in their homes or even go traveling. They can also follow the child/teenager’s school performance and health. For this to happen in an adequateappropriate, and safe way, the big brothers/big sisters will be followed by the COL technical staff through their participation in meetings where they will get all the necessary information and guidelines.

This project aims to provide our children and teenagers with an experience of family and community living to make it possible for them to create loving bonds that enhance a feeling of belonging and ease the suffering caused by abandonment. The organization believes that through this support the child or teenager will experience growth and improvement in their personal and social development. These bonds can continue after the child/teenager leaves the COL homes.

The Big Brother/Big Sister program enables the child/teenager in care to be seen and valued for his/her uniqueness, which is very important because, in the organization, he/she is inserted in a collective context. This project aims to touch the hearts of the community, encouraging participation in this experience of love and affection.

Because of this, if you want to be a super-agent of transformation in the life of a child or teenager from Chain of Love, know how our project is divided:

1. A) CONVIVER PROJECT (TIME TOGETHER PROJECT) – Geared towards children (7-11 years of age) and adolescents (12-17 years of age) from different cities/towns, except for Novo Hamburgo.

How it is carried out: candidates undergo an interview by the Chain of Love technical staff (psychologist and social worker) to become big brothers and big sisters. The project identifies the children/teenagers in care that have judicial authorization and a desire to participate and prepares both the big brothers/big sisters and children/teenagers through workshops, lectures, and meetings.

If you are interested in participating in the CONVIVER (BIG BROTHER/BIG SISTER) PROJECT, contact one of the Chain of Love social workers on the phone (51) 3049.0155 extension 24 and schedule an interview.

1. B) PROJETO APADRINHAR NOVO HAMBURGO (NOVO HAMBURGO BIG BROTHER/BIG SISTER PROJECT) –

This project was created in 2017 and is a partnership between the Childhood and Youth Court of the Jurisdiction of Novo Hamburgo, ELO (LINK) NGO, and technical staffs of different residential care facilities. It’s geared to children and teenagers from Novo Hamburgo between the ages of 10 and 17 years old.

I WANT TO BE A BIG BROTHER/BIG SISTER AND CHANGE LIVES – if you wish to participate in the PROJETO APADRINHAR NOVO HAMBURGO and share your love, it’s necessary to send an email to apadrinharnovohamburgo@gmail.com . It is important to put in the message your full name and telephone number and wait for feedback with guidelines to participate in a preparatory workshop. Join this project!