Our top priority is to provide love, nutrition, education, medical care and spiritual growth to the at-risk children of Banderas Bay, especially those who are living with single moms.

In April of 2021, Hope Center opened its doors to our first 4 children and as of September 2025 we have 40 children from 2-14 years who come everyday from 9:00-4:00. They receive hot and healthy meals – breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack. They are all registered in public school and take their classes in our space with our licensed teachers. We offer sports, art, music, English classes and other extra-curricular activities to enhance skills and self-esteem. We have a psychologist who comes twice a week to work with those children who have special emotional and academic needs. We have a second psychologist who comes weekly to do group sessions with the children. We also employ a cook, a cleaner and a driver who picks the children up and drives them home every day.

Because we believe that the most effective cure for trauma is to experience the faithful love of God our Father, we begin each day with our Bible Class and partner with weekly children’s programs at La Fuente Riviera Church in Bucerias.

Our waiting list is long and our dreams are big! We want to help more children find their way and we need your help and financial support. Click here to find out how to donate to our general fund and click here to learn more about our monthly sponsorship program!

We know that the best way to help our kids is to help their moms! Not only do we want to provide quality daily care so single moms can work, we also dream of helping our moms create their own independence through skill training and business development.

Women of Hope is our program for single moms and we are making plans to build a center – possibly right next door on the lot we recently purchased – where moms can gather to create community and learn new skills.

Currently we have two projects that employ our moms and teaches them how to run a small business. The first project is our Mujeres de Esperanza Bazaar and Boutique. This is a small thrift store where we sell any donated items that we can’t use in our shelter. Our moms earn an hourly salary and split any profit that the store makes each week. This is a great business model to encourage entrepreneurial ideas to increase weekly profit. Make sure to join the Mujeres de Esperanza Facebook page to see daily updates on our newest items for sale.

At Refuge of Hope we believe that families should be together, that children should know they are loved and cared for by a mom and a dad and that every child deserves to receive healthy food, education, medical care and spiritual and emotional growth.   We don’t want to take the place of a family but to enhance and support the family.  To come alongside.  Sometimes it doesn’t work out like that.  In our community, it is very common for children to be raised by a single mom or even a single grandma.  Sometimes a single dad.  Wages here are low and poverty is a reality for many.  Addiction and domestic violence are commonplace.  Our task is to fill in some of the gaps and remove some of the barriers.  And we need your help! 

We are looking for recurring monthly sponsors for each of our children.  $30 a month will help us to employ teachers, purchase school supplies and curriculum and offer 2 hot meals per day.   We will need more than 1 sponsor per child but we are confident that there are many people like you who will look at the pictures of these sweet children and recognize the life changing impact your gift will have on families and communities.

When you sponsor a child, you will receive a quarterly update on the family situation and a photo.  You are free to send letters or pictures too – to become pen pals and friends.  You are welcome to visit.  If you decide you want to give additional gifts at any time throughout the year, that gift will go directly to the classroom that your child belongs to.  We discourage additional personal gifts, except on birthdays, in order that no one feels left out!