We need Edwin! Please help us keep him

By Frances A. Hogg

Corazónes de Oro (formerly Hearts of Gold Foundation) provides services to struggling Ecuadorian families. We vet potential clients (many of them referred to us from other organizations) for our programs including All Children Deserve to Dream, and D’Ellas, which trains women the skills necessary to establish their own businesses. We also screen all referrals for partner, the Cuenca Foundation (formerly Cuenca Soup Kitchen, and evaluate their other needs to provide them with clothing, medicines and referrals to hospitals, and psychological counseling.

Psychological counseling is extremely important and difficult for our clients to obtain. The poor face challenges beyond a simple lack of monetary resources and food insecurity. They experience mental and physical issues at a much higher rate than those living above the poverty line. We grieve the several of our clients who have taken their own lives. This is unacceptable to us.

Edwin is a young man knows how to peel potatoes!

Our clientele are primarily women and children and some disabled adults who feel powerless dealing with life events such as prolonged illness, the death of a loved one, traumatic accidents, natural disasters, and domestic violence. As a result, our clients develop anxiety disorders, depression, PTSD symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, and emotional numbness. They have difficulty making decisions and poor mental health makes them less reliable parents or providers. Some of our clients have terminal diagnoses and are facing death without emotional support.

Currently, two psychology interns work in our office, helping clients process painful situations and memories in a controlled environment. The interns teach our clients important coping skills. I have never seen a client exit the intern psychologists’ office without seeing a smile on their face.

Unfortunately, when internships end, these young people must obtain paying employment. We feel it is important to provide continuity for our clientele by having a permanent psychologist on staff. This is why we need your help.

One of our interns is Edwin Serpa. His internship has finished, but he continues to volunteer. Our clients rave about him and tell us they feel comfortable opening themselves up to him. Edwin stands out not only as a competent psychotherapist, but because of his intense enthusiasm for the work we do. He is an English speaker who helps coordinate with our non-Spanish speaking volunteers. Without pay, he counsels clients on weekends and evenings when our office is closed and helps us when we hold events.

However, he must obtain employment, so he is applying for other positions. Also, the four-year-old daughter of our Executive Director insists she is going to marry him when she grows up. He is Prince Charming. Do you want to dash her dreams?

Currently, our budget does not allow us to hire anyone. The salary for a beginning psychotherapist is $450.00 a month, for which we must develop a new and reliable source for a guaranteed monthly income of that amount per month. If only 25 people would arrange automatic transfers or credit card payments of $20.00 a month, we can offer him a permanent position

Think of what a difference you can make for our families.

If you want to make this difference, please contact us at mariajose@heartsogoldfoundation.org. Time is of the essence. Do it now! We need him now. Our accountant, Alix Riofrio, can advise you and help you set up a recurring monthly donation system. Any amount, even five dollars a month, helps.
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Frances A. Hogg is a 14-year resident of Cuenca. She is president of Corazónes de Oro/Hearts of Gold.