When lawyer Linda Coello, president of CePudo, a community organization dedicated to developing social programs in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, asked Mayor Valentín Ramírez when the work could begin, he could not believe it. It had been barely a week since the municipal mayor of Otrerillos, in Cortés Department, Honduras, had asked Coello, a municipal regent of San Pedro Sula, for help in finding financing for the construction of 150 housing units in the Higuerito Central sector where he hoped to relocate people who were still displaced due to Hurricane Mitch several years ago.

Overcoming his astonishment, the mayor responded with confidence: "We can begin today, if there is money to buy the materials." A few minutes later they signed the agreement allowing the international aid organization Food for the Poor committed to assume the cost of the 150 housing units, as long as all future beneficiaries contributed to the labor.

The commitment of the members of the community was so firm that in 45 days the first 50 houses were delivered. The remaining 100 are expected to be ready by the end of October.

The houses are located on a lot of 12 blocks that were donated by the central government on a hill to the south of the municipality. Nearby is the highway that leads to Tegucigalpa, and with a beautiful view of the verdant valley of Sula.

Upon turning over the houses, the mayor announced that he was negotiating with the government the donation of another five blocks of land to expand the project, for which the president of Food for the Poor, Robin Mahfood, promised additional financing.

This important construction is the product of the joint efforts of the local government, the community foundation CePudo, the local chapter of the Knights of Malta, the Association of Employers of Cortés, the Employers of Higuerito Central and members of the community.

Expressing his thanks for the support received from the international organization, the president of the Association of Employers of Cortés, José Noé Leiva, said "Hondurans don't need charity... what they need is an opportunity."

And that opportunity was provided to them by Food for the Poor during a recent trip to this Central American country. "The only thing we ask from you is that you make of these houses a true home where there is harmony, love and peace, that you help each other and especially that you teach the children that there is a heavenly Father who looks out for them," said Mahfood

The recipient of the first house was Juana Eva Hernández, a 73-year-old widow whose humble home had been destroyed by Hurricane Mitch. She said she was grateful to the Lord, and to the institution, for having helped her find her own house. There, she will live with her son Marvin and his wife and three children.

The new houses are surrounded by rocky roads and dust, and as yet do not have water or electricity. In spite of the lack of these services, the new owners received their keys with deep emotions as they opened their new homes.

La Esperanza (Hope) Colony

A second housing complex was inaugurated in the suburbs of Puerto Cortés, in an area adjoining the Laguna de Alvarado, where the local government had prepared 200 lots to families that had been left homeless by Hurricane Mitch. The displaced citizens were living around the water treatment facilities and the old municipal waste zone.

The local government earmarked a large fund to landfill the area and to improve roads and basic services such as potable water and electricity.

Each of the 200 families that was resettled received the rights to a 152-meter lot to build a home. The lots were distributed by a drawing, based on a socio-economic study to ensure that selected families had no other assets.

Thus was born the Colonia La Esperanza (Hope Colony), a name that is truly significant as the affected citizens lost everything but the hope that one day they would have a house of their own. That day arrived when Linda Coello, president of CePudo, presented the housing project to the directors of Food for the Poor, who decided to finance the homes. As is normal in these cases, the beneficiaries are providing the manpower for the construction.

The first 15 houses were delivered on Aug. 30, and the hope is that the remaining homes will be completed and turned over to the new owners prior to the year’s end.

Jean Buckley, a widow who took possession of her new home that day, could not mask her emotions when it came time to speak.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she repeated over and over. "Now, every time that I go to sleep at night, I thank God for the opportunity to own my own house for the very first time."

The mayor of Puerto Cortés, Marlon Lara Orellana, highlighted the social impact of the project by pointing out that people who never could own their homes before now own them, thanks to the community’s dedication and work.

Lara also stated that this is a good example of community solidarity that should be imitated by other communities in the country to better their own living conditions.

Taking advantage of the moment, Mayor Lara Orellana presented another proposal involving a water purification plant to the president of Food for the Poor. Right then and there, Food for the Poor promised that this proposal would also be funded, once the housing project completed.

In addition to providing food and emergency assistance to the needy, Food for the Poor is also involved with providing development help, assisting with education, health, creating small businesses and assisting with living costs.

Four thousand-six hundred houses were constructed during 2004. This year at least 7,000 homes are expected to be built in 16 countries, including Honduras. Schools, medical clinics and community centers are also built.

Food for the Poor is the fifth largest charitable organization in the United States. It is a Christian, inter-denominational organization that operates with the assistance of a chain of over 250 million donors who give money to help the poorest of the poor in Latin America.

Since its founding in 1982, Food for the Poor has distributed more than 30,000 food containers worth more than $2.3 billion and more than 5,800 containers of construction materials, tools and school furniture, medical supplies and medicines, and other emergency assistance.

But the organization does much more than feed the poor. It provides training and small business assistance to help the poor seek employment and opens vital water sources for communities that otherwise would not have drinking water. They construct homes for homeless families, and they help to educate children to enable them to break the cycle of poverty in which they and their ancestors have resided for generations.

The organization operates with a simple but effective philosophy. They ask the clergy, pastors, missionaries and local community organizations to identify their needs, and then they find ways to meet those needs. In this way, they are assured the assistance truly gets to the neediest.