Global Catholic Nonprofit Launching Safe-Housing Advent Initiative for Guatemala

Cross Catholic Outreach gives families a unique opportunity to help others this Advent.

This Advent, the global nonprofit Cross Catholic Outreach is providing parishes, families and others with an opportunity to help Guatemalan families in desperate need of safe, reliable homes through a special seasonal initiative called “Transforming Lives in Guatemala.”

“Too many rural families in Guatemala are living in conditions that are horrendous and heartbreaking,” said Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach. “In cooperation with our trusted ministry partners in Guatemala, we want to bless those families with safe, sturdy homes—a gift that will help lift them out of extreme poverty and place them on a path to a brighter future. To achieve that goal, we’ll need the support of compassionate people here in the United States. We are asking them to be an answer to prayer and to give generously during Advent to help us address this urgent need.”

More than half of Guatemalans live in rural areas and almost 60 percent of the population live in poverty and lack access to basic infrastructure. Very few have homes capable of keeping out rain or protecting families from vermin or intruders. Typically, their patchwork homes are built of scraps of lumber and discarded metal sheets, so they leak when it rains. Dirt floors become muddy and the families inside are exposed to disease. Through Cross Catholic Outreach’s Advent initiative, Americans can donate directly to this program and help 159 families have the gift of a safe home.

“We are working closely with our trusted partners in the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima and the Diocese of Suchitepéquez-Retalhuleu to provide concrete homes for 159 families this Advent season,” said Cavnar. “The flimsy, unsafe structures these families live in are unsustainable and, in many cases, hazardous. Children are getting sick and everyone’s belongings are constantly wet and ruined. We hope and pray this campaign is only the beginning of the help we can provide to the people of Guatemala in the months and years ahead.”

Cross Catholic Outreach is asking parish communities across the country to prayerfully consider making this project one of their Advent works of mercy. The gift of a safe and sturdy home is a life-changing blessing for these families.

“We are asking people to consider making a donation to transform the lives of more than 1,100 individuals in Guatemala through this Advent initiative to remind them of God’s love for them,” said Cavnar. “This gift will be a blessing long after the beautiful Advent season has passed. Receiving a new house has that kind of transformative impact.”

Cross Catholic Outreach also has an accompanying 16-page Advent booklet for children to learn more about the season of Advent and why Catholics celebrate it, to understand the living situation of many Guatemalans in a way kids can relate to, to learn scripture through games, and to encourage them to grow in their prayer lives.

To learn more, visit CrossCatholic.org/Advent.

Copyright 2022 Cross Catholic Outreach
Images: copyright 2022 Cross Catholic Outreach, all rights reserved.

About Cross Catholic Outreach: Based in Florida, Cross Catholic Outreach is an official Catholic nonprofit 501(c)(3) relief and development organization that, since its founding in 2001, has given more than $1 billion in aid to help “the poorest of the poor” in more than three dozen developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and other parts of the world. For more information about Cross Catholic, visit CrossCatholic.org or call 800-914-2420.