Meet Mateo and the HLYV Vale-Rosita Chronic Care Medical Unit
Medically fragile, mentally defeated, devoid of a family, battling hospital admissions since birth, fed exclusively by gastrostomy-tube, oxygen dependent, plagued with recurrent pneumonia…At two years old he weighed in at 15 pounds. This paints a picture of a young, orphaned Colombian toddler who was desperate for a place to call home, a place to care for his special needs, and a place filled with love.
Enter Hogares Luz y Vida (HLYV). A haven for the severely disadvantaged, this Home of Light and Life had a long-standing reputation of caring for children with special needs in Bogotá...At two-and-a-half years old, this brittle boy was welcomed into the HLYV family. With the support, knowledge, and professional expertise of the staff, he learned to walk, began to talk, regained his personality, and experienced more medical stability than ever before. Prior to arriving, his future looked grim, but because of HLYV, there was hope.
Since 1991, HLYV has been serving those with special needs. At any given time, the home is actively impacting approximately 230 precious lives, not to mention another 1,200 in the surrounding community. With a time-honored regard as a home with the familiarity and capability to care for those like this little boy, it is fitting for HLYV to take the next step of growth - to construct and staff an on-site Chronic Care Medical Unit. This comprehensive facility will allow the staff to care for the acutely and chronically ill, as well as rapidly respond to health emergencies. Because of its proximity to the home, children who require care will remain with caregivers with whom they are already acquainted and receive the essential therapies they need, thus eliminating the uncertainties of medical care provided by those who do not know the intimacies of their everyday and often complex needs. Erased is the need for transportation to another facility across bustling, gridlocked Bogotá during a time when acute illness exacerbates an underlying disability. This will give HLYV the opportunity to open its doors even wider, continuing its 33 years of service to those who need it most.
The fragile little boy mentioned above - he is my son. My husband and I adopted Mateo from Hogares Luz y Vida in August of 2018. We know firsthand the impact that HLYV has on the children who reside there, for Mateo is in large part who he is because of the passion, devotion, and love that he was blessed with during his time there. His spunk, his fight, his laughter, his joy, his healing - we have no doubt that these beautiful gifts were birthed from the tremendous care he received at HLYV. May the extension of Hogares Luz y Vida in the form of a Chronic Care Medical Unit bless many others for years to come, as truly this is a Home of Light and Life.
[May 2023 / Amy Baumgartner / Light and Life Foundation Board of Directors]
Mateo - 2018
Mateo - 2023
Hogares Luz y Vida continues to maintain a stellar reputation for the medical care which is provided for the children who are brought to this home. As such, the Light and Life Foundation is feverishly fundraising for the construction of Vale Rosita Chronic Care Medical Unit. We launched this project nearly two years ago, and your donations have enabled us to complete construction of Phase 1 – the interior and exterior structures and associated pipe and gas lines! (photo) Now we press on to the electric needs, and the extensive details of the interior fixtures.
100% of ALL donations go directly to the needs of the children.
ALL overhead expenses for the Light and Life Foundation are covered by our directors.
PLEASE consider helping us build this life saving project
