Where It All Began
Twenty years ago Dr. Lorena Teran returned Ecuador with a mission to raise the standards for impoverished children in the beautiful but economically depressed capital city of Quito.
With abundant aspiration and compassion but few funds, Lorena set out to find like-minded and like-hearted people with the vision to contribute. The first donations she received were pallets of frozen fish and spaghetti sauce, so she soon found herself on a street corner peddling cans of sauce and pounds of frozen fish to anyone that would buy it. In those early days she drove all over Southern California selling fish and raising money for her adopted community in Quito.
With the initial funds in hand, she began her mission on a shoestring budget, creating a safe haven for children in a makeshift building on the outskirts of town. In this unassuming location, she gathered the children of the neighborhood after school, giving them an alternative to roaming the streets, joining gangs, and selling or taking drugs. Instead of the chaos of the streets, children found a warm and welcoming staff of volunteers happy to engage them with puzzles, games, sports and education. They had access to clean toilets and hot food. And they stayed safe until their parents – most of whom worked two or more jobs – would take them home safely.
Today TGH has grown to fulfill Lorena’s early dream of a better life for these children. We at TGH are both humbled and proud to be surrounded by so many people like you who now share her vision of a better life for these children.
Our Vision for the Future
For years TGH has been renting the same dilapidated building in which this program began. But now the children of TGH need a new home. We’ve bought the land, made our plans, and now we need your help. You can learn more about this project and invest in a brick, a desk, or even a wall of our new center by clicking here. And if all you have is a few pallets of fish and spaghetti sauce, we still take that too.
See the plans and rendering of the new center on our project site.
Help Overcome Poverty Everyday 