Sustainable Brands

Mercy Centre is a shelter for street kids, four orphanages, a hospice, a home for mothers and children with HIV/AIDS, a 400-pupil kindergarten, a community meeting place, and a serene haven in the slums with small gardens and playgrounds. Originally built on a former Buddhist Temple site on port authority property, Mercy Centre has stood in some shape or form for 30 years. In 2000, it was rebuilt through a generous gift to accommodate our expanding services to orphans, street children, and children with HIV/AIDS.

General Information:
•    Founded in 1973
•    Co-founder and Chairman: Father Joe Maier, C.Ss.R.
•    Co-founder and Director: Sister Maria Chantavoradom
•    Executive Director: Usanee Janngeon
•    Staff: 330
•    Geographic reach: Over 30 poor communities in Bangkok, 25 villages in the tsunami-devastated villages in southern provinces.

Our Mercy Centre:
•    Our home and family, including 170 abandoned, orphaned, and trafficked children
•    Home for children living with HIV
•    Adult respite hospice
•    The largest of our 31 slum preschools
•    Janusz Korczak School of S.E. Asia
•    Legal Aid Centre for poor children
•    Administrative center for all HDF programs

HDF Programs:
I.    Children in Need

Orphanages and Shelters
•    Four orphanages
•    One safe house for children in grave danger
•    One home for mothers and children with HIV/AIDS
•    Total care provided, including education and skills training

Street Children Outreach and Legal Aid
•    Protection, defense, counsel, and support for street children.
•    Securing legal birth and identity certificates for migrant and poor urban children


II. Education
•    31 Mercy preschools throughout Bangkok’s poorest communities. Approximately 4,000 poor children, ages 3 to 6, enrolled. National curriculum: reading, writing, Thai culture, history, dance, song, sports, and the arts.
•    The Janusz Korzcak School for Street Children –  i) a non-formal school providing literacy and trade skills for older street children; ii) an academic excellence program for university-bound poor children; iii) comprehensive arts program for all Mercy Centre children; and iv) adult education for staff and community.
•    School Sponsorships. Over 400 primary and secondary school sponsorships for the poorest neighborhood children in Bangkok
•    Mokan Children’s Pioneer Education Program - 475 additional school sponsorships for Mokan (Sea Gypsy) children. Coordinating with 12 poor coastal communities, including village leaders and Board of Education in tsunami-devastated provinces.
•    Preparation for International Colleges and Universities -Currently 9 of our children attend colleges and universities abroad on academic scholarships.

III. HIV/AIDS Programs

 - Adult Hospice
•    First and largest free AIDS hospice in Bangkok
•    Current capacity: 30 beds, 100 patients per year
•    Providing homecare training and general welfare for people living with AIDS and their families.
- Home for Mothers and Children with HIV/AIDS
•    56 children, 5 mothers - always a growing family
•    Emphasis on dignity, joy, a life without stigmatization
•    Children attend school and live and play with other children in our care and in the community.
- AIDS Homecare for the poor
•    Over 600 patients in Bangkok
•    Helping the poor living with HIV maintain their strength and remain productive members of their family and community.
-  HIV Education, Outreach and Advocacy
•    Targeting over 10,000 high risk individuals/year
•    Schools, community centers, factories
•    Fighting for patients rights and free access to medicine

IV. Community Services

•    Housing – Repair, renovation, and construction for elderly and indigent and slum communities devastated by fires – over 10,000 homes in Bangkok slums to date.
•    Community Organizing – Consultation, leadership, and education initiatives with the poor; coordination with government ministries including the National Housing Authority, Port Authority of Thailand, and various welfare organizations.
•    Sports – Construction and maintenance of drug-free playgrounds
•    Financing – Small business start-ups, emergency low interest loans.
•    Klong Toey Women’s Group and Credit Union – Empowering poor women to take control of their personal and family finances.
•    Slum community credit unions throughout the slums, often implemented immediately after slum fires, where those left homeless need to be recognized as juristic residents to remain in the community and receive emergency government assistance.
•    Disabled Poor – Providing employment, securing legal benefits for physically disabled.
•    Emergencies – Slum fires; families in crises.
•    Community Building in 25 villages in Phang Nga, Phuket, and Satun provinces following the tsunami.


Coordination with Thai Government and Local Non-Government Organizations

To strengthen our partnership with the poor, we coordinate our efforts and pool resources with several Thai government ministries in education, welfare, and justice, the local police departments, government hospitals, and various local community-based organizations. The assistance we give and receive from these organizations and government institutions is a great part of our own strength as a non-profit field organization. A partial listing of our partners in these cooperative activities:

Child Protection and Shelters:
•    Ministry of Child Welfare
•    The Confederation of Street Children Organizations: pooling resources, communications, and advocacy experience with a Thailand federation of 17 street children organizations.
•    Local Police Stations – Over 80 stations work directly with our child protection and legal aid teams, and call HDF for assistance.
•    National Police Academy – HDF provides annual training in Street Children Outreach to police cadets.
•    Ministry of Education – HDF mans the national child abuse hotline weekly.
•    Thai Armed Services and Rural Development Program – providing training programs and camping expeditions for our children.
•    Wat Saphan Buddhist Temple. Our children work for and receive Buddhist teachings from Monks at our local Temple.
•    Holy Redeemer Church and local Catholic institutions tutor our children after school and teach our children about prayer and ethics at home and in the community.

Education
•    Ministry of Education – Formal and informal school coordination of various activities and certifications.
•    Bangkok Metropolitan Authority - Coordinates activities and curriculum with our 31 Mercy Preschools, provides milk for our 4,000 school children, and subsidizes a portion of our teachers’ salaries.
•    Community Leaders – We help organized and advise community leaders representing the neighborhoods surrounding our 31 preschools.
•    Pang Nga School Board and School Principals – Coordinating with 12 schools in Tsunami-devastated provinces to boost education opportunities among Mo-Kan (sea gypsy) children.
•    International High Schools – Academic scholarships for our children; volunteering opportunities for teachers in these schools and their most gifted graduates.

HIV/AIDS
•    Ministry of Health
•    Government Hospitals – HDF assists large groups of the poor living with AIDS through local government hospitals.
•    Bamrad and local Children’s Hospitals – provide medicine and testing for our children living with HIV; care for them for months at a time when they are not well.
•    Wat Saphan Buddhist Temple – Monks meet and advise our patients about life and healing, and provide funeral services when they die.
•    AIDS Coalitions – Advocating for patients’ rights.
•    Children’s Network – A federation of orphanages and children’s HIV/AIDS organizations, initiated by HDF, to coordinate communications, advocacy, and programs for children.

Community Services
•    National Housing Authority
•    Port Authority of Thailand
•    Women’s Group and Slum Savings and Loan – networking with slum organizations throughout Bangkok
•    Federation of Coastal Villages in Tsunami-devastated provinces