Alto Vista, ARUBA – In light of HopeAruba Movement, its social project - Cas Speransa Nobo – a rehabilitation center for people addicted to substances, Divi Impact Foundation gave a donation of AWG.15,000.00 to help fight the problem of addiction that our nation is facing.
 

The release of this donation took place at Cas Speransa Nobo. Present at this occasion representing Divi Impact Foundation was Mrs. Nathalie da Costa, Sylvania O’Niel, Francis Ridderstap and Pearl Lake, who also handed over the cheque. This donation was received by the coordinator of Cas Speransa Nobo’s Outreach program, Mr. Rafael de Cuba.

The vision of Divi Impact Foundation is to dedicate itself in providing quality services to promote children’s safety, to strengthen families and make sports, educational and arts activities accessible to the community, with the overall goal of enhancing the quality of life in Aruba. Mrs. Lake, of Divi Impact Foundation, stated.

In the name of HopeAruba Fundacion Restauracion, Mr. Rafael de Cuba expressed words of gratitude; “A big thank you to the board of Divi Impact Foundation. We are extremely happy and honored with this beautiful gesture, to collaborate with the work of restoration to those in the process of rehabilitation from a life addicted to substances. A prototype model in a way of collaborating to attend to the social challenges our nation is facing.”

San Nicolas, ARUBA – Last Saturday, HopeAruba Movement together with the “St. Maarteners Living in Aruba” group held their “HOPE Hurricane Relief Benefit,” to support fellow islands that have suffered devastation due to Hurricane Irma. This took place at the YMCA San Nicolas from 9am to 5pm. People brought massive support from all parts of Aruba.

Due to the fact that one of the values that this organization stands for is transparency, the board likes to share the summary of everything collected and articles received as a result of this initiative.

Food and Water
The massive support received from the people reached a total of 602 packages of food and water which was given to the Red Cross Aruba to send in a container on the 29th of September. HopeAruba is also in close contact with the board members of the Red Cross in St. Maarten, who have received the cargo and will make sure distribution will take place to those most vulnerable on the island.

Cash

The cash received, together with the sale of refreshments, amounted to Awg 4,030.00.

Minus the costs of the drinks and the material for packaging, Awg 1040.61, we were left over with the amount of Awg 2989.39

The clothes received are ready to be taken in containers. The cost of the container will be covered by the donation HopeAruba received in cash.

HopeAruba is a collaborative platform for civic synergy whose abbreviation - H.O.P.E. – stands for: Honor, Opportunity, Productivity and Excellence. It is about honorable citizens who make use of every opportunity to do good and who are productive for the wellbeing of others, our community, our nation, and they do this in excellence.

This is represented also in all its initiatives to fight social challenges of our nation, such as their weekly communitarian work, to bring hope and food to street addicts. Realization of the first rehabilitation center - Cas Speransa Nobo, the founding of Goshen Sustainable Development, an organic, agricultural project, completely Aruban, for the sustainability of social initiatives and opportunities for vocational work for those recovering from a life addicted to substances, as well as, the last social regional initiative of the ‘HOPE Hurricane Relief Benefit’ to give a helping hand to our fellow islands who have suffered hurricane devastation.

HopeAruba team expresses a profound “thank you” to all media/press, foundations, institutions, organizations and the people who have contributed in any way to the HOPE Hurricane Relief Benefit. This event has shown what HopeAruba Movement believes in – there is power in unity.

Oranjestad, ARUBA - “Teen Challenge Aruba is about 18 years in operation. From 1999 we started with the project. Teen Challenge works in collaboration with Cas Speransa Nobo and is the one to execute the curriculum for Cas Speransa Nobo,” according to Director Teen Challenge Aruba, Mr. Freddy Briesum

Why Cas Speransa Nobo

“Cas Speransa Nobo is one of the strong partners here in Aruba. We work with different partners in Aruba, however, Cas Speransa Nobo has a tremendous vision, a great structure and infrastructure to make this possible. This type of collaboration can contribute greatly to Aruba.”

“We, together with Cas Speransa Nobo, managed to find a director who is from Memphis, Tennessee – Shawn and Shanon Blankenship – and they are here to train an Aruba team for maybe 2 to 3 years to form a staff that will continue the work in the future.”

The problem in Aruba is big
“Statistics show that the problem is big among men, as well as in women and the age among the youth group has dropped. The youngest age we have documented is eight (8) years,” Biesum shared.

Most alarming drug
“Here in Aruba they use a lot of Crack. It is the cheapest, but causes a lot of damage and causes the person to become addicted very quickly. A person addicted to crack takes way longer to recuperate.

Free will
“In the first place, the person has to want it. If the person wants and it’s from the heart where he says; “I want, I am tired of this drug, I want to change my life”, he’s already 50% on the right track. The other 50% he receives at the center where he will receive the program and all other treatment necessary. The person has to be motivated enough, determined to want a new life. Cas Speransa Nobo will have their procedure of evaluation, where they will evaluate their motivation, among others, and if the person truly wants to change.  The door is open.”

Oranjestad, ARUBA - For over 15 years, a group of people under the “Outreach” group, who falls under Cas Speransa Nobo, goes to districts, Rancho among others, which is a well known neighborhood to people addicted to substances, to give them food, attention and to bring them Hope.

“For more than 15 years, we’re going to the districts/neighborhoods, Rancho among others, well known to the addicts with a severe level of addiction. Severe, because they have lost hope and they think that they will never again have a solution for their situation. People who have been rejected, not only by family, but also by themselves, because they believe this is the way they will live until they die. The purpose of the “Outreach” is to give them hope. We do this intentionally, to care for them. When they think they no longer have worth, we go give them food, attention, clothes, and we bring a portable bathroom in the area we will visit and they have the opportunity to take a shower. These are all basic things to have dignity as a human being.”

“Some of them don’t have a place to stay so they shower once a week. We’ve been doing this for 15 years with some sponsors who have helped us along the way and we’re thankful to God we never lacked anything and that today Cas Speransa Nobo has become a reality. Many of them ask us after they eat and shower, what else is there? And if there is a place they could go to.”

“Now that Cas Speransa Nobo has become a reality, we have the next step ready to offer. Now that the house is there, “Outreach” will continue to function. The problem is big in Aruba and we will continue working with them giving them the attention so we could identify the moment where they are truly willing to start a process of rehabilitation. We will look for a sponsor to sign this willing person up at the center, in the hands of professionals who will give them the guidance to a new life, a life of freedom.”

Oranjestad, ARUBA - In light of HopeAruba Fundacion Restauracion, with its first mayor social project - Cas Speransa Nobo – a rehabilitation center for those addicted to substances, the Board of Directors of Aruba Bank made a AWG.50,000.00 donation to the rehabilitation project Cas Speransa Nobo.

This release took place the 17th of May, 2017, in the Board Room at the Aruba Bank and the donation was received by the president of the Foundation, Ms. Lisette Malmberg.

“A big thank you goes to the whole Board of Directors of Aruba Bank. We are truly very happy and honored to be here this afternoon. This model is a prototype of a way to collaborate with something new. We know sponsorship in the context of family, however, our vision of HopeAruba is one of a national movement that will be a showcase for collaborative projects.

The structure of HopeAruba – The Movement has two arms. In the one arm you have social entrepreneurs with innovative businesses that rise with the sole purpose to sustain social projects. In the other arm, you have social projects of which Cas Speransa Nobo is our first launch.”

“The drug and alcohol problem is worldwide. 350 million people abuse drugs or alcohol, of which 2.5 million die per year. That means, 5 people die every minute of drug or alcohol addiction. In our community it is also a serious problem and so we are very happy to have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Global Teen Challenge which has over 1,000 centers worldwide, over 25 thousand clients in their centers and which is one of the most successful caregivers in this area with a retention percentage of 87% after 5 years of having graduated from the program.”

“Our project, concerning social entrepreneurship, is Goshen Sustainable Development Corporation VBA. That is an agriculture project, completely organic, and its profits will be used to sustain the Cas Speransa Nobo project. For that, I would like to thank the directors of Aruba Bank for having sustained us in our project with over 1.6 million florins,” Ms. Malmberg elaborates.

Executive Director, Mrs. Gina Habibe, expressed that the project Cas Speransa Nobo is an initiative that aligns with Aruba Bank’s brand pillar ‘We Care’, which plays a role of community support for over 90 years.

“Cas Speransa is also directly related to our efforts to promote the physical and mental wellbeing of the members of our community.  We have full confidence that Ms. Malmberg can make this project a successful one. Not only in the economic financial part, but also in the holistic way they approach the addiction problem in Aruba. We are happy to be able to sustain them in this beautiful work. Ms. Malmberg is also a client of Aruba Bank for many years. We wish the entire team, especially the clients/students of this new center, all the best with this unique opportunity that Cas Speransa is offering those more in need in our community.”