News & Events
May 2020 Update
The coronavirus has affected our friends and partners in Nicaragua, just like it has affected all of us here in the U.S. In many ways, the virus has hit impoverished countries like Nicaragua even harder. Nicaraguans lack the resources – including basic medical equipment – that our U.S. hospitals and facilities have.
Our partner organizations, Fabretto and Rayo de Sol, have been making a number of required creative adjustments to their programs with health and safety in mind, including:
- Developing key resources, including guides for teachers and parents, worksheets and audiobooks.
- Distributing printed study guides and handouts for students, as well as instruction manuals for parents to facilitate in-home learning.
- Holding student reading clubs with social distancing precautions.
- Holding meetings of the Teacher's Reading Club with proper social distancing norms and meeting in an open space...but COVID-19 won't stop us from reading!
- Providing teacher training in smaller groups than usual.
- Continuing nutrition programs to support optimal health during the COVID-19 crisis. We deliver food to hundreds of schools throughout Nicaragua.
- There has never been a better time to focus on food security. With the current crisis, many families will be struggling to keep food on the table. We are working with families in nine communities to teach them how to produce nutritious food, using the biointensive method.
- Conducting home visits to follow up with patients that have been identified as high-risk of developing complications related to COVID-19.
- A group of staff and scholarship students visited more than 200 homes to educate families about the prevention of COVID-19.
- Focusing on composting efforts while families are staying at home. Our biointensive practitioners worked to get their compost ready so gardens could be planted.
As you can see, programming and important work continues on the ground in Nicaragua. Tin Roof and our partners continue to need your prayers and support now, more than ever. Please prayerfully consider sending a donation to Tin Roof today.
Gifts in Memory and Honor
Thank you for a great 2019! We want to extend a extra special thank you to those who’ve given gifts in honor and gifts in memory.
After the social and political crisis in 2018, Nicaragua has been in a process of recovery for the past year. Although there are still political negotiations taking place, the country is slowly trying to regain a new sense of normalcy – a difficult task after so much damage was caused. In 2019, the most lasting impact of the crisis has been visible in Nicaragua’s economy:
- Unemployment rate increases. An estimated 347,000 jobs were lost in Nicaragua as a result of the crisis, raising the unemployment rate substantially.
- Recent economic growth trends reverse. From 2010 to 2017, the Nicaraguan economy grew between 4-6% each year. In 2018, Nicaragua’s economic growth rate sunk to -3.8%, with projections for even worse results in 2019.
- Families suffer due to job loss. Prior to the crisis, more than half of Nicaragua’s population was underemployed and not earning enough to cover basic needs. With the job loss and decreased economic activity, many families have been thrust into much more precarious conditions.
In response, Tin Roof and our partners seek to provide support for families and children in the aftermath of the crisis, in a number of ways:
- Ensuring that children and their families have access to nutritious food and quality medical attention
- Providing technical and vocational training for young people and adults in both rural and urban communities
- Investing in small business development as a means of generating new opportunities for the creation of microenterprises
Tin Roof is committed to continuing to provide education and opportunities for children, young people and families to become self-sufficient, contributing members of their communities – even in the wake of economic devastation for many. We ask you to carefully and prayerfully consider giving generously to our work for your year-end gift so we can continue these important efforts.
2018 Annual Report
To view the Tin Roof Foundation annual report for the year 2018 please click here.
Gifts in Memory and Honor
Thank you for a great 2018! We want to extend a extra special thank you to those who’ve given gifts in honor and gifts in memory.
Update Nov 26, 2018
By now, you should have received your “Nicaragua in Crisis” fall mailing. We hope this provided you with more information about the dire situation in Nicaragua, as well as how you can help.
As we celebrate this joyous holiday season, we hope that you will remember our friends in Nicaragua, many of whom have lost their jobs, their homes, and their sense of safety and security. In the spirit of Christmas, we should pause and be thankful for all that we have – but we should also remember those who have so little. We ask you to prayerfully consider donating generously toward the combination warehouse and market project that we outlined in the fall mailing. Let’s follow Jesus’s example – putting others before ourselves – and we can truly make a difference.
Mail your tax-deductible donation today to:
The Tin Roof
Foundation, Inc.
1047 Nordyke Road
Cincinnati, OH 45255.
Or, click here to make your donation online.
Update Oct 1, 2018
Though the civil unrest has not markedly improved, we are pleased that more and more international news outlets are continuing to cover and investigate the situation in Nicaragua. We are hoping that bringing attention to the events that have caused the deaths of more than 300 people and disappearance of countless others will help to eventually bring about resolution and positive change.
We will soon be launching a crisis relief campaign to raise funds to support rebuilding, including securing a new facility for housing warehouse space and a market. Watch your mailbox for more information on this important effort in the coming weeks. We need your prayers and generous support to bring hope to kids and families in Nicaragua!
Please keep praying for Nicaragua and our many friends and partners there. We will continue to keep you updated as the situation unfolds.
Update June 24, 2018
We wish we had better news to report. However, the civil unrest continues in Nicaragua. We are happy to report that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights have been permitted into the country to assess the situation and help bring about a peaceful resolution.
We know that there will be a great need for humanitarian aid throughout the rebuilding process in the coming months and years – in addition to our regular programming. We hope you will continue to support our mission of “bringing hope to kids” during this tumultuous time.
Please keep praying for Nicaragua and our many friends and partners there. We will continue to keep you updated as the situation unfolds.
Please Pray for Peace
The following words are from one of our Nicaragua partners, Peter Schaller, Executive Director of Rayo de Sol, Matagalpa, Nicaragua in regard to the recent unrest in Nicaragua:
As many of you many know, Nicaragua has been affected by several days of civil unrest and violent protesting. Sadly, many lives have been lost and both public and private property has been destroyed.
Although the situation has calmed in recent days, there is a still a very tense environment. Despite the disruptions, we have continued to provide program services to students and their families. We ask that you join us for praying that peaceful solutions can be attained for the current social and political crises that affect Nicaragua.
In the midst of the turmoil, we had to go out into the mountains to purchase fruits and vegetables for the school nutrition program. The rural areas have not been affected by the protesting and life has continued its normal course. As we drove from farm to farm, purchasing squash, huge bunches of bananas, fresh cheese and cream, I was reminded of the deep generosity, humility and diligence that characterizes Nicaraguan culture. That drive through the beautiful mountains helped to put the situation into perspective and focus on the vital importance of our work.
We ask that you join us in praying for peace for Nicaragua. In response to the crisis, we are hard at work developing a faith based curriculum for young people, focusing on peace education, conflict resolution, tolerance and dialogue.
“And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6:8
For additional information go to https://www.centralamerica.com/opinion/is-nicaragua-safe-to-visit-update/
Gifts in Memory and Honor
Thank you for a great 2019! We want to extend a extra special thank you to those who’ve given gifts in honor and gifts in memory.
After the social and political crisis in 2018, Nicaragua has been in a process of recovery for the past year. Although there are still political negotiations taking place, the country is slowly trying to regain a new sense of normalcy – a difficult task after so much damage was caused. In 2019, the most lasting impact of the crisis has been visible in Nicaragua’s economy:
- Unemployment rate increases. An estimated 347,000 jobs were lost in Nicaragua as a result of the crisis, raising the unemployment rate substantially.
- Recent economic growth trends reverse. From 2010 to 2017, the Nicaraguan economy grew between 4-6% each year. In 2018, Nicaragua’s economic growth rate sunk to -3.8%, with projections for even worse results in 2019.
- Families suffer due to job loss. Prior to the crisis, more than half of Nicaragua’s population was underemployed and not earning enough to cover basic needs. With the job loss and decreased economic activity, many families have been thrust into much more precarious conditions.
In response, Tin Roof and our partners seek to provide support for families and children in the aftermath of the crisis, in a number of ways:
- Ensuring that children and their families have access to nutritious food and quality medical attention
- Providing technical and vocational training for young people and adults in both rural and urban communities
- Investing in small business development as a means of generating new opportunities for the creation of microenterprises
Tin Roof is committed to continuing to provide education and opportunities for children, young people and families to become self-sufficient, contributing members of their communities – even in the wake of economic devastation for many. We ask you to carefully and prayerfully consider giving generously to our work for your year-end gift so we can continue these important efforts.
2018 Annual Report
To view the Tin Roof Foundation annual report for the year 2018 please click here.
Gifts in Memory and Honor
Thank you for a great 2018! We want to extend a extra special thank you to those who’ve given gifts in honor and gifts in memory.
Update Nov 26, 2018
By now, you should have received your “Nicaragua in Crisis” fall mailing. We hope this provided you with more information about the dire situation in Nicaragua, as well as how you can help.
As we celebrate this joyous holiday season, we hope that you will remember our friends in Nicaragua, many of whom have lost their jobs, their homes, and their sense of safety and security. In the spirit of Christmas, we should pause and be thankful for all that we have – but we should also remember those who have so little. We ask you to prayerfully consider donating generously toward the combination warehouse and market project that we outlined in the fall mailing. Let’s follow Jesus’s example – putting others before ourselves – and we can truly make a difference.
Mail your tax-deductible donation today to:
The Tin Roof
Foundation, Inc.
1047 Nordyke Road
Cincinnati, OH 45255.
Or, click here to make your donation online.
Update Oct 1, 2018
Though the civil unrest has not markedly improved, we are pleased that more and more international news outlets are continuing to cover and investigate the situation in Nicaragua. We are hoping that bringing attention to the events that have caused the deaths of more than 300 people and disappearance of countless others will help to eventually bring about resolution and positive change.
We will soon be launching a crisis relief campaign to raise funds to support rebuilding, including securing a new facility for housing warehouse space and a market. Watch your mailbox for more information on this important effort in the coming weeks. We need your prayers and generous support to bring hope to kids and families in Nicaragua!
Please keep praying for Nicaragua and our many friends and partners there. We will continue to keep you updated as the situation unfolds.
Update June 24, 2018
We wish we had better news to report. However, the civil unrest continues in Nicaragua. We are happy to report that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights have been permitted into the country to assess the situation and help bring about a peaceful resolution.
We know that there will be a great need for humanitarian aid throughout the rebuilding process in the coming months and years – in addition to our regular programming. We hope you will continue to support our mission of “bringing hope to kids” during this tumultuous time.
Please keep praying for Nicaragua and our many friends and partners there. We will continue to keep you updated as the situation unfolds.
Please Pray for Peace
The following words are from one of our Nicaragua partners, Peter Schaller, Executive Director of Rayo de Sol, Matagalpa, Nicaragua in regard to the recent unrest in Nicaragua:
As many of you many know, Nicaragua has been affected by several days of civil unrest and violent protesting. Sadly, many lives have been lost and both public and private property has been destroyed.
Although the situation has calmed in recent days, there is a still a very tense environment. Despite the disruptions, we have continued to provide program services to students and their families. We ask that you join us for praying that peaceful solutions can be attained for the current social and political crises that affect Nicaragua.
In the midst of the turmoil, we had to go out into the mountains to purchase fruits and vegetables for the school nutrition program. The rural areas have not been affected by the protesting and life has continued its normal course. As we drove from farm to farm, purchasing squash, huge bunches of bananas, fresh cheese and cream, I was reminded of the deep generosity, humility and diligence that characterizes Nicaraguan culture. That drive through the beautiful mountains helped to put the situation into perspective and focus on the vital importance of our work.
We ask that you join us in praying for peace for Nicaragua. In response to the crisis, we are hard at work developing a faith based curriculum for young people, focusing on peace education, conflict resolution, tolerance and dialogue.
“And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6:8
For additional information go to https://www.centralamerica.com/opinion/is-nicaragua-safe-to-visit-update/
By now, you should have received your “Nicaragua in Crisis” fall mailing. We hope this provided you with more information about the dire situation in Nicaragua, as well as how you can help.
As we celebrate this joyous holiday season, we hope that you will remember our friends in Nicaragua, many of whom have lost their jobs, their homes, and their sense of safety and security. In the spirit of Christmas, we should pause and be thankful for all that we have – but we should also remember those who have so little. We ask you to prayerfully consider donating generously toward the combination warehouse and market project that we outlined in the fall mailing. Let’s follow Jesus’s example – putting others before ourselves – and we can truly make a difference.
Mail your tax-deductible donation today to:
The Tin Roof
Foundation, Inc.
1047 Nordyke Road
Cincinnati, OH 45255.
Or, click here to make your donation online.
Though the civil unrest has not markedly improved, we are pleased that more and more international news outlets are continuing to cover and investigate the situation in Nicaragua. We are hoping that bringing attention to the events that have caused the deaths of more than 300 people and disappearance of countless others will help to eventually bring about resolution and positive change.
News From the Rooftop
