Aura's House
Encyclopedia
Aura’s House is an online grassroots project, which raises funds for needy children and their families. Specifically, Aura’s House raises funds for housing, health, income generation, and education projects for needy children in developing countries.
, a Kansas City, Missouri
based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to bettering the lives of impoverished children which connects individual sponsors with children living in poverty. Aura’s House started working with Children International in 2003. Officials from Children International
oversee the implementation of all projects once the money is raised, as well as choose recipients for certain projects. Today they continue to work together with Aura's House raising funds that are then distributed via Children International to the specified projects. Children International also provides Aura’s House with photos and updates to Aura’s House projects both past and present.
In addition to Children International, Aura’s House has also worked with Kenya Kids in Need, a California
501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the Galilee School as well as Child Focus Fund, an Illinois
501(c)(3) organization that helped with the Ghana Project.
- Aura’s House was originally created to raise $4,500 to build a safe, sturdy brick home for the founder's sponsored child, Aura Hernandez and her family in GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
. Since that goal was met in November of 2004, Aura’s House began to launch other small projects in an effort to help bring big changes to the lives of families in developing countries.
- Aura's House has been working in conjunction with Children InternationalChildren InternationalChildren International is a nonprofit humanitarian organization dedicated to bettering the lives of impoverished children, their families and communities....
since February of 2003. 100% of donations go toward their projects and are 100% US Tax Deductible. All persons working at Aura’s House are volunteers who receive no form of monetary payment for their efforts.
History
- Aura's House originally began in February 2003 when Kristen Palana, a Professor of Digital Media at William Paterson UniversityWilliam Paterson UniversityWilliam Paterson University is a comprehensive public institution located in Wayne, New Jersey serving nearly 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students through five colleges: , , , , and ....
in New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
was learning PHPPHPPHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
programming and adding dynamic content to websites. Kristen wanted to originally use the site to raise $4500 to build a sturdy brick home for her sponsored child, Aura in Guatemala with the help of Children International. After waiting over a year for all the required permissions from Children International, finally on June 30, 2004 the site was ready to launch. - Aura's House has raised money for children and their families in the following countries: Guatemala, HondurasHondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, the Dominican RepublicDominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, GhanaGhanaGhana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, ZambiaZambiaZambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, the PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, and the USA.
Types of Projects
- Housing: Aura’s House originally started with a housing project and has continued to raise funds for those in need of shelter or repairs to their homes.
- Food, Supplies and Repairs: Aura’s House has raised funds to help provide families with a variety of household needs items such as beds, mattresses, blankets, furniture, clothing, and food supplies.
- Education: Aura’s House has raised money on behalf of several schools and sponsored individual children so that they may attend school or continue their education. In addition, they have helped raise funds for school supplies such as books, desks, uniforms, and laboratory equipment for science courses.
- Health: Some examples of these types of projects include the construction of a water well for a village in IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
as well as projects that raise funds for medicine and food supplies for individual families.
- Income Generating Projects: These projects provide families with the means to generate income on their own.
Affiliates
Aura's House is affiliated with Children InternationalChildren International
Children International is a nonprofit humanitarian organization dedicated to bettering the lives of impoverished children, their families and communities....
, a Kansas City, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to bettering the lives of impoverished children which connects individual sponsors with children living in poverty. Aura’s House started working with Children International in 2003. Officials from Children International
Children International
Children International is a nonprofit humanitarian organization dedicated to bettering the lives of impoverished children, their families and communities....
oversee the implementation of all projects once the money is raised, as well as choose recipients for certain projects. Today they continue to work together with Aura's House raising funds that are then distributed via Children International to the specified projects. Children International also provides Aura’s House with photos and updates to Aura’s House projects both past and present.
In addition to Children International, Aura’s House has also worked with Kenya Kids in Need, a California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the Galilee School as well as Child Focus Fund, an Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
501(c)(3) organization that helped with the Ghana Project.