Casa Amiga
Casa Amiga is a boarding facility in the city of Colima for
Project Amigo’s higher education scholarship recipients.
Major donors who support Casa Amiga include: Project Amigo Board
President Catherine Munson, The GROW Foundation, Mason City
Rotary Club, and Fremont Rotary Club.
Background
Former long-term volunteer Marylee Bytheriver realized in 2001
that several of Project Amigo’s scholarship recipients were
not going to be able to attend good high schools or, eventually,
the University unless a way to house them in the city of Colima
was found. She rented a house, and hired housemother Doña
Chela to make the house a home for deserving women scholars.
A New Casa Amiga
As Project Amigo’s scholars move through the grade levels,
the number of students needing this valuable resource in order to
attend school has increased. Today, Project Amigo owns its own
Casa Amiga – purchased and remodeled in 2008 with generous
contributions from its Board President and members, and
individuals who have sponsored rooms in the memory of loved ones.
Much of the remodel labor was provided by the scholars themselves
during their summer and Christmas holidays. It was furnished
thanks to a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant with co-sponsoring
Rotary Clubs Corvallis Morning, Centerville-Farmington, Villa de
Alvarez and Colima, and Rotary Districts 5110 and 5420.
Currently, Casa Amiga houses up to 22 young scholars – all
of whom are studying at the University of Colima.
Project Amigo thanks the Rotary Clubs and individuals who
continue to contribute generously to allow us to keep this
valuable service available to our scholars. We anticipate the
student population of Casa Amiga to increase to 28 scholars by
2010, and we urgently need to add two bedrooms and a bathroom to
the upstairs. If you would like to name a room in the honor or
memory of someone you love and respect, please let us know.
How You Can Help?
Casa Amiga needs your help to keep running. There are several
ways your contributions would be put to use:
- Sponsor a bedroom in honor or memory of someone you care
about ($10,000);
- Help with the food budget to feed 28 teen-agers three
nutritious meals a day ($880/month; $8,000/year);
- Sponsor the housemother’s salary ($400/month;
$4,800/year);
- Help with utilities ($150/month/ $1,800/year);
- Sponsor a scholar ($4,000/year.
Without their scholarships and Casa Amiga, these students
would not be in college at all. With your help, we are helping
them change their futures If you or your Club would like to help
us make Casa Amiga a more comfortable and useful resource for
deserving students, please contact us at:
inquiry@projectamigo.org.
We need your help!
