Home away from home

Casa Amiga, our boarding home for our university students

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.

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 labor to remodel 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 in years to come, and we urgently need to add bedrooms and bathrooms. If you would like to name a room in the honor or memory of someone you love and respect, please let us know. We need your help.

Major donors who support Casa Amiga include Project Amigo Board President Catherine Munson and the GROW Fund.

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 23 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 University scholar ($4,000/year)

Without your donations, our scholars would not be in college at all. With your help, we are changing their futures.

If you’d like to help us make Casa Amiga a more comfortable and useful resource for deserving students, please contact us.