2023 Impact Report

We began 2023 with the opening of the Rilyn Harper Child Learning Center! On-site childcare removes a significant obstacle for our students and our employees. In 2023, we served 20 children in our daily program, which allowed women to attend classes and work without worry, knowing their children were safe and had reliable childcare.

Through a generous donation, our next project is a total renovation and expansion of our cosmetology school. Our goal is to complete the project by the summer of 2024.

Mi Esperanza's work continues through the generosity of our donors, and we are grateful. As we step into 2024, we do so full of hope and excitement. We are honored to have you along on this journey to serve the women of Honduras. We can do so much more together!

Lori and Janet

2022 Impact Report

2022 was a fantastic year! In January, we received permission to fulling open our program since closing in March 2020. Our classrooms were full once again, making dreams come true for the women of Honduras. Our biggest news from 2022 is that we could resume and complete renovations on our child learning center, opening the doors to our first students in January.

Mi Esperanza's work continues from our donors' generosity, and we are grateful. As we step into 2023, we do so full of hope and excitement. We are honored to have you along on this journey to serve the women of Honduras. We can do so much more together!

Lori and Janet

2021 Impact Report

Today, as we share our 2021 impact report, we do so with deep gratitude for the support we received from our donor community. We are endlessly grateful that each donation has continued to see us through another challenging year of navigating this global pandemic. And how together we continued to offer hope and change the lives of Honduran women and their families.

Lori and Janet

2021 Passport to Hope Virtual Benefit Gala and Silent Auction

We invite you to join us in the life-changing work of Mi Esperanza, as we endeavor to reach a stretch goal of $150,000 for our 2021 Passport to Hope Gala and Silent Auction of November 6-7. SEE YOU THERE!

2020 IMPACT REPORT

2020 was a year of challenges and uncertainty. Collectively we suffered, and collectively we found strength and determination.

2020 was the most challenging year Mi Esperanza has ever faced. The global pandemic temporally closed our doors and created the most significant budget deficit we have ever faced. Not only were we as an organization faced with uncertainty and endless challenges, but our women were also scared and unsure of the future for their families. Today, as we share our 2020 impact report, we do so with deep gratitude for the overwhelming support we received from our community and board of directors. Our focus remained clear, to support our women through the shutdown, and with the help of our donor family, we made it! We have been inspired and humbled to be the recipients of such generosity.

The challenge continues.

In 2021 our doors are back open, although limited by COVID restrictions. And this year, we face the same deficit as our on-site store remains closed. We are confident that the support and outpouring of love we received in 2020 will see us through 2021.

With gratitude,

Lori and Janet

A decade of HOPE

Reflections from our founders

From Janet:

The past decade of life in Mi Esperanza has seen many changes. We expanded our classes, worked with many design partners and trained women. They are now capable of producing on a larger scale in our textile and jewelry studios as employees of Mi Esperanza.

Co-founders Janet and Lori

The real story is the hope we have been blessed to channel for countless families. The change that has occurred through our women’s efforts to improve their skills and increase their potential to provide for their families is the real story of hope. Our women are the powerful heroes of the story of Mi Esperanza.

Every year the stories reflect their confidence in their newfound skills. Hearing the laughter and pride reflected as they receive their diplomas, we pray God will allow us to be a witness for Him and continue in this work for many more decades to come.

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From Lori:

When I think about the past 10 years I see a clear story of God’s love, faithfulness, and redemption.  Mi Esperanza has grown so much and I am excited for what the next decade will bring.

The impact that has been made in the past 10 years is in some ways un-measurable.  The women who have passed through our doors have grown individually, but just as important, they have also impacted the lives of everyone around them in positive ways!  The programs of Mi Esperanza make women stronger, more confident, and as a result, they are building stronger families.  The ability to add stability to a family; adequate housing, food security, clean water, education, and healthcare is what changes deep generational poverty within families and communities. 

In ten years we have achieved so many amazing things.

~ Graduated 767 students 

~ Expanded the center from 3 rooms to 10

~ Increased our full-time employee staff from 4 to15. (With many seasonal production artisans)

~ Began providing health care benefits to our employees and artisans

~ Began our jewelry program. 

~ Provided sewing and computer courses in the Santa Ana region

~ Expanded our on-site store 

~ Opened our production house

~ Our artisans have produced (approx.) 207,500 design pieces.  This reflects stable, fair wage jobs.  

~ Expanded our Cosmetology program 

~ Established yearly continuing education training for our cosmetology students and graduates.

~ Provided support education to students and employees in areas of customer service, self-esteem, domestic violence, and nutrition.  

For (over) a decade you have heard us say “Elevate women~change the world”  These are not empty words…. We see this truth every day!   The opportunities given to 100’s of women over the past decade have been a beautiful ripple effect of love and impact that only God can do!

Alone we can do a little. Together, there is nothing we can’t do.

Janet and I deeply believe that each of you has been a critical and appreciated part of the Mi Esperanza journey.  Whether you are a donor, an ethical shopper, a prayer warrior, or a cheerleader, we value you!! THANK YOU 

Here is to another 10 years of HOPE!  

A Journey Filled with Gratitude

       1 Chronicles 29:13 

         And now we thank you, our God, 

          and praise your glorious name.

Eugenia and her daughters

My favorite time of year and one of my favorite soul focuses. The ending of another season as a new one begins. 

Our classes are winding down as another group of women graduate. We are grateful as we watch them launch into a new season filled with hope and expectations of being able to provide for their families. 

We are grateful to our many supporters and donors for keeping the doors of Mi Esperanza open so we can keep our classes full. We give thanks for you.

I will always remember the woman accepting her diploma as she turned to Lori and me, “We want you to know, that we know, you do not have to be here. We see that you work hard and we know you have given up time with your families. We know you choose to be here with us, giving us this opportunity to improve our lives. Thank you.”

Humbled. Thankful. Grateful to be blessed by such heartfelt words.

Lori and I were standing there that day, because of you and your support of Mi Esperanza. Her words of thanks are for you too.

Eugenia is pictured here with her three daughters. Because of her skills training and now employment with the Mi Esperanza jewelry studio, she has purchased her daughter a computer for school and built her family a home. 

These stories are not possible without each of you. Many of you donate money for operational expenses and many of you cover us in prayer. Many purchase goods produced by our women via our website store and many of you visit us at our physical store in Tegucigalpa.

It is with gratitude and thanksgiving, we acknowledge the support of each of you. We thank God for each of you.

You are a treasured part of our Mi Esperanza family.

Please continue helping us help the next group of women who enter our doors as new classes begin in January. 

Working with you continuing to bring hope,

Janet Hines

CEO/ Co-Founder

Choose to believe

As we sit and think about 2017, we have a choice.  Do we think about the negative things that happened to us, our friends and our family or do we CHOOSE to think about the positive things in our lives?

I CHOOSE to think about the positive things, the fact that I have a great family, a wonderful job and that I am part of a wonderful organization that empowers women to do great things, things beyond some of their imaginations and beyond some of their wildest dreams.

Mi Esperanza gives women hope and the understanding that there is a network of people who BELIEVE in them and sometimes just knowing someone believes in you is all you need to do great things.   

So as you look towards 2018, don’t just make a resolution, make a CHOICE to BELIEVE in someone, someone who may not believe in themselves, be their cheerleader, their support line, part of their ‘tribe’, or be their silent partner.  

You just never know when you might need someone to BELIEVE in you.

Jessica Schroer,  Board President