The Rotary Club of Avalon, together with 16 other Rotary clubs from 12 districts across eight states and two countries, recently raised $362,000 to establish a Community Economic Development Hub in the remote western highlands of Guatemala. This newly launched Rotary Global Grant, titled “Thrive at Home: Keeping Families Together Through Living-Wage Employment,” aims to create 500 living-wage jobs, initially benefiting approximately 2,500 underserved indigenous persons in the next three years.
The initiative has a five-year goal of generating 2,000 jobs and providing affordable healthcare access to 10,000 individuals, enabling young people and their families to thrive safely at home in their own communities.
“We are really proud to have participated in this particular grant,” said Sue Rikalo, member of the Rotary Club of Avalon. “It is already helping to put young people to work locally, giving them the chance to find living-wage employment at home instead of needing to go to another country.”
Of the more than 35,000 indigenous Mam-Maya across 62 villages in this rural poverty belt, nearly 80% of adults are unemployed or under-employed – resulting in malnutrition, illiteracy, and a lack of access to basic services — driving mass emigration of young people in search of jobs to support their families at home. Thrive at Home is designed to help reverse this years-long trend by strengthening local economies, restoring opportunity, and helping families build their futures together.
The goal is to stimulate economic growth through a combination of mentoring and microloans for young entrepreneurs, professional training for high-demand jobs in the region and making farming significantly more profitable for the many local growers.
Since the August 1 Grant launch, the Grant Team has already made meaningful progress, including:
- Interviewing and hiring a Small Business Development Coordinator;
- Hiring a local agricultural consultant and a U.S.-based mentor;
- Identifying dozens of internship positions;
- Selecting 30 families to participate in an in-home food production project;
- Meeting with a successful cooperative in El Salvador to explore models for future growth
- In addition to the hard work, generosity, and collaboration of the Rotary clubs, Thrive at Home has been made possible through support from The Rotary Foundation, public-private partnerships, and many dedicated individuals and business leaders. Together with local communities, these partners are addressing the root causes of poverty in this high-need rural region — working toward a shared vision of lasting impact that is far greater than the sum of its parts.
“Although most of us have been Rotarians for many years, the power of collaboration remains inspiring. Deep gratitude to those who, in the true spirit of Rotary — with its motto ‘Service Above Self’ — reached across clubs and districts to support our funding of nearly $362,000, including matches from the World Fund,” said Leslie Baer-Dinkel, CEO, Local Hope Guatemala.
Local Hope Guatemala/Xela Aid is the non-profit organization collaborating on the implementation of the Thrive grant. Located in the target region, its proximity and history of more than 30 years in the region gives Rotarians direct access to the target communities.
Rotary International is a global network of community leaders dedicated to humanitarian service and promoting peace. Founded in 1905, Rotary has grown to more than 1.2 million members in over 45,000 clubs across more than 200 countries and geographic regions. Rotarians work together to address local needs as well as critical global challenges.
Thrive at Home is the most recent project of Guatemala THRIVE, a Rotarian-led initiative to transform traditionally underserved indigenous communities from poverty to plenty by collaborating with local leaders, citizens, non-profit organizations, business leaders, and government to address the root causes of poverty and make positive change in this high-need rural region.