Welcome Quarter 1 Beneficiaries!

Welcome to 2020 and welcome to our first quarter beneficiaries!

This quarter we are re-featuring two previous Compassionate Impact Grant beneficiaries and two brand new beneficiaries. Pueblo a Pueblo’s values to counteract the effects of colonialism with culturally appropriate interventions align very closely with FBB’s values. FBB is proud to support The Tandana Foundation’s strategies emphasizing planning initiatives based on community-identified needs and on building long-term independence for the women.

FBB is also honored to support My Sister’s House and the culturally responsible work they do to empower marginalized, vulnerable survivors of abuse. FBB shares Stand.earth’s commitment to people-centered solutions to climate change that respect and support Indigenous rights—and recognize that structural racism and ethnic inequities result in greater burdens on low-income communities.

Pueblo a Pueblo, our Poverty & Health beneficiary and 2019 Compassionate Impact Grant recipient, strives to develop innovative, data-driven, and culturally appropriate programs to target locally defined problems in the Lake Atitlán region in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Their beekeeping project targets coffee farming communities with a focus on women and Indigenous Mayan farmers. Coffee farming alone does not provide a stable income and is highly susceptible to the effects of climate change. For these coffee farmers, adding beekeeping helps provide year-round stable income though honey sales, and the bees help increase coffee income by increasing the coffee yield. Beekeeping has been a Mayan enterprise for centuries, making it a culturally appropriate addition for Indiginous coffee farmers in the region.

In the Lake Atitlán region, over 80% of the population lives in poverty, of which 40% face extreme poverty and live on less than $2 USD a day. Among individuals who self-identify as Indigenous in Guatemala, 79% live in poverty (1.7 times higher than the general population). Coffee farmers are subject to volatile market prices, insufficient income for proper nutrition until harvest months, and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

The Tandana Foundation, our Education and 2018 Compassionate Impact Grant recipient, works in Ecuador and Mali to support local community initiatives related to education, health, food security, water resources, environmental conservation, and income generation.

Tandana has a “first-person orientation,” which means their approach is based on respect and responsibility. The members of their community partners define their own priorities, which builds confidence and creates an environment of collaboration. Tandana is committed to following through on their own promises and nurturing friendships and expects the same from their community partners, which creates successful, sustainable projects.

For over 15 years, our Human Rights beneficiary, My Sister’s House, has provided a culturally appropriate safe haven for the Asian and Pacific Islander community in the Sacramento, California area who are survivors of domestic, sexual violence, and human trafficking. Their programs include an emergency shelter where clients of all ethnicities can stay for up to 90 days and a Women to Work program, which helps survivors become self-sufficient. My Sister’s House also provides a 24/7 multi-lingual support line, free support groups, and parenting classes.

Stand.earth, our Natural World beneficiary, challenges corporations and governments to treat people and the environment with respect, because our lives depend on it. They do their work with commitments to their principles of doing the impossible, practicing pragmatic idealism, seeking leverage and embracing dynamic tension, standing with impacted communities, valuing relationships, and cultivating the power of the people.

A major part of their work is their SAFE (Standing Against Fossil Fuel Expansion) communities movement. Stand.earth helps local areas organize to take concrete, meaningful action to protect their communities and address the climate crisis.

Please take some time to explore the beneficiaries that we are featuring this quarter.