maitamhouseofhope.com

Five Year Summary Report December 2011

Care and support for mothers and vulnerable children with HIV/AIDS

Introduction

The fundraising organization – maitamhouseofhope.com – under the direction of its Board undertook in 2006 to provide start-up seed money to the Mai Tam House of Hope, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam for the provision of life-saving medicines and food for HIV/AIDS positive orphans and widowed mothers.  The micro-project was planned to last 5 years, then to be reviewed in the last quarter of 2011. 

The Mai Tam House of Hope started with 5 orphans and has served up to some 550 individuals annually including HIV/AIDS-positive orphans, widowed mothers, and orphans affected by HIV/AIDS. The current client base is some 460 individuals, with several clients reintegrated into the community.

Progress and Achievements

Over the past five years, the Center, under the astute leadership of its director John Toai, has successfully provided medicines, food, social services, educational and income possibilities, and housing for its patients and clients within the community.

The Board’s objective of providing life-saving drugs has been met with the additional support from external agencies, inter alia, USAID/PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), The Clinton Foundation, Caritas Germany, PACTVietnam, Global Community Service Foundation, as well as the Vietnam Public Health Services.  A community HIV/AIDS clinic, pharmacy, education and counseling center has been established through the support of the CDC.

 

With donations from a myriad of sources the nutritional needs have been met.

Through individual organizational efforts in Vietnam, children have been placed in educational settings in spite of the chronic stigma attached to persons with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam.

 Additional resources have been provided by the Center to develop income generating activities for the widowed mothers at the Center: a sewing center for the mothers; and a flower shop in the community.

Through the generosity of several groups in Vietnam and globally, a new and larger orphanage was built, furnished and occupied.  The director John Toai has traveled to several countries to lecture on HIV/AIDS in Vietnam and to generate support and funds for the Center. His work has been recognized in American, Canadian and Italian publications.  His efforts in Thailand last month encouraged international agencies to continue their grass roots support in developing countries.

A local and international volunteer base was established to work at the Center, and this sector will be developed and strengthened in the future. Locally, this includes community ‘foster parents’.

An off-site hospice for the terminally ill HIV/AIDS patients has received partial funding targeted by specific donors through the web site; however this was not an objective of the Board.

Funding

Fundraising activities expanded numerically and geographically. We received donations from, inter alia, Massachusetts, New Mexico, California, Texas, Wisconsin, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vancouver, Thailand, and Australia, many of these through the miracle of the internet.  We received matching donations from several groups/corporations: Merck Drug, Goldman Sachs, Google, Fortress Investment Group, Arba Group, AAPIP (Asian American and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy).

Individuals and groups also organized fundraisers such as the spring 5-mile walk/run at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, sponsored by Veterans for Peace; a walk/run at the University of Wisconsin; social fundraisers in San Jose, California; and a Knights of Columbus fundraiser in Vancouver, Canada.

International Foundations for Health (IFFH), Washington D.C. provided admistrative, consulting and banking services free of cost, allowing Mai Tam to utilize IFFH’S 501(c)(3) charity status (U.S.) to transfer funds to Mai Tam. Thus 100% of all donated funds were sent to Mai Tam without exception.

Total cash donations generated by the website, by direct dialogue with the orphanage, by collaborative grant writing and proposal writing amounted to US$142,000. The PEPFAR grant mentioned above was $118,000.  The December San Jose fundraiser generated some $38,000.                                                                                         

Additional donations included toys, care packages, and time spent at Mai Tam by volunteers from several countries. No attempt was made to put a cash value on these valuable services.

Intended Results and Additional Generated Impact

Intended: The Board’s goals have been reached, i.e., the provision of life-saving medicines and daily sustenance, within a controlled setting, to the clients of the orphanage , both in-house and now in the community in order that their standard of life is comparable to their peers in the community.

Additional Generated Impact: These results include: the exponential expansion of clients over 5 years; the construction of a new, larger orphanage; the protection of people with HIV/AIDS in the community (psycho/social services, rent and income support, etc); the provision of educational opportunities as available; the generation of a major donation for the new orphanage construction; some support for the terminally ill patients; the awarding of grants through the collaborative preparation of proposals for PEPFAR and the Rolex Award. The Rolex proposal was withdrawn but subsequently submitted to a European university-- which awarded a grant of U.S. $52,000 for the new ‘independent living program’ for those children who now have reached early adulthood.

Despite the above successes, Mai Tam remains underfunded, is not self sustaining, and is in need of additional professional staff to manage the programs.

GOING FORWARD

In consultation with John Toai, we agreed to continue the web site year to year. We realize that with the exponential client growth we cannot meet most of the financial needs of Mai Tam. There does seem to be a leveling of growth which can stabilize the financial needs (local inflation is a problem). About $100,000 - $120,000 in donations is needed yearly. John Toai’s objective is to bring in possibly three executive assistants (some will have to be paid), to relieve him of some of his duties as sole coordinator. This of course would incur additional expense to the Mai Tam Center.  While our donors were committed to 5 years, we can ask that they extend their commitment year to year. We are noting a drop off in donations, possibly a factor of the weak U.S. economy.                                                                              

It was also suggested that we resource and seek out large corporations/agencies who might be willing to commit a portion of their philanthropic giving to Mai Tam for an extended period.

SUMMARY

The Board of maitamhouseofhope.com established a micro project to provide life- saving medicines and food for orphaned children with HIV/AIDS in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). A fundraising web site was created to collect funds over five years for Mai Tam House of Hope. The mission and goals have been successfully achieved and well exceeded through collateral growth and assistance.

Mai Tam House of Hope represents the first and only center of its kind in Vietnam, receives no direct government assistance, and has been globally recognized for its excellence. To today, it receives clients from all of Vietnam.

The Board considers the five year mission and goals achieved and commits to further fund raising year-to-year, with primary emphasis on obtaining large long term philanthropic donations from corporations or individuals. John Toai can consider writing a business plan to clarify the program and the several activities (profit/not for profit) taking place. Such a plan can be utilized to take to potential donors in the business sector to raise funds.

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Web link: www.maitamhouseofhope.com, for information and donations

• Participating 501(c) (3) Organization--- International Foundations for Health (IFFH), Wash, DC, USA
• Client Bank---HSBC, Connecticut Ave Wash DC USA

 

A LITTLE CHRSTMAS JOY