Get involved
Four ways in, and one of them is money.
We are a foundation in formation, which means most of what we need right now is not cash. It is partner homes, employers who will take a sixteen-year-old seriously, tradespeople with a free week, and people willing to tell us where the plan is wrong.
01 — Give
Join the Founding Circle
No money changes hands today. Until the corporation is formed and the bank account is open, we cannot give you a receipt that means anything, and we would rather say so than take your gift and work out the details afterward.
The Founding Circle is the group who decided to back this before there was anything to look at. We will write to you the moment we can receive a gift, and you can decide then. In the meantime the entire year-one budget is published, line by line, including the twelve percent that goes to governance and the reasons we are not going to apologize for it.
What a gift buys
- $600 — a year of English for one young person, including the exam fee
- $1,400 — a year of one thing they chose themselves
- $20,000 — a trained, supervised mentor for a year
02 — Partner
Work with us
Pathways installs inside an organization that already exists. We do not run homes and we do not intend to. We bring a curriculum, training, technology, measurement and quality control, we train local staff to deliver it, and then we get out of the way.
The partnerships we need most in the next year are with children's homes in our four Mexican states, and with employers willing to give a first internship to somebody who has no network to call on.
The full partnership guide for children's homes →
Space on the weekly timetable, a director who wants this rather than tolerates it, and agreement to our safeguarding standard — which is stricter than most, and non-negotiable. In exchange the program costs the home nothing.
Who we're looking for
- Children's homes and community organizations in Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guanajuato and Jalisco
- Employers offering internships, job shadowing or apprenticeships
- Universities and technical schools
- Clinicians who can supervise trauma-informed mentoring
- English teachers and CEFR examiners
- Foundations already working on the Colombian coast
03 — Serve
Come and build something
A week with us is two things at once. You will paint, repair, dig, carry, build and clean — and you will spend real time with the kids: the soccer game, the movie night, the trip to the zoo. On our own first trip to Tuxtla we did all of it.
There is one boundary underneath it: be generous with all of them, and don't become a single child's special person and then get on a plane. That is the wound we are trying not to repeat — and it is caused by singling a child out, not by warmth. Everyone who travels with us is screened and signs a waiver, including family, including us.
Most useful right now
- Electricians, plumbers, carpenters, tilers
- Anyone happy to replaster a dormitory wall
- Anyone who will lose at soccer gracefully
- Spanish speakers
- People who can commit to a date and keep it
04 — Talk to us
Ask us a hard question
We would genuinely rather answer a skeptical question now than be discovered later. If something on this site looks thin, over-claimed or naïve, tell us — that is more useful to this foundation at this stage than a donation.
Contact
Both founders read this inbox. One of us answers.
We are two people and a plan, so replies come from Elvia or Scott rather than from an organization. Write in English or Spanish; it makes no difference to us.
elvia@lovelavida.orgLove La Vida Foundation is in formation and does not yet have a public office, a board or a determination letter. When those exist, they will be listed here.