A Special Partnership with Loyola Foundation for Young People in Argentina
The Loyola Foundation, a family-based charitable organization primarily dedicated to supporting overseas Catholic mission activities in less developed countries, has partnered with the La Salle International Foundation and Lasallian ministries worldwide for years. In 2024, that partnership strengthened to a new level as Loyola Foundation board members sought out and selected a special “impact project.”
The Loyola Foundation staff approached La Salle International Foundation wondering if they could partner with us on a single, more impactful project with an amount almost five times their usual grant. This special project would provide Loyola board members the opportunity to learn about a project from the beginning and be involved throughout the project development and implementation phases.
After receiving several ideas and options from La Salle International Foundation and La Salle Foundation (Rome), Loyola board members viewed presentations from Lasallian projects in Argentina and Brazil. Although the board wished they could fund both, they selected the project in Argentina.
The project strengthens social-educational spaces for children, adolescents and youth in the Gonzalez neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a partnership between the Brothers and Lasallians at the school, the La Salle Foundation in Argentina, the La Salle Foundation in Rome, and La Salle International Foundation. Its aim is to reduce inequality in the community, allowing some 600 children and young people to access quality education in a space with the necessary resources and environment to foster their success.
This space is located near the Armstrong Foundation School and open to the community. It provides traditional educational opportunities as well as recreational and community activities, training programs and workshops, and other activities to support the community’s needs.
Several Loyola board members visited the project in the late summer of 2024, and work is in progress to renovate and improve educational spaces and purchase equipment for the Complementary Education Center that serves children up to age 12. The center’s focus is literacy, community building, and improving student success in school. With the renovation, a Makerspace program will allow older youth to use technology and creativity to support educational success and strengthen their community.
Loyola Foundation has received regular updates on the project, has update meetings scheduled with La Salle Foundation Argentina staff, and plans for another visit from board members in mid-2015. Together and by Association young people continue to be served through our worldwide Lasallian mission.