Humanitas Association / Asociación Humanitas
At the end of the 1970s, the Archdiocese of San Jose restructured its social programming to better respond to the needs it identified among disadvantaged populations. Greater emphasis was given at that time to ongoing analysis of the socio-economic Costa Rican context and support for street vendors, small-scale farmers and unionized workers. Among the major accomplishments of the 1980s and 90s was the establishment of a workers’ bank, a market area for street vendors, recycling businesses, support for minority sectors such as transvestites, gays and lesbians and the founding of Hogar Esperanza (“Place of Hope”) shelter for people affected by HIV/AIDS.
Further restructuring in 2004 led to the founding of the Humanitas Association that works on behalf of and in conjunction with drug users and persons suffering from HIV/AIDS to seek a better quality of life and allow them to live with respect and dignity. The Association aims to alleviate the suffering of vulnerable populations that have been socially excluded, working together with community and institutional networks and volunteers to create new social development alternatives.
Humanitas Association operates the Place of Hope shelter providing food, shelter, medical and psychological care to 25 people living with AIDS and provides a variety of outreach services to over 200 people affected by HIV, AIDS and drug dependency particularly those living in extreme poverty. Its professional staff and volunteers conduct HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness raising campaigns, particularly among youth, women and people with drug dependency.
Caribbean Project Association / Asociación Proyecto Caribe (APC)
The Caribbean Project Association was founded and legally registered in 1995 as an NGO, established to implement solutions to problems faced by members of the Afro-descendant community. It is one of the few black organizations that promotes rights for Costa Rican Afro-Caribbeans. It works to combat racism and discrimination, and to achieve equal opportunity for other minorities in Costa Rica.
Its mission is the promotion of economic, social and cultural development for people of Afro descent in a society that pays little heed to multiethnic and multicultural issues. Its principle strategies are directed at: a) the union of all Afro-Costa Rican groups; b) fraternity between all groups that share APC’s principles; and c) autonomy with regard to the State, its institutions, official programs and authority.
APC aims to benefit all Costa Rican Afro-Caribbeans through its work. It directs its campaigns and promotions to those it believes can make structural changes that will benefit this population, for example, it endeavours to reach: the Costa Rican population in general, government officials, policy makers, teachers and youth.
