Center for street kids set to start operations

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu archdiocese-initiated center for street children is finally up and is set to open this week.

The center dubbed as “Abtanan sa Kaluoy” is an offshoot of the Archdiocese of Cebu’s hosting of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in 2016.

Teresa Tejero, executive director of Dilaab Foundation, Inc., said the project has come into a reality following the successful hosting of the IEC in Cebu. The blessing and inauguration is set on Tuesday, January 29.

Tejero clarified the facility, which will be managed by Dilaab Foundation, Inc., is not a shelter for street children but more of an “activity center” for them.

She explained that the 4-storey building is not a living quarter for street children. Each floor is equipped and installed with the necessary tools and amenities that will be used to bath them, to feed them and to treat them from minor conditions.

Many fail to keep children at the child caring facilities because they usually escape and return to the streets even if they are adopted and placed at the center with enough services.

“So we let them (street children) be… but still we want to help street children through feeding programs, medical missions, basic hygiene services,” said Tejero.

She said the activity center will be open only for street children aged seven to 18.

For its initial operation, she said that center managers will pilot the daily structured activities to selected street children who will eventually undergo profiling.

Tejero said the center also has a drop-in unit at the third floor where lost and abandoned children may stay for a maximum of three days while personnel process their referrals to the appropriate agency.

To sustain their daily operations, she said the existing managers and staff need volunteers who are passionate enough to channel their “gifts, time and resources.”

“This is actually a volunteer-driven cause or advocacy… the center may be run mostly by volunteers to facilitate with the daily activities. The center is not only a venue to provide basic services but may become a hub of different outreach programs or organized charities,” she said.

The center also houses a multi-purpose area and a volunteer’s area. Tejero said there are also several donors who pledged monetary help to sustain the center’s finances in maintaining the daily operations. (FREEMAN)