Fundacion FACES
Country of Operation
Target geography
Target Population
Target income level
- Bottom 20%
- Lower-middle income (20-40%)
- Middle-income (40-60%)
Health focus
- Primary care
- Secondary/tertiary care
CHMI PLUS Status
Profile Completeness Rating
Monitoring & Evaluation Reporting
Summary
The Foundation of Community and Social Support strives to improve the socio-economic lives of vulnerable and excluded populations in the Southern portion of the country. It focuses on four key areas of development: business development, community development, health, and environmental management.Program goals
To promote socio-economic growth for vulnerable and excluded populations; be they marginalized for reasons related to gender, age, physical or intellectual capacity, ethnic, or geography.
Key program components
The strategy of FACES is to support families involved with microfinance through financial and development services. In addition to offering microcredit, they have implemented community savings programs and offer business support through training and technical assistance. They have integrated the business and community development programs with those related to health, thereby making sustainable the process of community development. Beneficiaries of the microcredit programs receive a coupon for free medical attention which can be utilized directly by the beneficiary or by one of their family members. The coupon allows them to receive both free medical care and health education. Health programs offered by FACES include the following:
Community Health Clinic:
Built in 1995, the clinic attends to the low-income population living in the province of Loja. The key demographic of the clinic is composed of self-employed or micro-business owners and their families. It provides medical treatment for existing conditions as well as preventative care and health education. The Clinic provides primary and secondary care, laboratory testing, nursing, hospitalization, and a variety of specialties. The clinic also serves those affected by domestic violence - providing medical attention, legal and psychological services to victims of domestic and gender-based violence. The clinic also provides specialized services to adolescents regarding sexual and reproductive health and sells emergency contraception accompanied with counseling.
Education:
Topics include sexual and reproductive health and family planning. Sessions are often provided to school-aged youth regarding these subject areas and are scheduled based on the school calendar and public demand. The educational sessions are free and are facilitated by FACES personnel. If and when specialized sessions are required external voluntary support by professionals is sought.
Community Rehabilitation Project:
Since 1998 FACES has provided free support to more than 550 disabled individuals. Support is meant to improve their quality of life through increased inclusion within the community and their own families. The project is being implemented in Catamayo by three facilitators who conduct weekly one hour in-home visits to more than 50 individuals. Additionally, FACES provides credit to the families of those with disabilities so that they are able to generate economic productivity which involves the disabled individual. The aforementioned services are available for the entire community, but are especially focused on microfinance clients and those benefitting from microcredit programs. Use of the clinic, as well as attendance to the educational sessions, is voluntary. The health services offered by FACES are sustained through payments made by beneficiaries as well as income generated through financial service activities.
FACES served 4,397 clients in 2010.