Aloe Family Student and Entrepreneurs
Cendy
Cendy lives in Mexico and works hard to support her two kids. A dedicated member of our entrepreneurship program and English classes, she has spent the last 6 months working hard on a business plan, developing her cooking skills, brand development, and preparing to open her own hot dog stand! We are so excited for Cendy as she moves forward with this project!
Ruth
Ruth is one of our most dedicated entrepreneurs in Mexico. She works so hard in her business classes with Aloe, and in the English classes as well. Ruth studied to do nails and manicures, and we are helping her renovate a building to make it into her new nail salon! Join with us as we help her see her dream come to life! The project cost total is $5000 and we are hoping to launch the project in September!
Xiomara
Xiomara and her family fled honduras due to violence and persecution. Her and her two daughters and husband work hard to overcome the many challenges of being in the USA and learning the new language and culture. Xiomara loves to sew, and she makes Aloe Family Tote bags to support her family!
Dolly
Dolly is an incredible mother of her son with special needs. Because of his condition that affects his mental health, she is unable to leave him all day to go to work. So, she studied graphic design, and now she makes print products and customized items. We are SO impressed with Dolly's hard work!
Yuli
Meet Yuli! Yuli lives in Mexico and takes care of her children, working hard to support her family. Yuli makes soap as one of the Aloe Family Entrepreneurs! Each soap bar is hand made with love, for the greater purpose of empowerment and hope!
Vanessa
Vanessa grew up in an orphanage in Mexico and for many years was around alot of Americans who came to visit on Mission trips. It was then that she started to learn English. Vanessa worked hard to finish highschool at her own pace, and is determined to go to the University to study teaching and language. She works so hard, and is willing to do whatever it takes. However, she does not have the safety net of parents able to help her through school. She reached out to the Aloe Family for support, and together she is studying, interning and working with The Aloe Family not just in education but also in life skills and outreach.
Miriam
In June, the Aloe Family will partner with Miriam to help her build and launch her facial cosmetology Spa! We are thrilled to walk beside her. We are raising $8000 to make this a reality. This cost covers the building materials, and also the labor through our student apprenticeship program, training youth in need of support in job skills in construction. Read Miriam's story below, and give at www.thealoefamily.com My name is Miriam, I am 30 years old and I have been married for 3 years. I am going to tell you my story: I started studying Facial Cosmetology in 2020during the pandemic. At that time, I lost my job and my husband supported me to be able, to work from home. Then I started working in a factory to save up money, to build a small store for me to practice cosmetology at. However, due to circumstances we had to spend the money we saved on a trailer because we needed a place to live. I had to give up my dream of having a cosmetology place of my own. It was difficult and I cried because I knew that my dream of having a family business could not be achieved. Reality told me that I could not continue with my dream. I was inspired to work in cosmetology becauseI have a skin problem called ``Vitiligo`` it is a disease that causes loss of skin color. Discolored areas usually enlarge over time. I have on my face more noticeably and some parts of my body. I cover those spots with makeup, but one day my makeup reacted with an aroma that I used and it caused me a very strong allergy, my skin and especially the area where I have spots suffered a lot, I felt like my face was burning. I worked in a Spa and a colleague gave me a treatment called ``facial radio frequency`` and that relieved my burning sensation and closed my pores. From that moment I knew that I wanted to know more about facials because I also wanted to help more people. When I worked at the factory, I put in overtime and most days I was working 16 hours to have money to pay for school. I studied and worked at the same time, sometimes I wanted to leave school because it was very hard, but thank God I kept going until the end. I would like to continue studying and go from being a Cosmetologist to a Cosmiatra. I am very grateful for meeting the Aloe Family. At first I did not believe all this was so good to be true, but over time I gave thanks to God. They are making a dream come true that will help the economic stability of my family and I want to be a blessing to more people. I am the clear example that DREAMS DO COME TRUE. THANK YOU TO EACH ONE OF THE PEOPLE IN THE ALOE FAMILY FOR MAKING THIS DREAM COME TRUE THAT I THOUGHT COULD NOT BE REAL AND IS NOW A REALITY.
Angel
Angel is a hard working student who is graduating high school and studying locally at the university in Mexico. He is determined to be self sufficient and make a life for himself. He started working since he was just a child, and overcoming obstacles to gain an education is important to him. Angel is a part of our apprenticeship program, gaining experience and money to be able to pay for school. Interested in supporting Angel? You can support him at the link below.
Brandon
Brandon grew up in an orphanage in Mexico with his brother from age 9 to 17. After leaving the orphanage to be with his family, he found himself in need of support after his family plans fell through. Brandon now lives at the Aloe House, is graduating highschool and studying at the University, and is also a part of our apprenticeship program. We are looking for sponsors to support Brandon’s housing, and apprenticeship program. Interested in being a part of the Aloe Family to Brandon? Sign Up Below.
Mesa Rica Ladies
Rebecca lives in a tiny town in Mexico called Mesa Rica Dos. Her husband works in the fields as a farmer, working 12 hours a day to earn about $5 daily. Rebecca taught herself to sew as a young girl because she wanted to make clothes for her doll. We learned about Rebecca through a friend who had started a ministry to the wives and moms in this poverty stricken town. This year, we partnered with an organization called DriButts who gives reusable diapers in third- world countries. The founders Micheal and Starla traveled to Mexico and they helped teach Rebecca how to sew the diapers. Now, Rebecca and her friend Veronica will have an opportunity to sew the diapers to give out in her community, and they will have an opportunity to earn an income from making the diapers. Together, we are empowering women in Mexico to sew quality diapers, providing them with the equipment, skills, and leadership to keep a small business going. Our plan is to keep these ladies sewing every month and provide the opportunity for growth. As we work to achieve our mission, we have identified a crucial need for a safe and comfortable workspace for our seamstresses in Mesa Rica. The current conditions in which they work are less than optimal, with high temperatures in the summer making it unbearable to work outside. Thus, we aim to construct an indoor workspace for them to continue their valuable work. In addition, this community lacks access to clean drinking water. The women have to travel by foot for an hour, or up to 20 minutes by car to the nearest water purification center. The Aloe Family would like to respond to this need by purchasing a piece of land with a building on it in the center of the community, and turning this land into a community entrepreneurship and learning center, with a water purification installation. The project's total cost is $20,000, including $4,000 for land, $13,000 for building materials, and $3,000 for labor, which supports our student apprenticeship program. This program provides high school students who lack family support with tutoring, school supply costs, and apprenticeship training in construction skills, enabling them to gain useful training and skills while earning money to save for college and transportation expenses.
Norma
Norma is missing her legs and is stuck in a wheel chair. She has lived many years in Mexico without water and electricity and we think she is the strongest woman we know! N makes hair scrunchies that are beautiful to support herself and her two kids. We are working with Norma on her scrunchie business, and working with her to be able to build a place of her own. You can support her business by buying scrunchies at www.thealoefamilymarketplace.com Or, you can give to The Aloe Family program to help us save to build her a place of her own!
D.
D is a very special part of the Aloe Family. We met D after several years of her daughter coming to Tutoring. After fleeing hardship, danger and poverty in Guatemala, D was brave to make the journey to Nashville to give her family a better life. D takes care of many children, and needed something she could do from home to be able to support herself. We gave D an opportunity to learn how to make candles, and she took to it immediately! We are helping D sell her candles, and partnering with her to work to officially open a business. You can help support her business by buying the candles on the marketplace, or by giving to The Aloe Family to support the Entrepreneurship program costs. Shop D’s candles at www.thealoefamilymarketplace.com
Wendy
Wendy is a hard working woman who is constantly looking to do her best to create a life for her family. After enduring hardship in Honduras, she came to the United States as a refugee. Since being in the USA, she has always been creative to find ways to support her family. The Aloe Family is teaming up with Wendy to help her launch a screen printing business! Support Wendy with the materials and training she needs to make this dream a reality as she is empowered to be a self sufficient leader!
Enrique
Enrique grew up in several orphanages in Mexico, and was dedicated to learning as much as he could. He always learned differently than the other kids, and decided to go to a trades school for highschool, since he was much better working with his hands. After turning 18, he moved back in with some family members and began to work as hard as he could to provide for his sisters and his mom. He has worked many jobs for long, hot hours working multiple jobs at once. Enrique is a talented mechanic and he has a dream of having his own mechanic shop. We are working with Enrique to help him with a business plan, and the building of a shade and purchasing of the needed tools to make this dream come to life! The Aloe Family is providing Enrique with mentors and partners to walk with him through every step of the process. You can help support entrepreneur businesses like Enrique's by giving to The Aloe Family to cover his start up business costs!