MISSION STATEMENT

Heart4Children’s mission is to educate, equip, and empower Honduran children to make change.

Vision

Heart4Children operates as Niños de la Luz (“Children of the Light”) near La Ceiba, Honduras, and consists of a home for boys and a community school for both boys and girls. As a faith-based organization, our goal is to nurture the whole child, meeting physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs to encourage their growth into mature, self-sufficient adults.

Background

Niños de la Luz (“Children of the Light”) was founded in 1994 by Bill and Mary Kwiatkowski to provide a place of refuge for homeless boys.   After many service trips, Jim and Tamara Cook were inspired to raise funds for the ministry, and in 2007 Heart4Children, Inc. was formed as a 501c3.  In 2013, the two organizations became one. Mary continues to serve faithfully in the ministry following Bill’s passing in 2015.

The project is in the village of Armenia Bonito near La Ceiba on the northern coast of Honduras. The nurturing home has provided hope and healing to hundreds of boys over the years. The original seven-acre property includes a home, dorm, chapel, kitchen, cafeteria, playgrounds and elementary school. The school opened in 2008 to serve our children in the home as well as in the rural community. An average of 100 children attend Pre-K through 8th grade each year. In 2018, a three-acre property with facilities was acquired with the goal of providing a high school education for our students.

Learn more about us

Watch this video to learn more about the vision, mission and history of Niños de la Luz.

Our Inspiration

In January of 2003 Jim and Tamara Cook's 14-year-old son, Brandon, asked to go to Honduras with the church youth group. That summer Brandon and his dad visited Honduras for the first time. That initial request would lead to what Heart4Children is today. Although Brandon is no longer with us, his life left a lasting impact that continues to encourage others to join the vision of educating the most needy by giving from the abundant blessings we have.
See more of his impact >

Board and advisors

Our charter states our financial objective is to operate with an extremely low overhead ratio. Our volunteer board of directors receive no salary or compensation for their work and pay all of their own expenses.  We are dedicated to using donations wisely and frugally.  We are committed to complete transparency, and our financial reports are available upon request.

 To contact our board of directors, send us a message by clicking here!