The Sperber Community Center in Quito, Ecuador, was inaugurated in February 2020. This center gives more than 3,000 children and youth access to regular medical care and educational support. Just as importantly, encouraging role models will help them grow up healthy, educated and empowered with the skills they need to find good jobs.
As children grow, they have access to age-appropriate development programs at the Sperber Community Center that equip them with the knowledge and confidence they will need to pull themselves out of poverty. From nutrition and health programs ... to tutoring and computer classes ... to social and financial education and youth leadership training ... to job training and career‑readiness workshops or scholarships for higher education, our programs are interconnected and essential to helping children and youth break the cycle of poverty.
The community in Quito called La Colmena (“The Hive”) is aptly named. Gazing toward it from the streets below, the tiny, colorful squares you see are homes. But they are so tightly packed — and even atop one another — that the collection of homes resembles a beehive.
Although La Colmena is proof of its residents’ resourcefulness and resilience, it is also evidence of their hardships. With a high crime rate and a violent gang presence, the children and families we serve here have learned to cope as best they can in this marginalized community.
The Sperber Community Center is where young lives blossom and compassion and pride radiate outward — in the hearts of all who both live near our centers and visit from afar. We sincerely thank these kind-hearted donors for their support:
In February 2020, our staff in Quito celebrated the inauguration of the Sperber Community Center. Unfortunately, the children and youth had just a month of enjoying this beautiful new center before the coronavirus emerged in Quito.
Watch the inauguration video below to see how excited and thankful the people in the center’s surrounding neighborhood are about the new center.
Make a lifelong impact on children’s futures by naming one of the rooms still available. The very spaces that are changing the lives of kids will honor you or someone you love. We will highlight your investment with a plaque in the available room of your choice, in addition to adding the room name to our website.
For additional information about the recognition associated with naming opportunities, please contact Global Philanthropy at 800‑888‑4089 or philanthropy@children.org.
Sport for Development and leadership activities take place here, as well as important community events. And, thanks to its roof, participants will be protected from the sun’s harsh rays.
These new clinics are major improvements over the clinics in the old building, which were darker and more cramped.
This training room is used to implement empowerment and employment programs, tutoring, Youth Council, training and volunteer meetings.
With a capacity of 30, the multimedia room serves the needs of our youth reporters and music and arts programs. It will also be used for staff trainings and Into Employment® workshops.
Terraced green spaces serve as garden areas or house exercise machines open to the public.
Nurturing lifelong healthy eating habits, this space serves as a prep kitchen where children and families in our nutrition rehabilitation program gather to learn how to prepare nutritious meals.
Two field officers share this space, where they work closely with children and their families and assist children and youth in writing letters to their sponsors.
Program coordinators use this space to work collaboratively on curriculum and activities aimed at deepening the engagement and learning experiences for our children.
To provide support or learn more, please contact our Global Philanthropy Team at:
