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During December 1995 a Group of College Students from Local Universities in Medellin decided to serve children who are victims of poverty and social deterioration in the city. The initial objective was to assist the street children and help them find a decent place to live. However, they noticed that the best way to contribute to the solution of social problem of street children is prevention. With this mission in mind, Poder Joven was funded in July 1996 as a non-profit organization.
Poder Joven opened its first operative house in 1999 in the neighborhood of Barrio Triste, Medellin-Colombia, with 15 children were enrolled the social preventive program, currently known as Casa Karah.
In 2006, Poder Joven opened a second operative program called Casa Maren in the skirts of Medellin, in a neighborhood called Manrique. These children belong to families of Internally Displaced People (IDP) who have moved from the countryside (because of the armed conflict) to illegal settlements in the city.
To date, Poder Joven’s social program Casa Karah has grown to serve 65 children, while Casa Maren serves 75 children on a daily basis.
Parallel to the expansion of the social programs, Poder Joven has developed the vision of becoming a sustainable organization while contribution to the development of the communities served. In 2003 we opened a recycling center in the neighborhood of Barrio Triste that provided job opportunities to the parents of the children, while generating financial resources to cover an average 15% of costs of the two social programs.
In 2009, Poder Joven opened its second social enterprise, a motorcycle training and repair center called Reece-Moto. This center has a twofold objective: (i) to train the graduates of the social program on the office of basic repair of motorcycles as a means to help them work and help support their families financially, (ii) to generate resources for our foundation and contribute to the vision of fully financial independence.
Poder Joven is the result of the effort of young people who have committed themselves to the social development of the underprivileged communities of Medellin.
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