A small group of Austin people, who were committed to social justice work, were asked to help a remote Mexican community that had just experienced a catastrophic flood. From those meager beginnings and extensive conversations with many of the Mexican families, Weavers of Hope was born.
In 2002-2003, a group of about 12 adults was in the middle of an intensive, 30-week program on social justice issues called JustFaith. It involved learning, videos, guest speakers, prayer, and hands-on experiences. Our class members got connected to Sr. Fran Smith, who has lived and worked in Villa Garcia since 1998. We made an exploratory trip, and interviewed many families about how we could work together. Almost everyone told us that the single most important thing that we could do was to help them to keep their children in school.
Out of those conversations, Weavers of Hope was born. Today, it is a small, non-profit based here in Austin. Since 2003, we have grown from our initial 20 students to having helped over 350 young people in Mexico. With one exception, we are all volunteers, so our administrative costs are very low. Almost 90% of our contributions go directly into the programs which help the students.