Corner Of Love Ministries

TO PROVIDE MEDICAL, DENTAL AND SERVICE WORK IN NICARAGUA, COSTA RICA AND OTHER LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES.

DONATED MEDICAL & OTHER SUPPLIES: WITH THE RETURN OF SOME VOLUNTEER MEDICAL TEAMS AFTER THE DEVASTATING EFFECT THAT COVID HAD ON INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AND INTERNATIONAL MISSION INVOLVEMENT, CORNER OF LOVES DONATED MEDICAL SUPPLIES BEGAN TO REBOUND IN 2021. $902,880 WORTH OF CLOTHING, SHOES, EDUCATIONAL-HELP ITEMS LIKE BACKPACKS AND SCHOOL SUPPLIES, AND PRESCRIPTION AND OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICINE WERE COLLECTED. DURING THE 2021 CALENDAR YEAR THESE DONATED GOODS WERE DISTRIBUTED IN VILLAGES AND TOWNS IN COSTA RICA AND OTHER LATIN AMERICAN CITIES, WITH THE VAST MAJORITY BEING GIVEN AT CORNER OF LOVES TWO MAIN LOCATIONS: #1 - RELIEF CENTER ( THE ORGANIZATIONS MAIN HEADQUARTERS IN LATIN AMERICA) LOCATED IN LA CRUZ (GUANACASTE) COSTA RICA NEAR THE NICARAGUA COUNTRY-LINE, #2 - A SATELLITE REFUGEE CENTER IN SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA THAT WAS SET UP IN 2020 SPECIFICALLY TO ADDRESS FOOD INSECURITY CAUSED BY THE PANDEMIC. WHEN NICARAGUAS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES (POLITICAL OPPOSITION OF THE SANDINISTA REGIME) WHERE KIDNAPPED AND IMPRISONED IN JUNE 2021, A MASSIVE WAVE OF THOUSANDS OF NEW NICARAGUAN REFUGEES POURED INTO COSTA RICA CAUSING MOST OF THESE DONATED SUPPLIES TO BE RAPIDLY DEPLETED. DISPLACED PEOPLE FROM MANY NATIONS, AS WELL AS THE INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED WHO WERE FLEEING NICARAGUA TO SAFETY IN COSTA RICA, RECEIVED ANTI-PARASITE REGIMENS, DERMATOLOGICAL TREATMENTS, ANTIBIOTICS, ANTIVIRALS, VITAMINS, INFANT AND CHILD WELLNESS KITS, FEMININE HYGIENE SUPPLIES, HYDRATION AND NUTRITION ITEMS, COLD AND PAIN REMEDIES, AND OTHER PHARMACEUTICALS, ALL OF WHICH MADE UP OUR 2021 DONATED MEDICAL SUPPLIES (VALUE: $902,880).

HEALTHCARE BRIGADES & PROGRAMS/MINISTRY: DESPITE ONLY BEING ABLE TO HOST A HANDFUL OF INTERNATIONAL HEALTHCARE TEAMS DUE TO THE VERY SLOW RETURN OF CROSS-BORDER TRAVEL, CORNER OF LOVE REMAINED OPEN EVERY DAY DURING 2021. OUR PROVISION OF MEDICAL AND OPTICAL BRIGADES TO RURAL AND IMPOVERISHED AREAS NEVER STOPPED. BY NETWORKING WITH LOCAL DOCTORS AND MEDICAL WORKERS, CORNER OF LOVE EXAM FACILITIES AND PHARMACIES KEPT OPERATING, MAKING A WAY FOR MORE THAN 31,000 REFUGEES (WHO ARE LIVING IN EXILE AND HAVE NO OTHER HEALTHCARE) TO RECEIVE FREE MEDICAL AND OPTICAL CARE WITH NO-COST PRESCRIPTION AND OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICINES PROVIDED TO THEM. ADDITIONALLY, CORNER OF LOVE TOOK ON AN IMPORTANT ROLE DELIVERING HYDRATION FLUIDS, TREATMENTS, AND FOOD DIRECTLY TO REFUGEES WHO FELT SYMPTOMATIC OF CORONAVIRUS, HAD TESTED POSITIVE, WERE SHELTERING IN PLACE, AND/OR HAD OTHER HEALTH CONCERNS. CORNER OF LOVE WAS THE ONLY IN-PERSON AND TELE-HEALTH CLINIC AVAILABLE TO AN ESTIMATED 37,401 PEOPLE WHO WOULD NOT HAVE HAD ACCESS TO ANY HEALTHCARE WITHOUT OUR PRESENCE IN THE FIELD AND ASSISTED 470 LIFE-THREATENING CASES, INCLUDING MANY REFUGEE CHILDREN WHOSE ONLY SOURCE OF NOURISHMENT AND PROFESSIONAL ATTENTION WOULD HAVE BEEN THROUGH PUBLIC SCHOOL, BUT SCHOOLS WERE CLOSED, THUS THEIR CONDITIONS BECAME CRITICAL.

CHAPTER DEVELOPMENT: AFTER MANY YEARS OF TRANSPORTING DONATIONS FROM THE SEATTLE-AREA TO LATIN AMERICA, THE DECISION WAS MADE BY CORNER OF LOVES BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO SEEK RELOCATION FOR U.S. OPERATIONS TO A CITY WITHIN ONE-FLIGHT RANGE TO COSTA RICA, WHERE THE ORGANIZATION COULD SAVE MONEY ON PACKING AND SHIPMENT OF CARGO. HOUSTON, TEXAS WAS CHOSEN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW SUPPORT CHAPTER BEGAN IN APRIL 2021. $3,741 WAS SPENT ON THIS CHAPTER (AND OTHERS IN THE USA) WHERE CORNER OF LOVE UTILIZES STORAGE FACILITIES AND COLLECTS IN-KIND DONATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC.