Faith & Family
How it all began?
Father Joe came to Peru in 1971 and spent almost two decades in Villa El Salvador where he founded Christ the Savior Parish, Villa’s first parish and later the Chapel of St. Joseph.
In 1978, Father Joe was sent to Poland, as the official representative of the Church in Peru, during Pope John Paul’s first visit to his homeland. Father Joe was among the few privileged to visit personally with the Pope, and during their conversation, Father Joe invited the Pope to visit the poverty of Peru. Fast forward 13 years, in 1985 during Pope John Paul II’s first papal visit to Peru, Father Joe had the opportunity to speak with the Pope and tell him about his dream of building a home for poor and abandoned children. The Pope, impressed with Father Joe’s commitment and enthusiasm, donated $50,000 which was used to begin the initial structure of the home and now bears his name. And so, after 17 years as pastor in Villa el Salvador, Father Joe moved to Lurín to start his next project, Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II
Father Joe found his inspiration after seeing how so many of Lima’s children live in desperate poverty. One day, while walking through the slums of Lima, he noticed what appeared to be a pile of old newspapers begin to move. Then, the heads of a little girl and boy popped out. These children, like so many street kids of Lima, had spent the night with only the newspapers to protect them from the cold. He thought to himself, “How can I go home to a warm bed, when so many children are living in these conditions?”
“Before”
Different from all the Others
Casa Hogar is a home for youth in Peru with the mission of delivering high quality care in a family environment centered on the Catholic faith. Our faith and family focus are unique, different from the traditional orphanage model.
FAITH: founded by a Catholic missionary priest, Father Joseph Walijewski, and as a mission of the Diocese of La Crosse, faith is the foundation of our orphanage. It has been a gift to have a Catholic priest always leading Casa Hogar by example, pastorally serving the children and staff at Casa Hogar.
FAMILY: it was a dream of Father Joseph Walijewski to bring the family to the children, by bringing the children to a family. Father Joseph believed that repairing the brokenness in society can only be done when the family is fixed.
Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II first opened its doors to homeless children in 1985, but was officially inaugurated on March 22, 1986. Currently, 64 children call Casa Hogar their home, where they are given faith and family for a chance at a better future.
Using the Family Program based on the famous Boys Town methods, Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II has become a leader in the treatment and care for children who come from poverty stricken and high-risk backgrounds in Peru. Over the years, our organization has provided thousands of children with a safe, caring, loving environment where they gain the confidence to learn skills, develop responsibility, and become productive citizens within their community.
The orphanage began with two children, a foreign volunteer, and one tutor. One year later the orphanage was home to 32 children and six tutors. Currently, we have 64 children, 8 families with 8 Casa Hogar children, between 5 to 17 years old, and 16 family teachers, husband and wife. Since it opened its doors the orphanage has helped more than 5,000 children, sometimes up to 100 children at a time. And God willing, countless children will continue to be helped at a home they will call Casa Hogar.
“How can I go home to a warm bed,
when so many children are living
in these conditions?”
Centered on Faith
Father Walijewski founded the orphanage believing that nothing can be achieved without hope, and true hope can only be found in God. Starting their, the children can find the strength they need now and will need in the future.
Today’s world has learned to be tolerant of a lack of values and has pushed aside spirituality to the point that it makes it easy to create problems and then hard to overcome them. The old-fashioned values of honesty, respect, hard work, loyalty, morals, and sense of Christian duty have their wisdom. This is wisdom we hope are children gain while at Casa Hogar.
In combining values with morals and spirituality, we are able to teach the kids sacredness of life, respect for self and for others as well as give them hope they so desperately need. The kids have had so much taken away from them, most notably, their families. Their future, as anyone’s, is questionable. With a strong sense of what is “right” and “wrong”, the kids will be able to lead healthy lives and with their faith will be able to get through life’s challenges. We want them to know that whatever anyone takes from them, no one can take their faith, their hope in God.
The children go to Mass every day with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Confession available daily. The kids take preparatory classes for First Holy Communion, Baptism and Confirmation in addition to catechism classes. We offer them what we know and have to the best of our ability, but ultimately growth in their faith life is up to them.
Carried Out By Family
Casa Hogar’s Family Model is what makes all the difference. We didn’t need to invent our own model, we decided to go with what is tried and true, the model that God created. Children learn so much just through the environment in which they are raised, that is why it is so important for us to do everything that we can to re-create that natural, loving family that they have lost.
The family is the root of all learning and a very necessary part of healthy development. The Family Teachers care for the children of Casa Hogar as if they were their own, and the children really see them as parent figures. Once the children begin to confide in their Family Teachers, they can give them advice and help to direct them in their decisions and actions.
They are also able to see how responsibilities are taken care of and shared between a husband and wife. This modeling witnessed during their youth is not only beneficial to their development now, but will also serve them as a reference for when they want to form their own families in the future.
Another important part of life in a family are all of the traditions and memories. For the children that come to live at Casa Hogar, their past doesn’t hold many, if any, happy memories. That’s why we focus on giving them a happy childhood, one they can remember and be proud of as adults. Each of the families have their own weekly routines and holiday traditions. We encourage them to ask the kids if they have any ideas of how to celebrate holidays and birthdays so that they feel they are a part of the family.
