CRC CARES Hosts School Supply Drive for Inter-Mac

Last night, CRC CARES hosted a school supply drive for school children in the Honduran Los Castaños de Choloma neighborhood of Inter-Mac in conjunction with a company happy hour at popular Arlington restaurant, Mussel Bar.

School children at Inter-Mac's Los Castaños de Choloma neighborhood enjoy recess outside.

Over 700 supplies were collected, including calculators, notebooks, writing pads, pocket folders, highlighters, pencils, colored pencils, pens, colored markers, crayons, rulers, pencil sharpeners, pencil-top erasers, scotch tape, and compasses. 

CRC CARES matched all donations on a one-for-one basis, and also sent soccer balls, which are popular among the local school children in the Inter-Mac community.

Los Castaños de Choloma is a 3,629-unit, workforce housing community that provides safe and affordable homes to low-income families in Choloma, Honduras. With much of the low-income population living in informal, makeshift housing and often lacking basic services like clean running water, electricity, sanitary plumbing, and even sufficient shelter, Inter-Mac, an affiliate of CRC Companies, sought to bring these basic living essentials to the Choloma workforce community. In partnership with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), Inter-Mac developed a 27-year financing model that would allow families with incomes of one-to-three times the minimum wage in Honduras to buy a basic, 380-square-foot home.

Typically, individuals working in low-wage jobs in Central America cannot access the mortgage financing from local banks to purchase a basic house. The gated community, constructed by local development partner HOLA Realty, provides a truly safe and secure atmosphere for families, encompassing a new elementary school, central playground, soccer fields, basketball courts, retail, daycare center, onsite police station, church, and bus terminal. 

A preschool class at Los Castaños de Choloma.