Strategic Planning, Marketing, and Capacity Building for St. Stephens Community Center
Centro Communitario was founded in 1995 in response to the increasing number of street children in Matola, Mozambique, many of whom were turning to prostitution due to poverty and malnutrition. Despite the end of Mozambiques sixteen-year civil war, the number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) continues to increase due to the progression of the AIDS epidemic. Centro provides 200 children with primary education from pre- kindergarten through fourth grade, skills training, HIV/AIDS education, meals, scholarships for children entering public schools, and emergency assistance (such as potable water and electricity) to local families. The Capstone team developed a strategic and marketing plan to better position Centro to acquire resources to address the rising number of OVC in Matola and secure longer term funding. The team compiled a list of potential local donors, wrote a complete grant proposal to Mozambiques National AIDS Council that will serve as a boilerplate for future applications, and created monitoring and evaluation tools to enable better reporting for future grant proposals and requirements.
This Capstone was made possible with the support from an anonymous donor through FJC: A Donor-Advised Fund.