User:Charles.longy/HeartsHome

Heart's Home, is an international Catholic Movement " committed to bringing accompaniment and support to the most wounded people, to begin with the children, especially in deprived areas. It was founded in France in 1990 by Rev. Thierry de Roucy (the French name for Heart's Home is Points-Cœur) and the first two volunteer houses were opened in slums of Argentina and Brazil. From there, Heart's Home spread to more than 20 other countries. In 2005, Heart's Home was granted special consultative status within the United Nations ", on the basis of its work to promote human dignity and contribute to the Millenium Development Goals " . In 2000, Heart’s Home was officially approved by the Roman Catholic Church " through Estanislao Esteban Cardinal Karlic, Archbishop of Parana, Argentina, as a Private Association of the Faithful. Heart’s Home is acknowledged by the bishops of the dioceses where it is established.

Overview & Mission
Mission

Heart's Home operates today (2009) in 18 countries on four continents. Its mission consists in: - Favoring a one-on-one approach based on friendship and grassroots services. - Helping people in need through a step by step process to rebuild themselves and reintegrate them into society. To each individual, Heart's Home provides moral and educational support, taking into account every dimension of his or her unique identity. - Generating and promoting a «Culture of Compassion», affirming the intrinsic value of every human being in the corporate, political, scientific, artistic... spheres.

Volunteering Program

To reach these goals, Heart's Home recruits and educates young Catholic volunteers. They are sent for long-term (from 14 months up to 2 years), full-time missions in volunteer houses (the «Heart's Homes») and in Heart's Home villages. These are places where the neighbors come to be listened to, supported and accompanied. Each Heart's Home is a crossroad between the lonely people and the families of the neighborhood, the local organizations and the public services. Heart's Home has also opened student houses and centers of formation and training. Heart's Home's charism goes beyond the context of materially poor areas. Among other initiatives, the International Center for a Culture of Compassion (ICCC) located upstate New York (United States) hosts seminars, conferences and retreats to explore the Heart's Home spirit of Compassion.

Worldwide presence

Since the foundation, Heart's Home sent about 1,200 volunteers of 32 nationalities in 22 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Haiti, Honduras, India, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Senegal, Syria, Switzerland, Thailand, and Ukraine. Each year, about 70 volunteers are sent for an 18-months long mission in average.

Charism and Spirituality

As a movement of the Roman Catholic Church, the charism of Heart's Home is rooted in the Catholic faith. Like the Virgin Mary, standing at the foot of the cross of her son, the Heart's Home volunteers seek to stand at the foot of the cross of every suffering person " . The Heart's Home volunteers have an intense prayer life. Every day, they pray morning and evening prayers in community, they say the rosary with their neighbors, they attend mass and spend a silent hour contemplating the Blessed Sacrament in the Heart's Home chapel. Some volunteers decide to dedicate their lives to the Heart's Home mission joining the Heart's Home Permanent Members - lay consecrated men and women -, the Sacerdotal Molokai Fraternity - seminarians and priests -, or the Servants of God's Presence, a congregation of religious sisters affiliated with Heart's Home.

Branches and deployments
Heart's Home Permanent Members

The Heart's Home Permanent Members are lay men and women who dedicate their lives to answering God's call through the charism of Heart's Home and the service of its mission. They are former volunteers who have chosen to join Heart’s Home for a lifetime and to take promises of poverty, celibacy and obedience. The lay consecrated branch was founded in 1995 by Rev. Thierry de Roucy, at the request of former Heart's Home men and women volunteers. It was officially approved in 2000 by Estanislao Esteban Cardinal Karlic, Archbishop of Paraná, Argentina. Their commitment can take many forms. Most of them live in a regular Heart's Home volunteer house or in a Heart's Home village. Some are in charge of the recruitment and training of the volunteers in their mission country. They may also handle the responsibility of being "visitors", paying regular visits to one particular volunteer house, providing the volunteers with spiritual and human guidance. They work in close relationship with the Servants of God's Presence and the Sacerdotal Molokai Fraternity. In 2009, the Permanent Members amounted to more than 40 men and women from France, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil, Mauritius, Colombia and India.

The Molokai Sacerdotal Fraternity

The Members of the Molokai Sacerdotal Fraternity are former male volunteers who have decided to dedicate their lives as Roman Catholic priests to answering God's call through the charism of Heart's Home and the service of its mission. They take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The sacerdotal branch of Heart's Home was founded in 1995 by Rev. Thierry de Roucy at the request of former Heart's Home men volunteers and was officially approved in 2000 by Estanislao Esteban Cardinal Karlic, Archbishop of Paraná, Argentina. They may live either in a Heart's Home house or village with other members of the Molokai Sacerdotal Fraternity, or in one of the two parishes run by Heart's Home (in Pignans, diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, France and in Afragola, diocese of Naples, Italy). As priests, they live the charism of Heart's Home in a special way: by bringing the sacraments to the poorest people, especially the Eucharist and the sacrament of Confession; by providing spiritual guidance to the Heart's Home volunteers; by taking part in their recruitment, formation or accompaniment; by assuming leadership or administrative roles at the national or international level of the organization. Their spirituality follows the example of the apostle John, who was standing with the Virgin Mary, at the foot of Jesus' cross. They took their name from blessed Damian of Veuster (1840-1889), who spent the last two decades of his life on the small Island of Molokai, in the Pacific, serving the lepers who were sent to the island in fear of the expansion of the disease. Father Damian died a leper himself in 1889 " . The Heart's Home priests work in close relationship with the Servants of God's Presence and the Heart's Home Permanent Members. In 2009, the Sacerdotal Molokai Fraternity amounted to 28 men.

The Servants of God's Presence

The Institute of the Servants of God's Presence is one of the branches of Heart's Home. It was founded in 1994 by Reverend Thierry de Roucy at the request of former Heart's Home women volunteers. As of 2009, the Institute has 30 members of five different nationalities. It was recognized as a Public Association of the Faithful in 2008 by Bishop Dominique Rey, diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, France " . The Sisters take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and live in community. Their mission consists in bringing God’s Presence to all places, especially where suffering, loneliness, and lack of meaning is prevailing. They have four priories, in France, Peru and El Salvador ". These priories are all close to regular Heart's Home centers, small houses located in very poor areas and hosting 4 or 5 young volunteers. The Sisters work in close collaboration with them, providing the missionaries with spiritual and human guidance as well as welcoming them and their neighbors for retreats or days off. The Sisters may also handle the responsibility of being "visitors", paying regular visits to one particular Heart's Home center. They take part in the recruitment and formation program of their mission country. Their service takes many forms:

- visiting the lonely and homebound;

- teaching catechism and preparing people to receive the sacraments;

- managing youth groups and organizing summer camps;

- organizing retreats and offering a place of silence and prayer;

- welcoming anybody in need into their guest house.

The Saint Maximilian Kolbe Fraternities

The first Saint Maximilian Kolbe Fraternities were born in 1997 at the request of former Heart’s Home volunteers who wanted to keep living the charism of Heart’s Home in their daily lives and responsibilities, whatever is their state of life. Today, the Saint Maximilian Kolbe Fraternities gather about one hundred lay people all over the world (in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Peru, El Salvador, Philippines, Brazil and United States), former volunteers or not, who desire to share Heart's Home's culture of compassion where they live (at work, in their families, in their studies, etc.).

The International Center for a Culture of Compassion (ICCC)

The International Center for a Culture of Compassion opened in September 2007 near Woodbourne, New York (United States). It is a foundation of Heart's Home, which goal is to: - spread the charism of Heart's Home, and promote a Culture of Compassion; - deepen the reflection on the Culture of Compassion, so as to understand better how it can apply to every aspect of life and to every social environment (through seminars, conferences and retreats);" " - be a place of rest and inspiration for families and individuals; - foster encounters, especially with artists and other people involved in the various fields of culture.

The ICCC is the head office for all the Heart's Home members (volunteers, Heart's Home Permanent Members, members of the Sacerdotal Molokai Fraternity or of the Servants of God's Presence) present in the US (NY and California). Rev. Thierry de Roucy, the Founder and Chairman of Heart's Home, spends part of his time at the ICCC.