Chalice's main sponsorship model is Direct Family Funding (DFF). In the 2017-2018 fiscal year Chalice sent $17,618,576 in sponsorship funds to our sites, which is about 69.2% of total funds sent. Over the last few years, Chalice has been moving away from our older benefit disribution model in which the decision-making process was controlled at the sponsor site level. As each family is unique, so are their needs and the DFF model supports guardians of sponsored children in order that they can be the main decision-makers in budgeting and spending Chalice sponsorship funds within their family.

The key to DFF's success is that every month, the sponsored child's guardian meets with their Family Circle (a small community group comprised of other guardians and a Chalice field worker). Each member of the group shares their budget for the upcoming month and reports back to the group on their expenditures for the previous month. Another feature of DFF is that every family now has their own bank account where sponsorship funds are deposited. Even though DFF is very different from the benefit distribution model, it's still a requirement that expenses related to the sponsored child's education be given top priority.

Family Circles have many benefits. Since peer members hold each other to a high standard, there's an increased level of accountability. The members get to know each other on a personal level, building a sense of friendship and community. An experienced and engaged Circle Group member can also provide knowledge, skills, and confidence to new families so that they can lift themselves out of extreme poverty. In addition to the knowledge and skills that group members acquire from each other, formal training is also delivered by professionals and site staff on a range of topics, including financial literacy.

Some Chalice sites also have programming for elders. There are modifications to the focus of the programming to meet their specific needs. In many cases, the sponsored elders are cared for by Family Circles in their proximity.

Christmas money donations are sent to sites to pay for a Christmas celebration for the community. In the 2017-2018 fiscal year Chalice sent $646,945 in funding to our sites, which is about 2.5% of total funds sent.

Some sites provide a traditional meal with children performing plays, music, and providing other entertainment. Others provide a food hamper for each family and/or a gift for every child. In Ukraine sponsored children wrap and deliver gifts to unsponsored children and food baskets to infirm seniors. Read the Christmas Fund Impact Report for 2018.

Special money donations can also be directed to a sponsored child and their family for specific purposes such as birthdays, educational needs, housing repairs, and medical requirements. In the 2017-2018 fiscal year Chalice sent $768,880 in funding to our sites, which is about 3.0% of total funds sent. These donations from sponsors are also deposited directly into families' bank accounts. For donations above $500, notification is required to provide time for the family to prepare a budget on how their special gift will be used.

Charitable donations in the form of grant funding can be directed to one of our Chalice sponsor sites, an individual sponsored child or sponsor child's family. This type of charitable gift can be directed without a specific purpose as a general grant or a purpose driven grant. In the 2017-2018 fiscal year Chalice sent $552,808 in funding to our sites, which is about 2.1% of total funds sent.

A general grant can be gifted to a sponsor site, sponsored child, or sponsored child's family to be used as deemed best by the recipient in order to supplement their income, operating or programming expenses. An example of a general grant could be a grant directed to a sponsor site who uses it to enhance an after-school program or offset transportation costs incurred when transporting special needs children to appointments or off-site events.

A purpose driven grant can be gifted to a sponsor site, sponsor child or sponsored child's family to be used for a previously agreed upon purpose. In most cases a purpose driven grant is a direct result of a previously prepared budget.

An example of this is a grant directed to the sponsor site for the sole purpose of purchasing a braille printer to be used by blind children at the site. A purpose driven grant directed to a specific child may be to fulfill an opportunity for post-secondary education and a purpose driven grant to a sponsor child's family may be directed in response to a budget prepared to replace the dilapidated roof of their family home.

A Grant for Family Livelihood:

With a Grant donation of $3,770 our site in Baraka, Kenya started a poultry project to help local families. They initially bought 70 chicks and now, 35 hens gave approximately 80 to 90 eggs a week. Some eggs and birds were sold buy feed for the laying hens.

Baraka site has many group members who have set up a poultry business at home. They realized that although chicken keeping is common and very easy to manage, members had problems accessing the best variety of chicks. To solve this problem the Site purchased an incubator through the Chalice Gift Catalogue.

With a capacity of 528 eggs per every hatching session, the machine is going to help group members access chicks easily.

The Site is projecting that within the next two years the majority of our Baraka beneficiaries (at least 200 sponsored families) will have no less than 50 hens and eggs at home which they can use to both supplement their diet and earn an income.

Our Chalice Children Nutrition Program supports activities that promote and improve nutritional health for children (both sponsored and non-sponsored) in sponsor site communities in Central and South America, Haiti, Africa, and Philippines. In the 2017-2018 fiscal year Chalice sent $438,174 in funding to participating sites, which is about 1.7% of total funds sent. Programs include both feeding and educational components and most are supported by a nutritionist, either at the site or the regional office level. To ensure each program addresses the unique needs of the community, the program is flexible and allows for many different designs.

In 2017-2018 twenty-three sites are participating in the Chalice Children Nutrition Programs. Examples of programs include support to soup kitchens, school feeding programs, distribution of food baskets, community and school gardens, provision of nutritional supplements, deworming, and training of children, parents, and elders on topics related to nutritional health.

When sites are faced with an extreme or critical situation that is urgent, they may apply for Critical Needs funding. Critical Needs are categorized into three main groups and are used to provide immediate support to individuals or families facing the following types of crises:
1) Grave conditions for which urgent action is required and which, if not urgently addressed, will endanger the life of the individual(s) concerned (e.g. hospitalization and treatment for serious injuries sustained in an accident).
2) Chronic, serious, and/or congenital medical conditions that negatively impact an individual's health and/or quality of life (e.g. corrective surgery required for a child born with cleft palate).
3) Extreme emergency situations that threaten the well-being of a family (e.g. rebuilding a family home that was destroyed in a fire).

In the 2017-2018 fiscal year Chalice sent $147,397 in funding to our sites, which is about 0.5% of total funds sent.

Critical Needs request from Cameroon: Due to an ongoing teachers strike in the English speaking region of Cameroon, sponsored children were unable to attend school. In an effort to get their children back in school $19,255.00 was requested to send the students to an unused college owned by the Sisters in the French region. Due to the combined effort of sponsors, donors to this critical need and supporters of the gift catalogue 100 children from 81 families were able to resume their studies.

Critical Needs request from Bolivia:

John, a sponsored boy from our Levantate Mujer Sponsor Site in Bolivia cut his head badly while playing on a park slide.  He had to have surgery and remained in intensive care for a day and was left with 18 stitches. The family was unable to pay the hospital debt of $637 but thanks to a generous donor the bill was paid.

Chalice may provide support to communities in countries where we work following larger-scale natural disasters. This differs from Critical Needs, which are smaller in scale and more focused towards individuals and families. Disasters are calamities resulting from such events as hurricanes, floods, drought, earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, fires, tsunamis, and other natural forces.

Some examples of past Disaster Relief funding are: East African Famine and Drought Relief in 2011 and 2017; Hurricane Matthew in Haiti (South) in 2016; Typhoon Haiyan in Philippines in 2013.

In the 2017-2018 fiscal year Chalice sent $537,332 in funding to our sites, which is about 2.1% of total funds sent.

Every year Chalice invites eligible sponsor sites to apply for additional support through the Gift Catalogue. In the 2017-2018 fiscal year Chalice sent $1,086,466 in funding to participating sites, which is about 4.2% of total funds sent.

Eligibility is based on site capacity and performance in financial and operational requirements. Sites are given a list of items they may use to guide their requests. This program benefits both sponsored and non-sponsored children. There is a broad range of categories in the catalogue and sites use this funding opportunity to supplement activities and reach out beyond the sponsorship program. Some examples are: animals (goats, rabbits, and chickens), educational items (books, classroom furniture, and uniforms), health and hygiene (vaccines, toiletries, diapers, and specific medical needs), skills development, small business support, and community infrastructure like water systems and agricultural support.

Our Orissa Sponsor Site in India received $19,202.94 from the last gift catalogue. With that they purchased:

• 5 Wheelchairs for elders with mobility issues.
• 27 Mosquito nets for elders to protect them from malaria.
• 8 Small business set ups for small grocery stores for parents of sponsored children. From their profits they will be able to afford higher education for their non-sponsored children and help with family expenses. The small villages don’t have existing grocery stores so these businesses are also benefiting the entire village.
• 30 piglets for sponsored families.
• Water tank and water system for Khongnem Thana village. Water from a natural stream is now stored in a water tank with piping for easy access of drinking water for the whole village. This benefited 46 families of the village - 330 people (including 16 sponsored children).

40 bicycles for circle group members who live far away from the sponsor site and had a very difficult time attending meetings and training sessions.

Chalice supports sponsor sites with various types of Community Projects under the following two categories: Human Development Programs (HDP) and Capital Projects (CP). In the 2017-2018 fiscal year Chalice sent $1,169,234 in funding to participating sites, which is about 4.5% of total funds sent. Our projects and programs focus on Education amd Training, Food Security, Nutrition and Water, Health, and Community Improvements.

A few examples of our current Human Development Programs (HDPs) are:
#PTT0218 Zero Cavities - a dental program in support of 2600 children in Tondo, Philippines;
#KTR0917 Kenya & Tanzania School Farming Project - supporting 31 schools and 17 common interest groups with the development of school farms and training programs which supplement school feeding programs;
#BPP0517B School Program for Children and Adolescents in support of an after school project, Chiclayo, Peru;
#UPP1218 Dairy Production Capacity Building in support of 20 individual family dairy farms in Ukraine.

A few examples of our current Capital Projects (CP) are:
#IRR0417, WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) - building 478 private family latrines in various locations in India;
#PCA1018 - The reconstruction and repair of the congregation of Santa Ana Formation House and Community Center in Canete, Peru.

The WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) project raised $283,592 to build safe and hygienic outdoor bathrooms to the poorest of the poor in seven Chalice sites – Tamil, Madurai, STAR, Kerala, Bangalore, Imphal, and Nellore. An overwhelming success, this project built4 78 latrines in 31 villages restoring health and dignity to 1912 beneficiaries. In addition to the physical structures families received a personal hygiene kit, a supply of seeds/seedlings for a small kitchen garden, training on proper hygiene practices as well as, cleaning supplies and training on the cleaning/maintenance of their latrines.

We are planning to start a new WASH project in schools in Tanzania later this year.