The Hope and Development Foundation

Villa El Carmen, Nicaragua

Community empowerment through education, vocational training, job opportunities and improved health.

All around the world, people dream of spending time in their own little piece of paradise. Relaxing with a book in a hammock while swaying in an ocean breeze, sipping a cocktail in the glow of a spectacular sunset, savoring a round of golf on oceanfront links, or riding inside a thundering wave atop a surfboard – whatever your view of paradise, real estate developers are always willing to help make your dreams come true. Meanwhile, the poor of the world are not afforded the ability to dream of such things and most often struggle for things that many take for granted. In response to this reality, a new passion has emerged from our hearts and minds - a passion not just to develop a resort, but to develop and elevate an entire community.

The strength of a society’s middle class is a significant indicator of progress and advancement for a country. In developed nations, this sector of society represents a large portion of the population, and increasingly members of this class enjoy lifestyle benefits similar to the affluent. The descendents of a generation that fueled the industrial revolution now have the resources to travel to spectacular locations where excitement and leisure await them. Meanwhile, those same destinations are often developing nations with great disparity between the wealthy and the poor, and the have-nots continue to be marginalized. Though they might interact with and even serve the privileged guests to their country, their concerns are far more basic and immediate: worries about daily sustenance, disillusionment regarding education, and fears related to health and safety.

With this dichotomy in mind, Hope and Development Foundation was formed to provide the underserved in Nicaragua with new opportunities for advancement through means of principled investment, cooperation with capable business partners, and, perhaps most importantly, continued communication and dialogue with the people it aims to serve. As a continuation of innerCHANGE’s highly successful CHESS (Children, Health, Education and Supporting Services at www.chessnicaragua.com) projects, serving 12 communities during the past 2 ½ years, Hope and Development is dedicated to the continued provision of support to these rural communities as well as the promotion of sustainable business initiatives centered on the development of the local families.

To achieve this goal, Hope and Development Foundation works in partnership with Nicaragua’s premier, emerging international tourism and retirement destinations such as Gran Pacifica Beach and Golf Resort, the Pacifica Golf Club, and Milagro del Mar Beach Club, as well as the International Baseball Academy of Central America (IBACA). With a conviction that the life-changing benefits of a sound community should not be limited to the affluent and wealthy, the Foundation believes that defining community around both resort and recreational developments and the local populations as one cooperative entity can provide the impetus and creative energy to enable widespread growth and bring new opportunities to nearby villages.