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Saúde Criança Renascer Becomes ‘Saúde Criança’ and Introduces a New Logo to Highlight its Whole-Family Focus

Building on 18 years of experience, the international award-winning organization, Saúde Criança (“Child Health”), inaugurates a new logo emphasizing its focus on whole family health and social inclusion.

On October 25, the Saúde Criança Renascer Association celebrated 18 years helping thousands of families to stay healthy by changing its name to simply “Child Health,” inaugurating a new logo (illustrating a healthy family), and affirming a new guiding principle: “Health is Social Inclusion.” This idea will bring a sharpened focus to Saúde Criança’s work focusing on helping low-income families to restructure themselves and connect with mainstream society – to promote their health and prosperity in the most powerful possible way. This news will be released on November 03 at our headquarters in Parque Lage.

 “We are entering an exciting new phase in our organization’s history as we recognize new needs – and perceive new opportunities – to expand our reach across Brazil and our positive impact on the health of families. These changes will help to clarify our focus and maintain high quality as we expand our social franchise to many more health institutions,” explains the founder and CEO of Child Health Association, Dr. Vera Cordeiro, who established the original site of the Child Health network in partnership with Hospital da Lagoa in Rio de Janeiro. The Child Health methodology has been adopted by 24 organizations connected to public hospitals in 6 Brazilian states and has become integrated into the public policy of the government of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.

The new logo highlights our focus on the whole family as the key to ensuring the health of children. It was created on a pro-bono basis by the communication company Beth B and Child Health volunteer Rosana Braem.

Child Health’s innovative Family Action Plan (FAP), which integrates five areas - Health, Income, Housing, Education and Citizenship – has successfully promoted social and economic improvements that have directly transformed the lives of 13,000 people. Our 24 partner organizations have assisted 36,000 people.

“Our dream is to see a Child Health organization established within every public hospital in the country,” says Dr. Cordeiro. “We hope to build replication centers in all five regions of Brazil, as well as in other countries.” Child Health does not replace government, but complements the medical system to make it dramatically more effective. Dr. Cordeiro adds: “For many families, a child’s illness is just the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the surface lie the true causes: poverty and other socio-economic conditions. Most of the time, these are highly ‘treatable’ conditions. Child Health Association redefines the old paradigm, which treated biological illness but failed to promote health.”

Dr. Vera Cordeiro initiated the first Child Health Association in 1991 in partnership with hospital employees and members of civil society. For 20 years, Dr. Cordeiro worked as a general physician in the Psychosomatic Department of Hospital da Lagoa, in Rio de Janeiro.

Child Health Association is a non-profit and non-governmental organization, with no religious or political affiliations. Its mission is to transform the lives of children and families living below the poverty line by promoting physical, psychological and social well-being through a holistic approach to health. It breaks the vicious cycle poverty à illness à admission à release à readmission à death -- by providing systematic assistance, with prescribed goals, to the children and their families after hospital release.

Child Health has brought an average 60% reduction in the hospitalization stays of children (as measured in days). For families experiencing crises, Child Health’s assistance brings even more dramatic health improvements. In a crowded public hospital like Hospital da Lagoa, where the daily cost of treatment for a child is $500, these changes open up space for other children and save hundreds of thousands of public health dollars each year. Most important, it reduces the suffering of children.

Other results include clinically measured improvements in children’s health and an average of 46% increase in family income during the period in which Child Health works with families.

Income Criteria	Health Criteria
Sample: 107 families that had been at Saúde Criança’s project for at least a year in 2008

Reduction in the number of hospitalization days
Cost of one day of hospitalization at Hospital da Lagoa : US$ 500.00 Savings of US$ 897,000.00 Sample: 107 families researched

The assisted family is on average composed by a woman who is the head of the family with an average of four children, all living below the poverty line in a situation of great social risk. The families assisted live in the slums of Rio de Janeiro and Grande Rio: 30% of the families are from Baixada Fluminense, one of the poorest areas of the city with high level of violence, other 30% come from the slums of the West Zone and the remainder comes from different communities from all over the state.

Private companies, international organizations and individuals, members, partners, among others, sponsor Child Health Association. The organization has more than 140 volunteers and 40 employees. In addition, it runs a social enterprise to further self-sufficiency, marketing products and corporate gifts. To guarantee the efficient management of its resources, Child Health Association has established the Child Health Forever fund, managed by the respected economist Armínio Fraga.

Deloitte audits Child Health Association annually. All reports are freely available to the public.

Because of its transparency, proven social impact and successful replication, the work continues to influence governments, civil society organizations and businesses, creating new partnerships that are changing social conditions in Brazil. Our methodology is beginning to be replicated in other countries.
According to Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize for Peace 2006 – “Saúde Criança has created a powerful methodology of social inclusion for the very poor".
According to Bill Drayton, ASHOKA‘s Founder - “Saúde Criança is an extraordinary, world class work of heart and entrepreneurship.”

The story of Saúde Criança Renascer is a chapter of David Bornstein’s book “How to Change the World.”

Awards:

The Linda Sue Pfarrer Nortillo Foundation Sponsors Entire Family for a Year

The Linda Sue Pfarrer Nortillo Foundation Sponsors a Entire Family for a Year The Foundation helped us last year and after learning more about us and seeing our results, they decided to give a larger donation this year. The Linda Sue Pfarrer Nortillo Foundation donated $ 4,200 and is now sponsoring an entire family until March 2010.

We want to thank them for the donation and for believing in our work.

We hope to continue receiving their support because it is with those donations that Renascer keeps helping more and more children every day.

Our Network is Getting Larger

Florianópolis is the newest replication model of Saúde Criança Renascer methodology. At February 1st we had the inauguration of Recontar.

Recontar will help children hospitalized at Hospital Infantil Joana Gusmão. This is the 24th institution in partner with Saúde Criança Renascer. The opening was celebrated with Damien Rice and Seu Jorge shows. Two mothers were present, Cátia and Gislane, to talk about the impact of the organization on their lives.

Visit to Rio

Mariana, our Marketing Project Manager, went to Rio to spend 3 days at Associacao Saude Crianca Renascer.

She had a wonderful time there, enjoyed the Brazil team and the work. She also took some pictures of the children helped by ASCR that you must take a look at.

Click to view photos.

Magic Number Campaign

Friends of Renascer has a goal in 2009; we must achieve the magic number of 1,000 sponsors.

We thank you all for your support. Your contributions enable us to continue with our mission of supporting children and their families, helping them achieve and sustain an improved and dignified life.

Now we would like to ask your assistance once again in order to reach the magic number. If you could send a link to our website, email some friends, or just tell them how they can help us and invite them to become a sponsor of child’s family, we would really appreciate it. If they don’t want to commit to the sponsorship but still want to help, they can choose to become a member. They can find the enrollment form at the link below or you can send to them. And don’t forget donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.

Enrollment Form

We are now Health Public Politics in Belo Horizonte

Today, the articulation between public power and the non-profit organizations is an important tool at the public politics development. To transform successful projects, elaborated and applied by the civil society, in governmental projects is a way to amplify the beneficiaries scale, starting from an already tested and approved methodology, thus with more chances and effectiveness. This is what is happening with the social inclusion methodology developed by Associação Saúde Criança Renascer, which inspired health public politics and social assistance at the city of Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais.

Click here to read more.