Crecer Staff
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Glenda- Education Coordinator
Glenda has been our primary educator at Crecer since 2020. Before joining our team, she worked at a private high school where some of our Crecer kids study. Her dedication to not only education, but the wellbeing and overall health of her students convinced us to offer her a job. She currently teaches our 8th and 9th graders, as well as works with our elementary-level students as they catch up on the years they have spent away from school. When she’s not in the classroom, she can be found sewing and mending clothes, helping prepare lunch, or making a mean balloon arch for a birthday celebration. In her own words, “it has been a pleasure to be part of this noble project that I feel has become my family.”
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Keili- Psychologist
Keili joined Crecer in 2020 as our on-site psychologist. It’s doubtful that any of us could have predicted just how hard 2020 was going to be and Keili fought tooth and nail to be available to the kids during the worst days of the pandemic. She is patient, funny, and zeroes in on the best qualities of our kids, which has earned her trust with even our toughest of critics. In her own words, Keili says, “it’s a privilege to be a part of this team, where we contribute to the integral wellbeing of our teenagers, where every day we see their lives changing in order to achieve their goals.”
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Alberto- Teacher
Alberto joined our team in 2021 when our private school kids started studying things like chemistry and biology- classes that surpass the average persons ability to help with homework. Alberto joined us as a part time tutor and when we saw Cs and Ds become As and Bs, we knew we would need him for years to come. He teaches math and science classes to our 8th and 9th graders, as well as continues to tutor our private school kids in the more challenging, practical classes. He says, “my job means supporting each student in their education and formation, watching them grow and be a part of this loving Crecer family.
TCHP Children's Home Staff
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Elsa- Sub-Director
Elsa started as a caretaker back in 2012 and has now added many responsibilities to her plate as the Coordinator of Orientation. Elsa does a little bit of everything, but her main role is making sure that our caretakers have their needs met so that they can in turn meet the needs of our kids. She is incredibly perceptive and knows each of our kids better than just about anyone. She loves her job because she feels like we are “continuing the mission of Jesus on earth” by caring for vulnerable children. She loves that she gets to be a caring, loving mother-figure to all of our kids. In her spare time, she can be found anywhere in nature!
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Nayra- Administrator
Nayra has been working her excel magic in the foundation since 2017 as our full-time administrator. She has an uncanny ability to organize and does an amazing job of making sure that all of our finances and legalities are in check. Her favorite part of her work is spending time with the kids, receiving their love and spoiling them in return, as well as the satisfying feeling when the numbers check out at the end of each month. If not at The Children’s Home, she can be found studying, watching movies, and hanging with family.
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Marvin- House Leader
Marvin has been on staff since 2014 and has been a fan-favorite ever since. He doesn’t work in just one spot, because anything Marvin is asked to do, he does it with enthusiasm and excellence. His favorite thing about his job is spending time with the kids and contributing to their formative years. When he isn’t working, you can find him with his wife and twin boys or on the soccer field!
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Bessy - House Leader
Bessy has been giving her heart to our kids in TCHP Children’s Home since 2013. If someone says it can’t be done, Bessy finds a way. She loves to help our kids develop their knowledge as our coordinator of elementary school. She also enjoys creating strategies for the kids to learn easier, and making sure the house is organized so that everyone can live in peace. When she isn’t with the kids, she loves to spend time with her three dogs, or go to relax at the hot springs.
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Sharon - Bellas Caretaker
Sharon has been loving every second of her time with our girls since 2019. She loves time spent with them and when the girls express themselves. She says that those moments, where the girls express that they know they are loved for who they are, are the most marvelous moments of her work. When she isn’t with our girls, she can be found caring for her three daughters at home!
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Sara - Amor y Paz Caretaker
Sara joined our family in 2019 and life has been better every day since. She loves that she has the opportunity to help each child overcome the traumas that they have lived through, and remind each of them how special and loved they are. When she isn’t with the kids, she loved spending time in the mountain home where she grew up with her husband and kids.
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Sindy - Amor y Paz Caretaker
Sindy has worked at TCHP Children’s Home since 2021 as a caretaker for the Amor y Paz boys. She loves hearing all the nonsense that teenage boys have to say, giving them advice when they ask, and knowing that they know they can count on her for what they need. When she isn’t working, she loves to read, listen to music, and spend time with her mom!
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Nahun - Amor y Paz Caretaker
Nahun joined the TCHP Children’s Home family in 2022 as a caretaker in the Amor y Paz house. His favorite thing about his work is spending time with the kids and playing a small part in their personal development. When he isn’t working, Nahun loves to play the piano in his church.
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Dunia - Amor y Paz Cook
As our longest standing employee, Dunia has been making all the tortillas every day since 2004. She is an amazing cook and is lovingly called “mother” by kids and employees alike. She loves when people enjoy her food, especially when it’s our teenage boys. If not cooking at TCHP Children’s Home, Dunia can be found spending time with her family.
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Clare - Support Staff
Clare has been part of TCHP Children’s Home since November 2019. What started as lending a helping hand with English homework and big behaviors has led to so much more. As support staff, Clare works with Haley and the team on everything from new hires to family visits. One of Clare’s very favorite parts of her work is supporting staff members by giving them a space to share and feel heard. Clare splits her time between TCHP Children’s Home and counseling work, soon to finish her master’s in Counseling. When she isn’t working, Clare loves spending time with her partner, Miguel, in search of Central America’s best cup of coffee!
TCHP Team
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Jenny Kast - Founder and Director
Jenny is the founder and Director of The Children’s Home Project. What started in 2010 as a desire to get one boy out of a severely subpar government home and then a deeply rooted need to be able to continue to invest in Honduras once she moved back to the States, has grown to having worked with a handful of homes and loving hundreds of children. When not counting down the days until she can return to Honduras and reunite with the other half of her heart, she can be found at various coffeeshops around Phoenix recruiting team members, planning fundraisers, figuring out how to file non-profit taxes, among way too many other things to list. She lives in the States with Sean, her fireman husband, Leo and Nico, their sons who just might be the most adorable children on earth and one naughty pup named Barkley. (The name turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.#mistake) Click here to read more about Jenny’s origin story.
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Jilli Schulz - Director of Crecer
Jilli is the director of Crecer, our day center in San Pedro Sula. She, along with her team, works with 15 kids and their families to empower and equip them to one day break out of the cycle of poverty in which they’ve lived their whole lives. She feels lucky enough to consider these kids family as she fights tooth and nail to constantly remind them how perfect and loved they are. Jilli is from Maryland, but has lived in Honduras since 2012. And while she loves her pollo con tajadas and pretending to be into soccer, nothing will ever replace Old Bay seasoning or watching Ravens games in Maryland. And yes, she annoys the kids until they agree to be Ravens fans as well. When Jilli is not at Crecer or getting coffee with the kids, you can find her at her favorite plant nursery, spending way too much money on new plant bebes, or at home with her five* cats and three* dogs, reading, watching, or listening to true crime content. Stay out of the forest!
*still subject to change
**and by change she means increase
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Haley Janssen - Director of TCHP Children's Home
Haley is the Directora of TCHP Children’s Home, our children’s home where 28 precious kiddos eat, sleep, learn, and love. She works alongside an amazing team that raises the kids from a base of patience, compassion, and healing. She is a TBRI Practitioner and geeks out at anything related to Karyn Purvis or developmental trauma healing strategies, which has turned fundamental in raising our kids from hard places. Her days consist of a thousand hugs, talking through behaviors, training staff, and making too many trips to the pulpería for snacks. Haley was born and raised in Nebraska but has called Honduras home since 2016. She lives alongside the very best neighbors turned family and thanks sweet Jesus for the community she has been given. When she is not working, you can find her raiding the chocolate drawer in her fridge or falling asleep to anything she tries to watch on Netflix alongside her handsome husband, Danny!
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Marie Regala - Director of Sponsorship and Program Management
Marie was born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and feels so very lucky to be a part of the TCHP family. She is a big fan of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, soaking up the sun and dancing whenever and wherever she can. Her journey with The Children’s Home Project started the winter of 2015, when she went down to Honduras for the very first time with Haley. From that very first trip, she knew that she wanted to be a part of this world in any way she could. As TCHP’s Director of Sponsorship and Project Management she has the incredible opportunity to create and facilitate human connections through sponsorship and support the TCHP staff with whatever is needed. She constantly can’t believe she gets to share the gift that is being in these kids’ lives with others and she can’t wait to continue to share that with you!