Valley Cathedral Children’s Home

AN ORPHANAGE ON MANILA BAY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Founded by an 85+ year old grandmother/widow from Phoenix, AZ (when she was 62), Mommy Zelma Houser started this children’s home with a Filipino couple, a $5,000 savings account, and her $500 a month Social Security check. Twenty-one years later, Mommy Zelma and her staff are providing a loving family environment for 57 children – with 17 of them presently in university, studying to be nurses, doctors, businessmen, teachers, and hotel/restaurant managers.

These were   “throw away children” who would have grown up on the streets of Manila (or other large Philippine cities) – where the girls become prostitutes by age 10; and the boys (and girls) steal to live (and eat), or sell drugs; where many would end up in prison or dead before age 18 .

Instead, Mommy Zelma, her children’s home and staff have given these children, who no one wanted, hope, a future and a life.

It takes about $2,400 per year to feed, shelter, clothe, educate and cover the overhead for one child – that’s $200 per month. As more funds become available, Mommy Zelma can expand her facilities and take in more children.