Welcome to the Beck Community Development Foundation

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. “ Anne Frank

The Beck Community Development Foundation’s service work in the United States, Mexico and Central America over the past years embodies these words. After numerous aid trips to Central America to assist impoverished communities to build lasting social change capitalizing on Beck’s most valuable assets-the development, design, planning and building skills of its employees-the Beck Foundation made a multi-year commitment to catalyze the improvement of educational infrastructure in San Antonio Juarez, a community one hour outside of the city of Puebla, Mexico. The Beck Community Development Foundation’s approach is to work with the community to identify their needs, collaborate to develop sustainable and lasting infrastructure and assist them in making the most of the assets they possess. The Beck Foundation decided to establish its activities in Mexico because it is a country full of contrasts and social needs.

Mexico´s slow yet solid democratic transition coupled with unprecedented economic growth did not ameliorate the high level of poverty and social inequality as revealed in the statistics cited below.

Poverty: (CONEVAL 2007)

In a country of 107 million people:

· 13.2% of the population lives in extreme poverty, which means that they do not have sufficient resources to obtain a basic food basket.

· 20.7% of the population lives in poverty of capacities which means that they can afford to buy a basic food basket but do not have sufficient resources to invest in health or education.

· 42.6% of the population lives in general poverty, which means that they have access to a basic food basket, education and health but do not have a minimally aceptable standard of living such as adequate clothing and transport for all members of the household.

Social inequality: (CONEVAL 2007)

· Mexico has the highest income inequality out of all countries in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

· The medium monthly income of the poorest 10% of the population is 1,000 dollars which is lowest than in any other developed country.

· 10% of the richest population holds 39.3% of nation´s wealth

In the face of these stark social indicators, the Beck Community Development Foundation aims to play a critical role in contributing to Mexico’s social development. The Foundation will use a rigorous methodology to identify key social problems, design innovative initiatives that build on community assets and engage other civil society actors in order to maximize resources and impact. The Beck Community Development Foundation is committed to building better futures with communities in need.

We will use this blog as a space to exchange ideas about innovative approaches to social development and to share our experiences in implementing projects to address community needs. We invite you to engage with us, to respond to our blog posts and to share your ideas and opinions in order to enrich this conversation.