CHANCE PROJECT(s)

In 2009 we invited homeless into our home. We realized they were the ones that most need a space that would invite them in as dignified, valuable creation. We began by offering a warm meal and a listening ear. Today, two years later, they eat, shower, change clothes, wash their dirty garments, get a haircut, share their stories, and listen to others. They call themselves the XICXOU family, which is a slang meaning “very cool”. They are a very cool community.
But this is not enough.
We invite them weekly to change their journey… to pursue something better. They are accepted and cherished, and they know that what we desire is to be a place, a group of people, that invites them to open their wings, to live the life they were created to live.
If we extend the invitation, we must be ready to provide the means for change.
Today our home dreams of opening a drug rehab center and a halfway house for the men who chose to take flight. In the last year, three of our homeless friends have chosen to rehabilitate their lives: Alemao, Eduardo, and Samuel. Not one of them has a stable family or community to return to. We want to provide a house where they can call home, and receive the emotional and spiritual support to stay clean, and the tools to become a valuable part of society and contributors to a healthy community. Setting up this home is the beginning.
But that’s not where we stop.
We also want to establish a drug rehab center where men get the chance to start over in a holistic community (small businesses will be run from within to create an internal economy). In addition to changing addictive habits, lessons will include relapse prevention, work ethic, professional skills and administration of finances.

We want to give these men a CHANCE to change.
We are in the business of giving people a CHANCE.
CHANCE bags is the way we want to raise funds for this dream - this needed reality. The bags are made with “upcycled” material, and produced by the community that wants to see the change take place – our communal home, our partners, our homeless friends, and recovering drug addicts.
We want to use material that represents the country we are developing, Brazil. This is why we’ve chosen to build CHANCE bags with used soccer jerseys and soccer balls. This is where you can contribute. Bring along any and all soccer jerseys you are willing to donate to this movement, and be a part of giving people a CHANCE.

For every CHANCE bag sold, a homeless friend will receive a CHANCE to change.