Protection Program
Adoption Program
Roots
In La Casita de Nicolás we offer integral protection to children and teenagers who find their rights violated, represented in physical, mental or moral risks, while defining their legal situation.
La Casita de Nicolás temporarily welcomes children, providing them with all the necessary professional services to guarantee their psychosocial well-being.
With an excellent team, La Casita offers a project full of charisma that radiates love to all those who have the opportunity to personally live the experience of an adoption.
Protection Program License
Resolution 0205 of January 30, 2017
ABOUT LA CASITA
La Casita de Nicolás is a non-profit institution that provides shelter to children surrendered by their biological parents to the state’s protection system. At the same time, it guides adoptive parents in the development of their adoption process, in order for it to be successful and comply with all guidelines established by Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar (Colombian Family Welfare Institute).
HISTORY
La Casita de Nicolás was founded on April 20, 1978, inspired by the tragic loss of the child Nicolás Betancur Hernández.
A group of Antioquian ladies, led by Nicolás’ mother, María Cecilia Hernández Betancur, voluntarily decided to help children who were abandoned in shelters of the Municipality.
While working with the children, the volunteers learned the story of Manuel, a very malnourished and delicate child who in a few days would be adopted by a Swiss family.
The case of this little one allowed the volunteers to visualize the importance of providing well-being to children in a state of vulnerability, who may potentially have a family that guaranteed their happiness. With this in mind, they shared with friends the idea of founding a small house where they could take good care children that could be adopted, since there was no other foundation with a legal adoption license within the city.
It was decided that the adoption center would be called “La Casita de Nicolás” (Nicolás’ Little House) in honor of Nicolás Betancur Hernández, and as a logo they would use the face that Manuel’s adoptive parents dreamed of, in which they announced their adoption.
La Casita de Nicolás was then established as a private non-profit entity based in the city of Medellín, authorized to undertake protection and adoption programs for children with violated rights, under the regulation of Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar (Colombian Institute of Family Welfare) and Código de Infancia y Adolescencia (Infancy and Adolescence Code).
To the date, La Casita de Nicolás has contributed to the well-being and development of hundreds of children and adolescents and has made adoption possible for parents in Colombia and other countries such as Netherlands, the United States, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Australia, Belize, Canada, Finland, Denmark, among others.
MISSION STATEMENTS
VISION STATEMENTS
In 2030, La Casita de Nicolás will be recognized nationally and internationally as a non-profit, self-sustaining foundation generator of positive changes in children, adolescents and the family as a pillar of society.
GOALS
A) .Provide integral protection to the child and/or teenager who has their rights violated in any way, offering them from the moment of their admission to the Institution, all assistance and sustain required from a family: affective, emotional, nutritional, health-related, educational, legal and recreational, until the child and/or teenager obtains the protection and guarantee of their fundamental rights.
B) .Protect the child and/or teenager, based on maintaining and supporting the family structure, thus protecting their fundamental right to “have a family and not be separated from it.” In compliance with this premise, after checking the ICBF through the protection teams, the impossibility for the child and/or teenager to continue living with their biological family or origin, and obeying the requirements mandatory by law, the institution will proceed to seek a suitable adoptive family, Colombian preferably, or foreign, that guarantees their harmonious and integral development.
C) . Link the biological father and the extended family to the program whenever it is possible.
D) .Stimulate the biological parents, the development of adequate habits in sexual and reproductive health, building a work of prevention with the purpose of achieving a responsible parenting.
PARAGRAPH 1: LA CASITA DE NICOLAS Foundation, as an institution linked to the Family Welfare System and duly authorized by the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, will adhere to the norms established for the institutions of protection that advance comprehensive care programs for children and / or teenagers, pregnant women and adoptive.
Administrative management documents
OUR ALLIES
The altruism of these small, medium and large companies, makes it possible for our children to have the necessary nutrition, nurturing, recreation and general care for their healthy growth.
Today and always we want to tell you: Thank you!
