About Us
SOBERP-The Beneficiente Evangelical Society of Ribeirao Preto is a non-profit, non-denominational civil association created in 1986 when some evangelical churches in Ribeirão Preto noticed an opportunity to follow the Biblical commandment to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in an effective way and to help the needy and afflicted in our society.
OUR HISTORY
SOBERP was created May 1, 1986 in Ribeirão Preto as a non-profit civil entity, in order to serve as a legal "covering" that would seek to bring under one designee all the social work developed by the evangelical body of Ribeirão Preto.
The first component that was started was the Rev. Napolean Pereira Lins Pre-School, which began
it's activities in 1986, created when the leaders of Congregation of Evangelical Churches (I.E.C.) of Ipiranga detected the lack of social care of infants (preventative work) in the region. Work started within our own church buildings, caring for 60 children. The number that actually attends is 48 needy children who receive resources and are in social-risk situations. They receive daily care in pre-alphabetization, nutrition, play and basic orientation, similar to ways of a boarding school (from 7:30a.m. until 4:30 p.m.).
From there, starting the second component for service in 1989 was only a question of time. Fruit from the sacrificial work of a volunteer of SOBERP, the Pastor of the Evangelical Congregational Church of downtown and his wife, created the Center of Triage for needy minors called "Clubinho." It was a rented location, supported by I.E.C. of downtown. In time, the house where the minors passed through for a visit (the teenagers living on the streets would spend the day being watched in "Clubinho" and would return to the streets or to their houses at the end of the day) was changed to an integrated boarding house, serving more like the only home for the teens, called "Clubinho." This serves as a temporary shelter (in accordance with the Protection Act, Article 101, initiative VII of ECA "a shelter of being" for children and teenagers of both sexes, in high risk personal and/or social situations, deprived or impeded from family conveniences by the action or omission of the State; because of action or abuse from parents or those responsible; and/or for reasons of behavior). The capacity is 14 children and teenagers, from the ages of 0 to 18 years old and 21 years old if handicap (under supervision).
In 1994, aiming to systemize the work that was informally developed by the Social Assistance of "Clubinho" with the families and friends and in conjunction with the public project developed to clean up slum regions, families coming from diverse slum areas were brought together to one location. However, without institutional support to reorganize their lives and develop a new way of life, the Community Center's "Project Creation" was born. Attending to the neighborhoods Maria Casagrande and Alexandre Balbo II since November 2003, we offer these pre-professional courses: crochet, painting on pottery and cloth, aesthetics (training in hair cutting, waxing and manicures), introduction to computers, training in producing jewelry, embroidery, etc.
At the same time, still in 1994, some members of the church Comunidade Cristã in Ribeirão Preto, who were doing hospice volunteer work to those with HIV and full blown AIDS, felt the desire to offer a place to welcome those who were sick, seeing that many in this situation were completely abandoned by family and excluded socially. Then the House of Support for those with HIV was created, "Missão HIVida" (HIV/AIDS Mission) which took care of people until November 2003. There was a monthly average of 12 adults, of both sexes, sick with AIDS, in need of material resources, excluded by society and family. It continued to provide home assistance through constant visitations for guidance, companionship, and direction to community resources and services, as well as medical donations and general supplies.
In 2001, SOBERP initiated the Training Program "Clubinho". This program has benefitted 40 adolescents through the offering of training courses and professional preparation. This is allowing them to be a positive impact in the marketplace through worthwhile work, reversing the stigma of poverty, inequality and social exclusion that they are subject to.
In 2003, SOBERP started developing the program "Vida Nova" (New Life), which in August 2005, was added to their headquarters, it included a pre-professional center, and in the beginning of 2006 a new Pre-School for 120 children was added.
In November 2003, in accordance with a new civil code, which did not permit SOBERP to be the legal "covering," SOBERP, in agreement with the church Comunidade Cristã in Ribeirão Preto, ended the legal relationship which existed since 1994, transferring the civil responsibility of the various programs, including "Project Creation" and "HIV/AIDS Mission" to the aforementioned church.
At the end of 2003, a new work was started, workshops for parents, to provide what was missing as detected in the Training Program: to strengthen relationships between the adolescents and their parents. In virtue of the positive results, in 2005 this work was extended to the parents of the students in the Pre-School Rev. Napoleon P. Lins under the name of Parents' Club.