Techo plans 700 emergency homes for earthquake victims in Venezuela and Colombia

Techo is turning a Miami fundraising event into a housing campaign for families affected by earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia. The Chilean-founded NGO raised more than $1 million at the Miami Ayuda a Venezuela y Colombia benefit.

The funds will finance 200 rapid-installation homes in Venezuela and 500 in Colombia. The event brought together 270 members of the Latin American community in the United States, including businesspeople, philanthropists and artists such as George Harris, Joaquina, Yovanna Ventura, Camila Canabal, Daniela Durán, Luisa Rangel and César Ruiz.

“We seek to transform solidarity into action so that as many families as possible can access this temporary solution and leave tents, shelters or environments where they lack minimum protection,” said Juan José Ayerza, Techo’s executive director.

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We seek to transform solidarity into action so that as many families as possible can access this temporary solution and leave tents, shelters or environments where they lack minimum protection.

Techo has already built 25 emergency homes in La Guaira, northern Venezuela, and began constructing the first seven housing modules in Colombia’s Valle del Cauca. Ayerza said the organization would continue mobilizing support to maximize its impact for Venezuelan and Colombian communities.

Techo operates in 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries. Over nearly three decades, it says it has delivered more than 153,000 homes and responded to wildfires, hurricanes and earthquakes in countries including Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Haiti.

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We will continue mobilizing as much as we can to generate the greatest possible impact.