Mercedes is 68 years old. A grandmother, a caretaker, a survivor.
For most of her life, she worked quietly in the shadows—harvesting crops, washing clothes by hand, cutting discarded clothing into rags just to earn a few cents. When her daughter suffered a stroke during childbirth, Mercedes became the sole provider for six grandchildren. She was 64.
She never stopped. But she never truly lived… until this year.
In a warm, flour-dusted kitchen in Cuenca, Ecuador, something extraordinary began to rise: Mercedes’s purpose. Thanks to a pilot program created by local women and powered by community support, Mercedes learned to bake—and sell—bread. Not just for survival, but for dignity, stability, and joy.
That program? It’s working.
Every roll of bread is sold. The kitchen is alive. The grandmothers are thriving.
But now the oven is full, and the waitlist is even fuller.
200 more women—many in their 60s and 70s—are waiting for the chance to join. To provide for their families. To rise above poverty. To change the story.
And today, you can be the reason they do.
One new oven triples production.
One gift creates space for dozens more women to earn fair wages, heal from trauma, and become pillars of hope in their homes.
This Mother’s Day, let’s honor the women who nurture us—by empowering the women who are nurturing generations to come.
Your gift doesn’t just bake bread.
It breaks generational poverty.
It restores purpose.
It says to a grandmother like Mercedes:
“It’s not too late. You still matter. You still belong.”
Give today. Help us buy a new oven and say yes to 200 women waiting to rise:
https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/grandmothers-baking-for-a-better-future
Because when one woman rises, generations do too.
comunidad@heartsofgoldfoundation.org
City: Cuenca
