Life in the poverty and squalor of a Costa Rican squatter’s settlement, a precario, leaves many feeling helpless. As a result, some parents turn to alcoholism and drug abuse, leaving their children vulnerable to dropping out of school and to the subsequent allure of easy money and high-risk behaviors that come with a life in drugs. Costa Rica has over 300 squatter’s settlements, or “precarios,” in which more than 33,095 families live— almost all of whom live below the poverty line. The majority of those living in precarios are immigrant families from Nicaragua inhabiting small shacks made of corrugated tin. After arriving as immigrants to a new land and culture, most precario residents are separated from extended family support and traditional social services due to not having proper documentation. They find themselves trapped in a situation often worse than what they left behind and with little hope of finding a way out.
In 2006, Boy With a Ball launched a game changing innovation for transforming slums called, “Love Your City,” in the El Triángulo de la Solidaridad precario in San Jose, Costa Rica. At the time, this precario housed 3,000 people living on three acres where the average income per household was $200 per month. The average resident had only a 3rd-grade education. Lack of opportunities due to low levels of education created a fertile breeding ground for gangs, crime, and drug and sex trafficking to occur producing a community overcome by fear.
Love Your City outreach efforts, powered by youth as changemakers, began building relationships with every resident in El Triangulo. As relationships grew, a process known as "appreciative inquiry" led to the launch of high-impact mentoring relationships and small groups across the community aimed at helping youth in the community succeed academically. A weekly women's group helped moms come together to fight for each other as they fought for their children. A dental clinic brought hope, demonstrating to the entire community that God was bringing help in a tangible, life-changing way. A weekly tutoring center and an annual school supply drive served as catalysts in helping young people rise beyond the community’s initial average 3rd grade educational level to a shocking, new 6th-grade level. These early efforts paved the way for local churches, businesses, and multinational corporations to give their time and funds to provide mentoring, scholarships and career counseling for an emerging generation of high-performing students within El Triangulo.
By 2009, Love Your City helped 40% of the community to rise out of poverty and leave the precario for regular, middle-class housing. In 2016, Boy With a Ball was invited to share the story of Love Your City lifting the El Triángulo precario out of poverty at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank. By July of 2019, the El Triángulo precario was razed as each family had grown out of living there. With the help of local churches, businesses like the Western Union Foundation and the Intel Corporation, and funding from the U.S. State Department, Love Your City and the young leaders who led it had lifted an entire slum out of poverty.
