ROOFtoLIVE started as a family project that grew into a non-profit 501(3)(c) organization based in Manta, Ecuador and registered in the state of Vermont, USA. ROOFtoLIVE is funded through private donations, corporate giving, and contributions from private foundations..... 100% of all donations go toward building homes to improve disadvantaged communities in Ecuador.
Ecuador’s Poverty Profile
The Ecuador Poverty Report of The World Bank states that, although the oil boom of the 1970s led to unprecedented growth, poverty remains pervasive in this Andean country. The distribution of wealth is highly skewed, and close to four million Ecuadorians, about thirty-five percent of the population, live in poverty. Another seventeen percent are vulnerable to poverty. One and a half million Ecuadorians live in extreme poverty and cannot meet their nutritional requirements even if they spend everything they have on food. Poverty is higher in rural areas, where two out of three poor people live.
Despite positive results showed in the last 10 years in regards to poverty alleviation, significant challenges remain in terms of the sustainability of these achievements in reducing poverty and inequality and in ensuring sustainable, inclusive growth. More than half of the Ecuadorian population continues to live in poverty or is vulnerable to again falling below the poverty line. Targeted public investments still largely depend on the oil sector. More than 25% of Ecuadorians live with less than $2,60 a day (The World Bank, Apr 10, 2014).