Community

Compassion, empowerment, praise, and blessing are the foundations of the Purple Jars Ministry. Julizza’s own photographic ministry, Purple Jars, was created in 2013 to empower families who have gone through God-sized trials. It is a way for them to memorialize the faithfulness of God with portraits. Many times, families that have lost family members, dealt with medical conditions, or gone through changes in their family dynamic, are unable to invest in family portraits. The Purple Jars ministry is dedicated to helping families praise God for their outcomes, and empower and celebrate the strengthening of their bonds through these times by providing portrait services for free. These sessions tell stories of beauty rising from the ashes through portraiture.

Julizza volunteers her time and resources once a month to such families, at no cost, so that these families can celebrate. She gifts them a small print package along with digital image files. Interested families can submit inquiries to the studio or can be nominated by a friend. In the past, Julizza helped families heal from the loss of a young child, and two young fathers. She also helped other families celebrate triumphs such as a new adoption, the surviving of cancer, the arrival of a rainbow baby, and the survival of a premature baby with health complications.

To nominate a family or inquire about a Purple Jars Session for yourself, please send your name and contact information to community@gomezportraits.com, and reference Purple Jars.

On January 12, 2010, Haiti suffered a large-scale earthquake. The earthquake occurred on the West Indian island of Hispaniola, comprising the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Most severely affected was Haiti, occupying the western third of the island. An exact death toll proved elusive in the ensuing chaos. The Haitian government’s official count was more than 300,000, but other estimates were considerably smaller. Hundreds of thousands of survivors were displaced. (reference: Britannica.com)

Since and before then, efforts from the United States to help the people of Haiti have been led by many groups, Hope For Haiti’s Children being one of them. Founded in 1995, Hope for Haiti's Children strives to demonstrate Christian compassion to poverty-bound Haitian children and their families, providing opportunities for these children to become leaders in their homes, churches, and communities. They do this by nurturing, educating, and training the children of Haiti by way of child sponsorships for meals, schools, and youth camps and classes. 

Julizza has felt called to help the cause of the poor, and believes that images of children that are joyful will give them a sense of value and worth, while blessing them with higher chances of sponsorship. Julizza have volunteered with Hope for Haiti’s Children to take beautiful portraits of the children in order to convey this message and increase sponsorship rates, which has proved successful. 

Studies show that child sponsorship works. Today, there are over 2,035 children sponsored in ten different schools associated with churches of Christ in central and southern Haiti. Currently Hope for Haiti's Children average 275 new students per year to the Child Education Sponsorship program. HFHC follows a sustainable approach in this work, having established an in-country network of trusted local Christian educators, business leaders, and other professionals who carry out the day-to-day operations. The organization’s overall score and rating from Charity Navigators is a 100, earning 4 out of 4 stars, and has earned a GuideStar's Platinum Seal of Transparency by voluntarily sharing the measures of progress and results they use to pursue their mission. (reference: charitynavigator.org)

To learn more or to sponsor a child, visit the Hope for Haiti’s Children website.