Join us on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. for:

• Reflections from our Board and Volunteers
• A warm welcome to our 2025 Board of Directors
• Highlights from our 2024 Impact Report

📍 Location: Innovation Works, 201 King Street, London, Ontario
🕠 Time: 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. ET

To let us know that you’re coming, please register here!

If you would like to join virtually, please register here!

We hope to see you there!

126 individuals, families and organizations donated almost $100,000 to Heart-Links to make this work possible. At our annual general meeting last Sunday, Trish Gergich, chair of Heart-Links’ board of directors, reflected on the year gone by and on Heart-Links’ recent visit to Peru. “I continue to be inspired and hopeful today,” she said, “because I can see that we are making the world a little bit better together.”

As Trish noted, big change starts with small actions, small conversations and a community. In 2023, the Heart-Links community between friends in Peru and friends in Canada gave rise to many small but powerful stories of resilience, change and hope. You can read some of those stories in our 2023 Impact Report.

“I am honoured to be a part of this amazing group of partners, community members, volunteers and donors,” Trish told the gathering (in person and virtual). “Thank you for being part of it, too.”

Who did your generosity help in 2023? What impact did you make? Who else is part of the Heart-Links community?

Our 2023 Impact Report will answer many of these questions. And we’d be happy to answer any others you may have. You can reach us at info@heart-links.org or by telephone at 226-884-2845.

The achievements of 2023 inspire us to carry on. We will continue to work in solidarity—with you and with our partners in Peru—to create a more just and equitable world.  

• Messages from our Board Chair, Treasurer and Projects Committee
• Introduction to our 2024 Board of Directors
• Presentation of our 2023 Impact Report
• A fond farewell to long-time staff Ruth Taylor

As part of the celebration, in-person guests can enter a draw for one of two door prizes.

And here’s another special treat: several of our partners will join us virtually from Peru!

When: Sunday, May 26, 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET
Where: Innovation Works, 201 King Street, London, Ontario

Register for IN-PERSON attendance here.

Can’t make it to the in-person event? Join us virturally by Zoom!

Register for ZOOM attendance here.

When: Sunday, May 26, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Where: Innovation Works, 201 King Street, London, Ontario AND by Zoom (link to come).

Learn about the impact your donations made in 2023. Help us celebrate another year of working together to create a more just world.

We have invited our partners to join the celebration, too. Virtually from Peru!

What can you expect at this fee-admission event?

• Messages from our Board Chair, Treasurer and Projects Committee
• Introduction to our 2024 Board of Directors
• Presentation of our 2023 Impact Report
• Good company, refreshments and a door prize!

We hope to see you there!

Erla spoke of the many crises Peruvians have edured recently: COVID19, political upheaval, racism, repression, flooding and now the worst outbreak of dengue in the country’s history. She spoke of the temptation to give in to discouragement and despair.

But Erla also spoke about hope. And about the amazing work Centro Santa Angela’s Leadership School is doing to “weave together” a better future.

Founded in 2014, the Leadership School has developed the leadership skills of scores of Peruvians, women and men, young and old. Graduates across the country exercise leadership that is horizontal, democratic, ethical and commited to human development. They are active and engaged citizens, holding their governments to account.

Heart-Links has been there from the beginning, providing financial support, accompaniment and solidarity.

But don’t take our word for it. Listen for yourself to what Erla has to say about this crucial initiative.

“Helping each other out. That’s what communities do. But it really makes a difference if you already have an organized community . . . that’s used to working together and values working together. That’s what our partners have been doing—building these kinds of communities.”

—Sheila Horrell, Heart-Links’ Peru Projects Committee

Heart-Links volunteers, donors, and guests connected in person and via Zoom last May 28 for our first-ever hybrid annual general meeting. Together we celebrated our partners’ achievements in 2022. And we celebrated the community of supporters whose donations make this work in Peru possible.

Your donations helped fund seven projects in Peru totalling just over $84,000:

• 34% on literacy and education
• 16% on leadership
• 30% on sustainably communities
• 20% on health and wellness

All Heart-Links projects promote gender equality. They respect and value the knowledge and culture of project participants. In Cajamrca, this means preserving and promoting Indigenous Andean culture.

In the video below, Sheila Horrell describes (with photos!) how these projects have helped build resilient communities. Heart-Links’s decision to fund 2-year projects allows our partners to plan ahead. Our flexibility allows them to respond to changes on the ground, such as COVID19 or the recent flooding.

“Our partners know that we trust them,” Sheila says. “They are good, good partners, and we are very proud to be part of their extended community.”

Our donors are also part of this extended community where people work together and help each other out. Thank you for helping to create a more just and equitable world.

For the first time ever, Heart-Links’ Annual General Meeting will be hybrid.

What does that mean?

It means that we will celebrate with our community IN PERSON for the first time in three years.

When: Sunday, May 28, at 1:30 p.m. EDT
Where: Innovation Works, 201 King Street, London, Ontario

But that’s not all hybrid means.

Can’t make it to the meeting? Don’t live in the London area? You can attend remotely by Zoom! 

What can you expect at this fee-admission event?

• Messages from our Board Chair, Treasurer and Projects Committee
• Introduction to our 2023 Board of Directors
• Presentation of our 2022 Impact Report
• Special guest speaker Erla Hoyos, of Centro Santa Angela (joining us virtually from Peru)

We are very excited to share with you the impacts of the work you supported in Peru last year. And we are thrilled to have Erla Hoyos join us. Erla will fill us in on the current situation in northern Peru and tell us about how Centro Santa Angela’s Leadership School is changing lives there. (Translation will be provided.)

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone again and to seeing new faces as well!  

Register for IN-PERSON attendance here.

Register for ZOOM attendance here.

If you questions, email info@heart-links.org or phone 226-884-2845.

Personal long-term connections like these are a hallmark of Heart-Links’ work. The seeds the Sisters planted more than three decades ago have grown but also evolved. The work Heart-Links supports in Peru has changed as conditions have changed.

After many years of working as Heart-Links’ agents in Zaña, in 2019 Delicia and Cecilia founded the Madre Oliva Association—a woman-led independent organization. Madre Oliva Association promotes comprehensive and sustainable human development through training programs and income-generating projects. The Association’s programs advance gender equality, environmental stewardship, leadership and community organization.

Watch the video to learn about Madre Oliva Association’s work in 2021 and what they up to this year.

145 individuals and organizations in Canada donated just over $109,000 to Heart-Links to make this work possible. When Trish Gergich, chair of Heart-Links’ board of directors, spoke at our annual general meeting, she reflected on the many creative ways our partners addressed the challenges caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and how to best help their communities.

She also remarked on the passion our donors have shown in their unwavering commitment to our partners and the communities they work with in northern Peru. “You are also at the heart of our work,” she said. “Thank you.”

Who did your donations help? What impact did you make? Who else is part of the Heart-Links community?

Our 2021 Impact Report will answer many of these questions. And we’d be happy to answer any others you may have. You can reach us at info@heart-links.org or by telephone at 226-884-2845.

The achievements of 2021 inspire us to carry on. We will continue to work in solidarity—with you and with our partners in Peru—to create a more just and equitable world.  

“One thing that has struck me, as I look at the ways in which our friends and partners tackle the needs they see, is that they always lead to the development of better communities.”

—Sheila Horrell, Heart-Links’ Peru Projects Committee

Heart-Links volunteers, donors, partners and guests connected via Zoom on May 29 for our annual general meeting. Canadian and Peruvian friends reconnected, and viewers and volunteers new to Heart-Links got a taste of what Canadian-Peruvian solidarity can accomplish.

Together we celebrated the achievements our partners made in 2021 with your support in the areas of education, health and wellness, gender equity, environment and leadership.

Your donations helped fund nine projects in Peru totalling nearly $70,000:

• 35% on literacy and education
• 14% on leadership
• 28% on sustainably communities
• 23% on health and wellness

In the video below, Sheila Horrell describes (with photos!) how these projects—whether the focus is on literacy or women’s empowerment, Indigenous knowledge or vaccinations—always have the end goal of stengthening the communities our partners work with.

Like Sheila, Heart-Links is proud to be part of these intiatives, and we are very grateful to each of our supporters for helping create a more just and equitable world.