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VIDA PLENA

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STARTED: Incubation Program 2022

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Joy Bittner

Co-founder, Executive Director

SEED GRANT: $132,000

MONEY FUNDRAISED TO DATE (AUG 2023): $348,000

TEAM SIZE: 4 core team members; 11 community group facilitators

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Anita Kaslin

Co-founder, Community Group Coordinator

WEBSITE: http://www.vidaplena.global

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Building Strong Mental Health in Latin America

CURRENT OR PREDICTED IMPACT:

  • 71% of people who take part in theirprogram have significant reducts in their mental health, finishing the program with mild - to no depression 

  • Vida Plena expecst to treat 600 people by the end of 2023 and are aiming for 6,000 in 2024

COST-EFFECTIVENESS:

  • Predictive CEA, conducted by volunteers from the Happier Lives Institute

    • Estimated to be at least 8x more cost-effective than GiveDirectly in terms of improving subjective well-being

    • Cost per DALY: $462

    • Cost per WELLBY: $17

    • Projected cost per person treated at scale: $77

SIGNIFICANT UPDATES: 

  • Training partnership completed with the Columbia University Global Mental Health Lab in NYC 

  • Collaboration agreements signed with World Vision and 11 other local implementation partners in Ecuador, demonstrating on the ground support

  • Joy gave presentations at EAGx Latam in Mexico City, EA Global in SF, EA for Christians in London, and Christians in Impact in Washington DC

  • Vida Plena in the Ecuadorian national news:

  • Article in the nation-wide newspaper, Diario Expresso

  • Featured three times on national tv news, TeleAmazonas

  • Gave three full-length interviews with GlobalTV

  • Anita and Joy were selected to participate in the South Park Commons Social Innovators Fellowship, which is run by the Agency Fund

  • Vida Plena is selected to participate in an accelerator through turn.io

  • Vida Plena was awarded a USAID subgrant through IMPAQTO to provide mental health care to 600 vulnerable female entreprenures in 10 cities across Ecuador

ACHIEVEMENTS: 

  • Pilot completed: In the fall of 2022, Vida Plena completed a pilot program to test the implementation of the program model in Latin America, which included:

    • Community training: 12 local community members certified by certified by Columbia University as group facilitators

    • Inauguration of first 10 support groups: Groups are composed of an average of 7 people and meet in local neighborhood locations for 9 weeks 

  • Scaling of services: Vida Plena has continue to scale services across Quito, and is on target to treat 600 by the end of 2023.

IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS:

ROOM FOR MORE FUNDING IN 2023

  • We are seeking to raise $40,000 to meet our total 2023 annual budget goal of $230,000.  This will help us to:

    • Develop a robust monitoring and evaluation system to ensure quality of therapy offered

    • Strengthen our local partner network by establishing collaborations with 10 Ecuadorian nonprofits and local government agencies.

  • Funding proposal

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