Fast for Hope has been a district program for over 20 years. Over the last ten years, FFH has focused on addressing Nicaragua's extreme poverty by building community leadership and capacity. FFH has been mainly working in one community, El Corozo, and has had success by bringing children’s reading programs to the community and a community pharmacy. For the last two years, and with the help of District and Global grants, FFH has been building a community water system in El Corozo. When completed, the sustainability of the water system for this small community of about 120 families will be assured through metering and payments by the community for water usage and overall management of the system by a local water governance committee. Now the Fast for Hope program will be called LIFT. This stands for Listen, Inquire, Facilitate, and Transform, which is the guideline for the program’s effort to address extreme poverty. LIFT will continue to emphasize community leadership and capacity but will also focus on looking for opportunities for community economic development. LIFT is committed to looking not only at a community’s needs but will also focus on the causes of the needs. LIFT has already started doing data gathering and analysis to look for economic opportunities in El Corozo. On January 1st, 2023, LIFT will expand to engage three more communities in another area of Nicaragua. It is an exciting time with the success of Fast for Hope and the transition of the program to LIFT. LIFT is positioned to effectively address extreme poverty by helping communities realize economic opportunities while simultaneously assisting them in resolving their most desperate human needs. | 
