A Fresh Start: La Posadita del Buen Pastor Women’s Shelter 

Young women escaping abuse, trafficking, abandonment, or extreme poverty in Peru often have nowhere safe to turn, particularly when family relationships have broken down or become dangerous. Without a secure place to stay, many face an impossible choice between remaining in harmful circumstances or facing the risks of homelessness, including further exploitation.

La Posadita del Buen Pastor provides shelter, meals, guidance, and support to vulnerable young women seeking a genuine fresh start. Residents receive not only basic physical necessities but also counseling and structured opportunities to begin rebuilding their lives in a safe, nurturing environment, one designed specifically around the needs of young women who have experienced trauma or exploitation.

Sheltering young women fleeing abuse and exploitation embodies the Catholic Social Teaching principle of the Life and Dignity of the Human Person, affirming that no woman’s worth is diminished by what has been done to her. The shelter’s name, invoking the Good Shepherd, reflects Maryknoll’s charism of seeking out those most at risk of being lost, offering not just refuge but the sustained guidance needed to build a genuinely new life.

Gifts to this project provide shelter, meals, counseling, and guidance that offer vulnerable young women in Peru safety, healing, and a genuine pathway toward independence.