The Barranquilla Mayor’s Office, Fundación Grupo Argos, and Fundación Santo Domingo delivered 300 home improvements in Villas de la Cordialidad, Barranquilla

• The families who benefited from the program now have safer, healthier, and more suitable homes.
• The intervention model was implemented using the Hogares Saludables program methodology and combined public and private investment. Seventy percent of the resources were contributed by the Barranquilla Mayor’s Office, while the remaining 30% was provided by Fundación Grupo Argos and Fundación Santo Domingo.
• In addition to the physical improvements, the families received basic construction training to strengthen their skills and promote the proper maintenance of their homes.

The Barranquilla Mayor’s Office, Fundación Grupo Argos, and Fundación Santo Domingo officially delivered 300 home improvements as the result of a partnership that made these interventions possible through a public-private collaboration model based on the Hogares Saludables methodology. Thanks to this initiative, more than 1,000 people now have more dignified, safer, and healthier homes, directly contributing to improving their quality of life and reducing gaps associated with Colombia’s qualitative housing deficit.

Hogares Saludables is a Fundación Grupo Argos program that seeks to help reduce Colombia’s qualitative housing deficit through interventions that improve essential living conditions. Through a collaborative model involving the public sector, private companies, and social organizations, the initiative promotes concrete solutions that transform homes, strengthen communities, and generate sustainable well-being.

“We are proud to contribute to ensuring that 300 families in Barranquilla can now live in more dignified, safer, and healthier homes. We will continue advancing initiatives such as Hogares Saludables, which expand opportunities and strengthen community well-being, while showing us that with optimism, hope, and a shared purpose, we have every opportunity to continue building a better country,” said Juan Esteban Calle, President of Grupo Argos.

In addition to its financial contribution, Fundación Grupo Argos, through the Hogares Saludables team, provided technical support for the interventions, supervising the works and applying its own methodology, which allows home improvements to be completed in approximately two weeks. As part of the process, families also participated in a basic construction course designed to strengthen their knowledge of home care and maintenance and to build lasting capabilities within the communities.

“At Fundación Santo Domingo, we believe in the power of partnerships to generate sustainable transformations in people’s lives. This program demonstrates that the impact goes far beyond improvements to kitchens, bathrooms, or floors. These transformations are reflected in the health, coexistence, quality of life, and well-being of children, young people, and adults who now live in safe spaces that create new opportunities and enable social mobility,” said José Francisco Aguirre, Executive Director of Fundación Santo Domingo.

Since its creation, the Hogares Saludables program has delivered more than 12,000 home improvements in 15 municipalities across Colombia, benefiting nearly 30,000 people with an investment of more than COP 35 billion and consolidating a network of public, private, and social partners working together to transform housing conditions in communities.

In Colombia’s Caribbean region, the program has transformed communities in Barranquilla and Cartagena, bringing together public and private partners, including Fundación Santo Domingo, whose commitment to the region has been key to the implementation and visibility of the program. According to an impact study of Hogares Saludables conducted by Universidad EAFIT, endorsed by the American Economic Association and supported by MIT, some of the program’s positive effects include:

• Children under the age of six living in improved homes report 20 percentage points fewer episodes of fever than children under six in households that did not receive interventions.
• Members of participating families report 7.5% better mental health compared with households that did not receive interventions.
• The self-reported mood of participating households improved by 16.4% after the intervention compared with households that were not part of the program.
• At least 80% of heads of participating households fully complete the construction and life-skills course.
• 41% of participating households feel more comfortable inviting people into their homes as a result of the infrastructure improvements.

These results reflect the impact of a model that combines resources, technical expertise, and social support to generate sustainable transformations across communities.