The story
In 1998 Philip and Jill Aspegren moved to the Dominican Republic to build an orphanage and train nationals to care for the children there with KidsAlive. But there had to be a better way: a less expensive, less institutional, quicker way to care for children internationally. They began to dream of a childcare model that does not require new buildings and that places children in families rather than in homes.
Moving to Costa Rica in 2005 they began to network with local churches, recruiting families belonging to those churches to care for children. Children who have been separated from their biological families are placed in families on a short-term basis while their family is identified and counseled. Children are also placed in Casa Viva homes long term when it is impossible for the child to be reunited with their biological family. Children placed in a Casa Viva home have the advantage of growing up in a home that is surrounded by extended family, local church, and the support of the Casa Viva center.
From Wikipedia’s article on Casa viva, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3