While the grand prize was awarded on 08 November 2007 to Brother Constant Goetschalckx for his work in providing high-school and college education to thousands of African refugees through a program administered by the Catholic University, the Homeless People’s Federation received US$100,00.00 for being among the finalists.

In his letter to Reverend Carcellar, Ambassador Gaa expressed his hope that the honor and recognition bestowed on the leadership of Reverend Carcellar and the Federation will serve to inspire our “kababayans” to support non-government organizations that are working to improve the living conditions of poor urban communities in the Philippines.

The Homeless People’s Federation Philippines was chosen as a finalist by the Opus Prize Foundation for its work in enabling squatters living on the Payatas garbage dump in Quezon City to create community savings program and credit programs, purchase land, build housing and set up waste disposal and water distribution systems. Founded in 1991, the organization is a national network of urban community organizations, associations of poor people and scavengers and community-based savings group constituting more than 70,000 members from 18 cities in the Philippines. # # #