Loving Yourself ForwardAnnual report · Cebu, Philippines
Where the girls are going
LYF's year to March 31, 2026, and the six months since.
October 2026
LYF's year to March 31, 2026, and the six months since.
October 2026
What changed
Loving Yourself Forward works with girls and young women from urban-poor families in Cebu City and Talisay. Many are still in school; many are already mothers. LYF puts a floor under them when something goes wrong, and helps each one toward the next step: school, health, work of her own.
April 2025 to October 2026, counted by LYF's staff in Cebu. Not every girl comes to every session: in October the weekly group activity drew up to 75 girls, the study session 48. From October 2026 each girl's progress is assessed every six months.
Some of the girls in LYF's study program this year. The photos are LYF's own, taken at its activities. The girls quoted in this report gave written permission to share their words.
In their own words
Girls in the program recorded short videos for this report, in Cebuano, about what life was like before LYF, how LYF helped, and what is different now. Three of them, translated.
One of the girls
“Before LYF, I felt I was carrying everything alone. Sometimes it felt like I had no direction.”
“The help with money meant a lot to me and my family. But more important was the emotional support: LYF is a safe space, where they listen without judging.”
“I’m not the same as before. I’m stronger, more confident, and I know myself better. When I have a problem, I know I’m not alone.”
A young mother
“As a mother, I struggled to raise my children, especially to keep them in school. There was no one I could ask.”
“LYF helped not only me but my children: school things, money when we needed it, and above all encouragement. They taught my four-year-old to try hard and that she has worth.”
“I have more peace now, and I’m stronger. I don’t cry the way I used to.”
One of the girls
“Before LYF, life was hard, especially food. When there was a problem, I didn’t know where to go for help.”
“They are always ready to listen. They taught me to be strong, to think things through, and to look for ways to help my family.”
Me now, me in the future
In one group activity each girl drew herself now and herself in the future, and wrote why. Here are six, with what they wrote, translated from Cebuano where needed.
How the help works
Eushen Vilbar runs LYF day to day in Cebu, with outreach staff who meet the girls in person and, since October 2025, a staff member who does social work. They follow up on what each girl asked for and visit her family.
One practical lesson each week, in small groups or online so girls who live far away can join: 48 girls in October. It ends with a five-question review. A girl who comes gets ₱250, about $4, for that week; she spends it on what her family lacks most, usually food, sometimes medicine, school supplies or the water bill.
It runs every week; 75 girls came in October. Each takes a theme and answers it, often in a short video of herself: a word for who she wants to be this year, a letter to her younger self, a drawing of herself in the future. Above, some of the words they chose.
Rice and groceries for the girls' families. From mid-2025 to May 2026 this ran on Sundays with Philippine Teen Challenge, which paired it with counseling and mentoring. Since then LYF has run the distribution itself.
Checkups, medicine and surgery, diapers and milk for babies, school costs, a small business, and this year a whole house. Staff first help the family claim what the public system offers, such as PhilHealth, then LYF pays what is left.
Housing and a livelihood, January and February 2026
When LYF first visited this family, their house on stilts was falling apart. The supports had weakened over the years, and every storm made it more dangerous to live in.
LYF rebuilt it over January and February 2026. The weak posts were replaced with steel, the walls redone, and a room added so the family has space to live. At the same time Emilia, the mother, got help to start selling fruit at the market, so the family has an income of its own.
Medical help, August to November 2025
Angela needed surgery for an eye condition, and her family could not afford it.
LYF staff walked the family through PhilHealth, the public health insurance, which covered much of the cost, and LYF paid what it did not. Staff were with her from the first checkup in August 2025 to the operation, which succeeded in November, and through her recovery.
Young mothers, all year
Young mothers and girls who are expecting are a large part of LYF's work. Many are still teenagers themselves.
LYF helps them through the pregnancy and the first months: rice and groceries, diapers and milk, checkups and medicine, family-planning lessons and supplies. In April 2025 a group of young mothers studied on Khan Academy with their babies in their arms.
What the girls learn
Each week the study session teaches one practical thing: budgeting, understanding what a doctor said, writing a job application, knowing her rights, staying safe from loan traps. Many lessons use the free tools on the phones the girls already have.
Counted from the attendance lists in each weekly report. No lists are on record for the weeks of August 14 and 21.
Topics from June to October 2026
The year
From the staff's monthly reports. The numbers are how many took part that month; they stay below the number enrolled, which grew from 35 in April 2025 to 75 in October 2026.
The money
In the year to March 31, 2026, LYF's income was $38,450 in gifts and grants, and it spent $40,064. From April to September 2026 it spent $15,896. The figures come from LYF's standard statements, built from its bank records, the Cebu cash records and the bookkeeper's books, checked against each other month by month. LYF is small and young, and its books are not audited.
Shares of each period's spending. In the year to March 2026 the largest cost was food for families, run with Philippine Teen Challenge: $18,258 in all. From April 2026 the weekly study allowance became one of the largest lines, rising from 2% of spending to 28%, and food spending fell, as LYF took over the weekend distribution itself.
The money
| Month | Received | Spent |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 2025 | $2,650 | $2,431 |
| May 2025 | $1,400 | $2,529 |
| Jun 2025 | $5,750 | $3,171 |
| Jul 2025 | $1,400 | $3,372 |
| Aug 2025 | $1,400 | $2,430 |
| Sep 2025 | $3,750 | $4,923 |
| Oct 2025 | $3,400 | $4,224 |
| Nov 2025 | $3,400 | $4,225 |
| Dec 2025 | $3,750 | $1,526 |
| Jan 2026 | $3,400 | $3,721 |
| Feb 2026 | $1,400 | $3,261 |
| Mar 2026 | $3,750 | $4,130 |
| Apr 2026 | $3,400 | $2,380 |
| May 2026 | $3,450 | $3,315 |
| Jun 2026 | $3,875 | $1,967 |
| Jul 2026 | $3,500 | $2,560 |
| Aug 2026 | $1,875 | $2,491 |
| Sep 2026 | $3,500 | $3,034 |
Gifts and grants arrived every month. In the year to March 2026 LYF spent $1,614 more than its income, as the program grew; since April 2026 it has spent less than it received.
$50 a month covers one girl: her study allowance, food for her family, school costs, health care when she needs it, and the staff in Cebu who teach and mentor her. About $37 of it is hers each month, and about $13 pays for the people in Cebu who teach, listen to and mentor her. Gifts are pooled and go where the need is greatest. LYF takes a girl in only when it knows it can keep supporting her, so monthly gifts are what let it say yes to more girls.
Most of the girls' families have no regular income. So LYF pays ₱250 for each week a girl comes to the study session, and leaves it to her to decide what her family needs most. Food and urgent help never depend on attending.
At September 30, 2026, LYF held $5,695 in cash, and a $6,000 grant recommended in early October is on its way. The full statements, with their notes, are available to anyone who asks.
What comes next
Every girl is now assessed every six months, starting October 19, 2026: school, math, health and steps toward an income. Next year's report can show how each one is moving.
In October more than 50 girls joined a free Khan Academy math class. Each starts from the foundations and works toward Grade 6 math, the level LYF aims for every girl to reach.
$50 a month covers one girl. Give at every.org/lyfiscoming, or write to lyfiscoming@gmail.com. LYF is a US 501(c)(3), so gifts are tax-deductible in the US.
Dear friends of LYF,
I started helping because I watched teens around me make heartbreaking decisions just to survive.
This year the work grew. 75 girls are in the program now, up from 35 in April 2025. 22 moved up a grade, 12 graduated, 13 started a small business, Angela's eye surgery succeeded, and one family's house now stands on steel posts.
What moves me most is in their own words: a girl who says she is stronger and knows she is not alone, a young mother who says she doesn't cry the way she used to.
None of it happens without Eushen and the team in Cebu, who do the work every week, and without the people who give to LYF. Thank you.
Patrick
Patrick Bernard, founder