PETROPOLIS, Brazil (LifeSiteNews) — An orphanage for disabled children in Brazil has nearly reached its funding goal thanks to the generous support of LifeSite donors.

As of June 5, the Catholic Community Jesus Menino (“Boy Jesus”) in Petropolis, Brazil has received over $42,000 dollars for greatly needed repairs.

Tonio de Mello, the founder of Jesus Menino, has said the improvements are necessary due to heavy rain last year that brought “significant challenges to our community, and unfortunately, the dormitories where our children live are in desperate need of renovation.”

Currently, De Mello is an adoptive father to 47 children with disabilities ranging from autism to cerebral palsy, many of whom were harmed by botched abortions.

Children in the Jesus Menino community were either abandoned at birth or are the survivors of failed abortions, while others would have been aborted were it not for De Mello’s assistance to women in crisis pregnancies.

“We are a non-profit association, a true family, which depends entirely on the generosity of others,” De Mello has said. “Our mission was born from the heart of God, and He sustains us every day.”

WATCH: Brazilian man caring for disabled children needs help to repair community home

LifeSite has launched a LifeFunder to help De Mello raise the funds needed to repair the orphanage. Currently, the campaign is at 84% of its goal with one week remaining. To donate or to learn more about De Mello’s mission, click here.

For more information on the Jesus Menino community, read these previously published articles from LifeSite here and here.