We are excited to kick off something new!
The last two weeks, a facilitator from Zambia is teaching all our social workers about a family preservation and empowerment program called the Graduation Approach. This time-bound model teaches poor and vulnerable families about:
financial literacy
how to form savings and loans groups
entrepreneurship and skills training
using seed capital to begin a small business
The program also provides families with seed capital and supports their family’s basic needs as they establish a new business.
We plan to pilot this project with 20 families. Half will be families with children that Shelter Yetu has rescued from the streets, and the other 10 families are at risk of separation. We hope this will give parents dignity, lift them out of poverty, and allow them to provide for their families!
Another organization using this program reports great results: 95 percent of the families who were eating one meal a day are now eating two or three meals a day. That’s a big impact!
This initiative aligns perfectly with our mission to empower vulnerable families to move beyond extreme poverty and become self-reliant to meet their own basic needs, improve their communities, and build better futures for themselves and their children. Please reach out if you would like more information about this initiative or would like to partner with us.
Shelter staff heads into the field as part of the practical training for “The Graduation Approach.”