Family Empowerment & Sponsorship Program

Hope For Korah's Family Sponsorship Program

The Hope for Korah (HFK) Family Empowerment Program offers hope and a future to the most vulnerable families in Korah, Ethiopia. These destitute families have been separated and broken through illness, death, desperation & persecution; leaving them with a feeling of hopelessness, fear and bondage to the poverty that entraps them.

Keeping Families Healthy & Keeping Families Together

Due to the impact of poverty, families in Korah are often separated or abandoned; with some children living in the countryside with relatives to reduce costs, or with one or more adults in the home leaving to find work in another region or country. These social and economic burdens disproportionately fall on women as they are often left to care for their families, which significantly increases the risk of precarious work and exploitation. Families are faced daily with the impacts of malnutrition, illness and illiteracy which further complicate their ability to provide for basic needs.

The purpose of this sponsorship program is to take action towards breaking the cycle of extreme poverty for families living in Korah. This is done using a holistic approach that acknowledges the biological, psychological, social, spiritual, and environmental factors influencing each individual. HFK focuses on the family unit as a whole, recognizing that illness or struggle in one family member’s life can have an adverse effect on another member’s ability to work, attend school, engage fully in the community, or to provide financially for the family’s needs. Because ill health can be such a critical roadblock for families living in these conditions, HFK has made preventative health treatment and education a significant priority. Additionally, children’s education plays an instrumental role in breaking the cycle of poverty through offering opportunities for greater skill development and higher learning. This is one way to ensure that the future generations of Korah are equipped to overcome the barriers that poverty has placed in their lives.

Available Sponsorships

How It Works:

Hope for Korah seeks to further promote self-empowerment and economic stability for families through engaging adults in:

The purpose of this program is to take action towards breaking the cycle of extreme poverty for families living in Korah. This process requires community participation and is inspired by principles such as collaboration, inclusion, resourcefulness, and interdependence. The goal of increasing health, education, and participation in IG and SHGs is to help families transition successfully into self-sufficiency. As a family transitions through the 6 phases of sponsorship, they are given the opportunity to move out of critical living conditions and into a more stabilized, supportive environment. Our belief is that holistic wellness will ultimately contribute towards healthy, stable and self-sustainable families.

Program Overview

Family Empowerment Sponsorship Phases

Our goal is for families to transition through the following empowerment phases, moving out of sponsorship and into self-sufficiency:

Stabilization Phase
Growth & Development Phase
Pre-launch Phase
Business Development & Launch Phase
Transition Out-of-Sponsorship Phase
Maintenance Phase

Assessment & Monitoring

Through regular monitoring, HFK is better able to track individuals’ progress and challenges, allowing us to come alongside each individual in unique ways to promote empowerment.

We have developed an assessment tool which is used bi-annually to track individuals’ holistic progress in the areas of: Literacy, Numeracy, Money Management & Business Skills; General Health & Wellbeing; Employment & Life Skills; and Community & Family. The 4 assessment categories and accompanying questions are intended to help HFK & KGHC staff assess participant readiness to take the next steps towards self-sufficiency.

How Is My Donation Allocated?

As a family progresses through the six phases of sponsorship, the allocation of funds will change while the monthly sponsorship fee remains the same. Below is a pie graph that shows how the monthly fee is disbursed during the first four phases of sponsorship. When a family reaches phase five, they begin to support themselves and an increased percentage of the monthly fee is allocated away from basic needs into other areas of support on the graph.

Once a family reaches phase six, the' family sponsorship' ends and the parent(s) no longer receives support for basic needs, and the children are transfered into an 'educational sponsorship'. In phase six, the parent(s) continue to have access to supportive programs such as being a part of self-help groups, trainings, family and community programming and family health services. The children transfer into an educational sponsorship and continue their involvement in school, after-school tutoring and other youth programs. Upon graduation from high school, they have opportunity to apply for a post-secondary sponsorship.

HFK Family Sponsorship - Phases 1 - 4

Funds Allocation: Disbursement of 1 Full / $130.00 Monthly Sponsorship

Once HFK has secured 1 full sponsorship for a family, we are able to enrol them into the Family Empowerment Program. As the cost of living in Korah is so high, 91% of this fee will go towards basic needs and medical. This leaves only 9% to be divided between the other supports this family receives. Therefore, HFK matches each family with 2 Full sponsors, to better off-set the much greater costs involved in helping this family break out of poverty.

Funds Allocation: Disbursement of 2 Full / $130.00 Monthly Sponsorships is below

Family Support & Funding

The supports each family receives from their sponsors are further detailed in the areas of distribution below. With the exception of basic needs, which is fully funded by the sponsors, all other areas of supports are subsidized by related programs or the HFK General Fund.

Basic Needs
Sponsorship covers 100% of what is needed to help support a family's basic needs, including rent, teff (Ethiopian grain/staple food), groceries, hygiene products, and firewood.

Medical
Sponsorship contributes a portion of the overall medical costs for a family. These include doctor visits, prescriptions and medical treatment, hospital visits. Medical costs are subsidized by additional donations given to the HFK's Health Services and the General Fund.

Education & Youth
Sponsorship contributes a portion of what is needed to cover the educational and programming costs for all the children in a family. These include school fees, uniforms, supplies, daycare, berta breakfast, after school tutoring, snacks, soccer, special events and youth programs. These costs are subsidized by donations given to related programs and the HFK General Fund.

Community Programming Sponsorship contributes a small portion of what is needed to cover a family’s participation in family and community programs such as trainings, celebrations, community meetings, special programs, adult education, purchasing & transportation costs, community gifts, home repairs, Ethiopian staff and leadership support. All these costs are heavily subsidized by the HFK General Fund.

Income Generation & Business Development
Sponsorship contributes a portion of what is required to economically empower a family. These include involvement in income generation activities, business & skills training, business start-ups & grant, self-help groups, materials, supplies, compound rent & equipment. These costs are subsidized by donations to related programs and the HFK General Fund.

HFK Administration
3% of sponsorship fees goes towards HFK administration & operating costs in Canada/U.S. This amount remains the same throughout all six phases of sponsorship.