ABOUT US
Family Hope International partners with US sponsors, church partners, corporate sponsors and vision partners to do this work freeing families from extreme poverty through monthly support and empowerment.
We have a clear, step-by-step process that enables us to move families through a program within a 3 year timeframe. Our goal is short-term support for long-term transformation.
Family Hope International
Family Hope International was established in August of 2011. The Vision was born out of the desire to prevent more orphans in Ethiopia. Before Family Hope International, there existed no solution to help families on the verge of collapse. Due to severe poverty and disease, many families disintegrated because mothers had no means to care for and feed their children. Often, the only option was for mothers to relinquish their children to orphanages or abandon their children to the street.
Since 2011, Family Hope International has been able to welcome over 900 families into the program. These families have been embraced, equipped and empowered towards a better life! This represents nearly 4,500 men, women, and children who have been helped. These families have been stabilized and empowered, freeing them from extreme poverty and allowing them to stay together and prevent their children from becoming orphans!
Our Family Preservation Model
EMBRACE
Embrace families on the verge of collapse with compassion and support
EQUIP
Equip families by meeting their basic needs through sponsorship
EMPOWER
Empower families with small business loans and mentorship
EMPLOY
Employ families to be self-sufficient through small business
Program Operation
Family Hope Internati onal is a 501c3 registered non-profi t organizati on that was established in 2011 to set families free from extreme poverty. We work with families in some of the poorest areas of Ethiopia and Kenya. We do this by mobilizing U.S. Sponsors, Vision Partners, U.S. Church Partners, Ethiopian and Kenyan churches, and our in-country FHI Leadership and Staff. Currently, we are serving over 500 families in 5 geographic areas of Ethiopia and 1 in Kenya. This represents roughly 2,000 individuals and over 1,500 children.
Sponsorship - Family Hope International is funded in-part based on a sponsorship model. We advocate for our families by finding individuals and families in the U.S who will sponsor them. One hundred percent of the $50 monthly sponsorship goes to Africa to support our programs.
Case Managers work directly with these families and are visiting them on a regular basis, mentoring them, and praying for their needs. They create a report that allows us to share progress, set-backs and imminent needs of our families with their sponsors. Except for imminent needs, we provide their report to sponsors twice a year. Case Managers are also responsible for distributing the monthly food and household items the families need to make it through each month.
Business Managers work hand-in-hand with the Case Managers and families to identify small business opportunities that will support the family after they graduate from the program. They train the business owners, usually women, in how to run a small business successfully. They will visit the small business on a monthly basis offering advice and mentoring on how to grow their business and manage it in a profitable way. They also manage the banking for each small business to ensure accountability.
The local pastors visit with our families at least twice per month sharing the Gospel and praying with the families whether they are Evangelical Christians, Ethiopian Orthodox or Muslims. We do not limit the families that enter the program based on their faith. In fact, we have found that by showing the love of Christ through Case Managers and the local pastors, entire families are giving their lives to Christ in all areas that we serve.
We oversee a three-year program that begins with an intake interview to embrace families identified as the most vulnerable by the local churches and Case Managers. A U.S. sponsor is paired with each family and equips them by providing a monthly donation that is used to supplement rent, food, basic medical care, school supplies, and other minor household expenses.
After the first six months, we empower families by identifying a small business opportunity to create meaningful and profitable work. A small business loan from a U.S. sponsor is provided along with training and mentoring from our local Business Managers. The loan is paid back over the next twenty-four months, at which time they can run the business on their own. They are now employed and self-sufficient. Once a family has “graduated” from the program, the U.S. sponsor is contacted and asked to consider sponsoring a new family that is in need.
2021 Graduates: 38 families
2022 Graduates: 50 families
2023 Graduates: 106 families
2024 Expected Graduates: 152 families