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aboutus

At Family Hope Charity, We believe that regardless of who you are, where you live, or what circumstances you find yourself in, everyone has a special place in the human family. There is no "them," only "us." Therefore, "their" problems are our problems, and nobody has the privilege of being a bystander.

 

In 2006, Family Hope Charity started out as a simple training program in Zambia to help young people acquire skills in building trades and small business management. However, as the organization grew, so did its mission.

 

In 2008, Family Hope Charity began a series a programs around

the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. In Korogocho, the third-largest slum

around Nairobi, Family Hope Charity worked with clients

who were affected by HIV/ AIDs, substance abuse, violence,

poverty and other diseases break through the despair and

darkness often associated with the cycle of poverty. We provided

a peer substance abuse recovery program for those who

struggled with addictions, an after-school program for the children of our clients who were affected by violence, poverty and disease, and provided free medical camps. 

 

Today, we partner with specialized organizations around the globe to develop sustainable

programs that accomplish three goals:

  1. providing impoverished children who have experienced the negative effects of violence or substance abuse with educational supports and coping skills to assist them in meeting the challenges provided by their personal and family life situations

  2. providing education scholarships for individuals between the ages of twelve and twenty-two

  3. providing job skills training and entrepreneurial support to young adults

 

While our methods have evolved, the goal has always remaind the same...

 

Creating livelihoods and life skills training opportunities for impoverished families whose lives have been affected by disease, substance abuse, violence, ignorance and chronic poverty.

OUR FOUNDER

Tom O'Hern

Tom dedicated his life to bringing relief and a measure of faith and hope to people in the worst and most forsaken slums of Nairobi, Kenya. Moved by the acute suffering he witnessed in Kenya, Tom founded Family Hope Charity to confront a world in which the greatest killer of innocent men, women and children is neither war nor disease, but rather, simple indifference. Too many of us, faced with the unfathomable misery on this planet, choose to turn away instead of making the difference we can. Fortunately for the people in the slums of Nairobi, Tom was never one to turn away from his responsibility to care for the less fortunate.

 

Every day, Tom woke up in abject poverty and walked in solidarity with the afflicted carrying with him the message of hope and redemption. One of Tom’s favorite quotes from St. Vincent de Paul was: “Let us love God, but let it be by the sweat of our brows and the strength of our arm.” In hindsight, one might think St. Vincent de Paul was summarizing Tom’s life.

 

Tom passed away in service to others on Tuesday, November 11, 2014 due to heart failure because of complications resulting from pneumonia. May his name be a blessing in loving-kindness and his spirit live on in the work of Family Hope Charity.

Ready to give hope? Contact us!

CONTACT US

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Tel: 847.358.3483

P.O. Box 2838

Palatine, IL 60078

info@familyhopecharity.org

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