Ways We Help

The Focus of Our Efforts

Community Outreach

Helping Those Who Need Us Most

Sponsorship Program

The Future Looks Bright

Family Empowerment

Making Change Possible

Community Outreach:

Outreach is essential to the sustainability of Streets to Success Foundation. We must maintain our connection with our boys, who are still unhoused. Our program developed directly from meeting, playing, and growing our relationships with the boys living in the Kisenyi slum. Therefore, we are happily obliged to continue our outreach program. Bi-weekly, we gather with a group of the boys there to host a program involving games, education, and personal hygiene. Some volunteers mend and sew old and torn clothes for the boys.

There is free basic medical aid (wound care, malaria, thypoid treatment, etc.) alongside a growing trusting bond being created. We focus on a harm reduction and educational model for our outreach. We pair up with local professionals to host classes for the boys. These classes include first aid, drug education and safety, sex ed, art therapy, mental health, football classes, and beach days. We want to encourage necessary life skills and promote getting out into the community and experiencing more than just 'Kisenyi life.' We spend time getting to know each boy, and when they are ready, we begin to learn about their past and the reasons that led them to live on the streets. From here, we provide free counseling and work on a stability plan to get them off the streets. The main highlight for these boys is a free meal and water. The time they spend with us takes away from them being out collecting scraps, bottles, and bags. Thus, they won't make as much money. Outside of the program, staff are heavily involved in day-to-day life in Kisenyi. Not a day goes by without one of us visiting the boys currently on the streets and keeping our bonds growing. We are also lucky to have a staff member in Kisenyi full-time. This allows us to stay up to date with any medical needs, the mental health of the boys, and the safety of the boys.

Any general donations given to Streets to Success will also benefit the boys on the streets and our outreach with them.

Sponsorship Program:

The only way to end homelessness is by providing homes and income. At Streets To Success Foundation, our model is harm reduction and low barrier focused. Once we have worked with the boys at outreach and built a stability plan, focusing on their strengths and ways to minimize their weaknesses, we search for any family member or next of kin who can assist in the sponsorship program. From there, we work with the boys to get medical and dental checkups. Provide the boy with clothes, personal hygiene kits, and other necessities. Once completed, we reunite the boys with their families and discuss businesses.

We consider the boy's and families' location and community and give our advice, but the boys and their families make the final choice. These businesses include craft making, a shop, a street food business, a pig farm, etc. If they find themselves wanting a career in which they need vocational training, this can include driving schools, baking courses, tailoring, etc. We work to connect them with local teachers. Once decided, we provide the family with a "start-up sponsorship." We offer a one-time donation to build their education/business. Our goal is to provide independence, income, integrity, and pride. We work with the families to make a housing stability plan and work with them on the budget, financial literacy course, and overall case management provided by our social worker. Once the business is completed, the boys and families will run and upkeep. Our goal is to minimize dependency or reliance on us and provide the boys and families with the pride of knowing this is their business they run and upkeep and can offer a local business and resources to the community. All the hard work and thanks can be given to the boys and their families. Once their business is up and running, our social worker will meet monthly with the boys and their families. These meetings can discuss budgeting, personal and mental health concerns, or whatever they feel is essential to consult with a social worker. Our social worker will visit monthly for case management for six months to a year, depending on the needs and requests of the boy. This is how we bring the boys from streets to success.

Family Empowerment:

Family empowerment and reunification are essential to the boy's success. A common misconception is that the unhoused children are orphans. Although that may be true for some, most boys have a family. Most boys end up in Kisenyi due to poverty at home and a preconceived idea of a better life in Kampala. We work with the boys to reconnect with their family; this may mean a parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt or uncle, etc.

For each case, we work with social workers, psychologists, field workers, the community, and the boys and their families. Family reunification will look different from case to case. While we work to mend the relationships between boys and family, it doesn't always end in a rehoming of child and family. Depending on age and other factors, the boys may live independently away from family and keep their family relationship to just phone calls and short visits. In contrast, others may reconnect and live at home. We also work with each family to meet their needs. We may pay for families' medical needs and buy them food or other necessities when needed. We provide case management for the boys and the families for up to one year to help provide necessary life skills. Poverty is a circumstance no one desires to be in; understanding that these families are in dire need of help, we want to ensure we are also keeping their integrity, dignity, and respect at the forefront; this is part of the reason we work with them to create a business. Not only are we allowing the families to decide which business they believe is best for them, but this is their independent business, and we have no rules or stipulations for our one-time donation. They will be able to have pride knowing they created, ran, and will have a business independently. We aim to see local businesses flourish under the boys' and their families' motivation and determination.