WILK’s Hope for Widows Program (HFW) supports marginalized widows through community building, small business skills training, and grants of goats and cash. This is the fifth year we’re helping widows bloom in this program, which has now reached 190 women. We’re so proud of how hard the first four groups worked to gain independence and self-esteem through their small businesses.
A Successful Campaign
From 2022 to 2024, Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities awarded WILK a 3-year, $90,000 grant to pilot our Hope for Widows Program. We are thrilled to share that Raskob Foundation has renewed this grant for 2026 through 2028, awarding us $30,000 each year!
With this seed capital, we launched our spring fundraising campaign which had two goals: (1) to fund remaining HFW program expenses for 2026, and (2) to establish our new REDCap Data system in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania.
Thanks to our incredible donors, by May 1 we met—and exceeded—our goal! With funding secured, we proceeded with building the data system and welcoming Group 5 Widows.
Improving HFW Data Collection
We love when friendships turn into partnerships. That’s exactly what happened when Dr. Richard Landis, husband of our Board Member Linda, learned more about HFW last year.
During his career, Dr. Landis headed the UPenn’s Clinical Research Collaboration Unit (CRCU), part of the Perelman School of Medicine, for most of its 20-year history. He thought the department’s offerings could support WILK’s HFW data system, which collects participant data through questionnaires. This data helps us understand the effectiveness of our efforts, but it lacked a unified method of collection and analysis.
So far, the UPenn and WILK teams revitalized the HFW data forms, built the backend REDCap system, and collected Group 5’s baseline survey.
We are grateful to Dr. Landis and our new partners at the CRCU for offering their expertise to help us better understand those we serve in Kenya. We hope to share these findings with you as they emerge and leverage this data into larger grants in the future.
Welcoming Group 5 Widows
This spring, we onboarded Group 5 women from two new regions: Eselengei and Osoit. At their orientation meetings, our Kenyan Team encouraged the women to open up to each other, a crucial step in building trust. Before the program, women were isolated, grieving the loss of their husbands and the challenges that followed. Through this program, they’ll build community and confidence.
We couldn’t run this program without the devotion of our Co-Founder Joseph Larasha, our Field Officers Cate Olegei and Nelson Tinayo, and our special instructor and mentor Esther. They ensure lessons get taught and women are supported each step of the way.
In July, these women joined other groups at the Goats, Grants, and Graduation Ceremony. Follow along on our Facebook page for more updates on these incredible women!
