New: Help unlock a $25,000 matching gift with your monthly gift! Learn more >
153 Million children are affected by the orphan crisis
Creating a world where orphaned youth become secure, healthy, and connected.
Zoe Empowers works with child-headed households and their families impacted by the global orphan crisis.
Through a three-year, locally-led program, participants become safe and healthy, skilled for long-term success, and able to lead meaningful lives within a supportive community providing them with a positive impact.
214,953 children empowered
Zoe Empowers has empowered 214,953 young people since 2007
95% self-sufficient
>95% of Zoe graduates are completely self-sufficient at the end of our three-year program
11 program countries
We serve orphaned and vulnerable children in Kenya, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Liberia, Tanzania, Mozambique, India, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia.
$9/month empowers one child
Our three-year holistic empowerment model provides lifelong impact for only $9/month.
The difference is empowerment.
For decades, the global response to help orphans has been largely relief-based, yielding recipient dependency, donor frustration, and little transformation to support children in their area of need.
By creating opportunities for helping orphans to become skilled, healthy, and connected community members, we not only solve the core issue of extreme poverty but eliminate the need for endless aid.
We focus on health and safety, long-term success, and connection.
Once enrolled, our indigenous staff organize participants into mutual care groups of 60-100 children. For orphaned and isolated youth, the group becomes an extended family. Over three years, groups receive micro-grants and training to achieve sustainable success and well-being across every area of life.
Every child deserves to become safe and healthy.
“We used to be called dogs for sleeping outside. Most days we did not know where each other were living. Today, we are no longer wandering. My proudest moment was the day I put my feet in our house because it meant reunification with my brothers.”
Jean Claude, Jean Batise and Nkomeje Rwanda Program Graduates
Secure Food & Housing
Youth are equipped to grow, cook, and store food, and make necessary housing improvements.
Hygiene & Access to Healthcare
Youth learn basic hygiene and disease prevention; access to healthcare is available if needed.
Child Rights Initiatives
Youth are educated on rights, including gender equality, preventing future abuse or exploitation.
Children are skilled for long-term success.
“I had a young mind to succeed but lacked the resources to make it happen. Zoe Empowers made a bridge for me to cross over to success. Today, I can take myself to the next level of education and pay for my own university degree.”
Josephat Kenya Program Graduate
Access to Education
Youth have resources to re-enroll/begin formal education, some attend college and beyond.
Vocational Training
Youth pursue greater incomes through individualized training funded by the program.
Business Skills & Financial Fluency
Youth receive micro grants to fund business endeavors and are taught accounting and investing.
Every child is wrapped in layers of community.
“The women in my community used to tell me that I was not worthy of medical care or education because I was an orphan. Today, those same women come to me for food and I always assist them. I am no longer stigmatizes by my community and this gratitude that I feel motivates me to help others.”
Sharleen Zimbabwe Program Graduate
Community Reintegration
Youth embody a sense of belonging and confidence as respected leaders making a positive difference in their communities.
Family Reunification With Agency
Youth rejoin siblings and adult relatives knowing how to enforce their human rights and contribute financially.
Spiritual Strength
Children experience the gospel in both action and words in ways that are never coercive.
Life after graduation.
Zoe Empowers group members continue to support one another after graduation. Lives continue to improve as generational change is realized. Entire communities are transformed.
Kenya Program Graduate