Vicar Hope Foundation
AbbreviationVHF
FormationNovember 2015 (November 2015)
Founders
TypeNon-governmental Organization
Legal statusNon-profit
PurposeHealthcare, Education, Fighting poverty, Indigent Housing, Gender-Based Violence, Climate and Environment, Youth and Women Empowerment.
Headquarters183 Ndume Otuka Bypass, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.
Coordinates5°31′14.1456″N 7°30′41.8782″E / 5.520596000°N 7.511632833°E / 5.520596000; 7.511632833
Area served
Abia State, Nigeria.
MethodDonations, grants
Key people
Websitewww.vicarhopefoundation.org

Vicar Hope Foundation(VHF), is a non-governmental organization founded by Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu and registered in Nigeria as a not-for-profit. It has a nine-member board of trustees. It was incorporated on 11 November 2015. The Foundation has Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council(ECOSOC)[1]

Vicar Hope Foundation is involved in health, education, gender based violence, climate and environment, poverty reduction, skills acquisition and development for the indigent, housing for indigent people, welfare, youth and women empowerment. It has headquarters in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria where it runs a youth centre and also operates one of its two medical centre that focuses on sickle cell disorder, care for elderly people, maternal and childcare. The second medical and diagnostic centre is located in the city of Aba, Nigeria.[2][3][4]

Programmes of the Foundation

Health

The Foundation runs deworming of school kids in community schools.[5][6][7] and promotes sensitization and awareness on preventable diseases as ‘’’diabetes and ‘’’cancer’’’ while its medical centres provides early detection services for breast cancer including screening and examination. Vicar Hope Foundation piloted a collaboration of the State Ministry of Health, Nestle Nutrition Institute of Africa,[8] and Nigeria Society for Neonatal Medicine to train 100 medical personnel drawn from private and public health institutions. Medical doctors, nurses, midwives, community health extension workers and a couple of local birth attendants were amongst persons who benefited from the two-day intensive training course on NEONATAL RESUSCITATION AND ESSENTIAL NEWBORN CARE, a critical intervention procedure applied in the first minute after birth which is critical for helping the baby to start breathing especially where medical facilties are unavailable in rural Africa.[9] The Foundation also support indigent new mothers.[10] The Foundation operates two medical centres that provide care for the elderly, sickle cell disorder and maternal and child care.[11][12][13] The Sickle Cell Care department of the Centre apart from disease management and care also offers counselling and outreach services. It is the most functional in a region that has a combined population of about 16 million people. Its location gives it proximity to the rural areas of Abia State, where there is minimal presence of specialized health centres. It also makes it accessible to rural dwellers that form the bulk of people who are most vulnerable to multiple economic and physical effects of sickle cell disease.[14][15][16] The Foundation sponsored the passage of a legislation in the State Legislature that seeks to reduce the prevalence of sickle cell disorder.[17]

Education

The Foundation has constructed classroom blocks and donated school furniture and books to rural communities in Bende Local Government Area and Obingwa Local Government Area.[18] It also delivers scholarships to students through its subsidiary programme, ISLEF.

Climate and Environment

UN Habitat’s Urban Thinkers Campus

Working with the Abia State Government, professional and community-based organizations, Vicar Hope Foundation put together an Urban Thinkers Campus, an activity of the UN Habitat’s New Urban Agenda that featured workshops, discussions, and activities in 2017, setting the stage for many engagements between the UN-Habitat and Abia State Government, leading up to concrete actions to tackle key urban challenges such as housing, transportation, environmental sustainability, climate change and social inclusivity in Abia State. The Urban Thinkers Campus is as a platform for individuals, organizations, and stakeholders to come together and discuss urban issues, share ideas, and collaborate on solutions for sustainable urban development and slum recovery.[19][20][21][22][23]

Gender Based Violence

VHF GBV Response Programme[24] assists survivors entering the referral pathways to access appropriate health, legal and psycho-social support and services. .[25] This Focal Desk provides support for rapid response to GBV as they occur. Vicar Hope Foundation is also committed to developing strategies and guidelines while collaborating with implementing partners to organize trainings and public awareness programs and enhanced partnership with key stakeholders to curb GBV.[26] Vicar Hope Foundation coordinated a stakeholder movement that led to the introduction of the Abia State Violence Against Persons Prohibition(VAPP) Law. VHF Founder, Nkechi Ikpeazu led a coalition of groups to the State House of Assembly to advocate for its passage[27][28]

Youth and Women Empowerment

The Foundation maintains a hub for young people at its headquarters. It also utilizes a programmatic approach to engaging with young people and women, organizing boot camps and workshops that create growth opportunities [29] The organization runs Springboard an initiative to train and empower indigent people with skills and equipment to make them self-reliant. It draws inspiration from “GOAL1” and “GOAL5” of the Sustainable Development Goals.[30][31] It is funded by Vicar Hope Foundation and partners. Vicar Hope Foundation has at various times distributed empowerment equipment to help rural people start up small businesses.[32]

Housing for Indigent

The Foundation runs a programme named Widows-Indigent Shelter Scheme (WISS) which has provided homes for over 180 persons as at October 1, 2023.[33][34]

References

  1. ↑ ""Continuing Session, Non-Governmental Organizations Committee Approves 75 Entities for Status with Economic and Social Council, Defers Action on 43 Others"". UNITED NATIONS. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  2. ↑ ""Skills for Abia rural dwellers"". The National Newspapers. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Vicar Hope Foundation trains 50 people on skills acquisition". The Guardian Newspapers. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  4. ↑ ""governors-wife-calls-couples-go-genotype-text-marriage"". Sunrise Nigeria newspapers. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Abia Govs wife to deworm 130,000 pupils in Abia State". Daily Independent Newspapers. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  6. ↑ "" Abia Intensifies Efforts To Deworm School Children"". ThisDay Newspapers. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Mrs Ikpeazu Flags-Off Deworming Exercise Charges Parents On Adequate Care Of School Children". AllAfrica. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  8. ↑ "" nnia-partnership-with-abia-state-government-to-tackle-infant-mortality."". The Nestle Nutrition Institute. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  9. ↑ ""Abia First Lady trains 100 caregivers on neonatal resuscitation"". Daily Times Nigeria newspapers. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  10. ↑ ""abia-govs-wife-rescues-indigent-nursing-mothers-detained-over-hospital-bills"". Guardian newspapers. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  11. ↑ ""Ikpeazu supports establishment of sickle cell centre"". The Business Day newspapers. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  12. ↑ ""Aisha Buhari Commissions Sickle Cell Center in Abia"". MedicalWorld Nigeria. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  13. ↑ ""Vicar Hope Foundation Aba Branch Moved to Permanent Site"". National Ambassador newspapers. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  14. ↑ ""Providing Succour to Sickle Cell Patients through Vicar Hope Sickle cell treatment and diagnosis centre"". The News Chronicle. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  15. ↑ ""Succour for sickle cell patients"". Vanguard newspapers. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  16. ↑ "I am committed to fight Sickle Cell". www.championnews.com.ng. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  17. ↑ ""Vicar Hope Foundation Holds Workshop as Nigeria Tops Chart of Children Borne With Sickle Cell Disease"". National Ambassador newspapers. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  18. ↑ ""Abia First lady's Foundation builds and commissions classroom blocks for Obingwa school"". Daily Times Newspaper. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Nigeria: Stakeholders Seek Road Map for Better Shelter in Abia". AllAfrica. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Urban Thinkers Campus: Governor Ikpeazu harps on the need for urban physical planning". National Ambassador newspapers. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Vicar Hope Foundation Drives UN-Habitat New Urban Agenda In Abia State". Abiastate.gov.ng. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Abia Governor Stresses Need For Good Urban Planning". Business Day newspapers. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Vicar Hope Foundation Abia to Host Urban Thinkers Campus-UTC". Fact News Online. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  24. ↑ ""16-Days-of-Activism Against GBV - Vicar Hope foundation Sets Up Response Desk"". Fact News. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  25. ↑ ""Baby Rescued From Uncompleted Building In Abia "". National Ambassador newspapers. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  26. ↑ ""Foundation Partners UNESCO to End School Related Gender Based Violence"". Supreme Magazine Newspapers. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  27. ↑ "" Abia-Passes Anti Violence Law Redefines Rape For Males"". Daily Trust newspapers. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  28. ↑ ""Baby Rescued From Uncompleted Building In Abia "". Punch newspapers. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  29. ↑ ""Ikpeazu Charges Women To Get Involves In Practical Leadership"". The National Ambassador Newspapers. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  30. ↑ "Vicar Hope Foundation trains 50 people on skills acquisition". The Guardian Newspapers. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  31. ↑ ""Skills for Abia rural dwellers"". The National Newspapers. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  32. ↑ "Mrs. Ikpeazu distributes empowerment items to indigent women in Abia State". Abia State Government. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  33. ↑ ""Ikpeazu wife builds houses for widows in abia"". The Punch Newspapers. August 6, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  34. ↑ "" Nkechi Ikpeazu lifts widows, the blind with houses"". The Guardian Newspapers. December 9, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
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