Families where there exists a disability, whether in the adult or a child are often exiled from their family and community. In many cases, caring for one with a disability requires full time care and supervision. As a result, there is limited ability to for families to find proper work and earn income.

The only option families have is to rent a house in their community however, they can barely be considered a house. They are structures made of mud and thatch and by all measures, unsafe. The walls are on the verge of collapsing at any moment and during the rainy season, families live in a very real fear of the house coming down on them. However, they have no other choice.

Providing a family living with disabilities is a cornerstone of support. It allows them to have dignity and more importantly regain hope.

In addition to the home, families will receive the proper medical care and support necessary to assist with the disability. Whether treatment is possible, Hope and Healing will work with the family to ensure access to doctors and medications. Where the disability is permanent, they will work with the family on a continuous basis to ensure the best possible quality of life.

Families will have the support of our partnership on their journey through their current state to self-sufficiency. We walk alongside our beneficiaries until they have the same access and opportunities as their able bodied neighbors.

Through partners such as Hope and Healing Canada that have multiple pillars of support, families have support and a partner to holistically to determine how best to meet their needs for access and opportunity to ongoing health care, education, micro-financing livelihoods, social engagement and empowerment.

It is also important to understand the poverty-disability cycle. Poverty and disability are inextricably linked. If you’re poor you’re 2Xs more likely to have a disability because of a lack of access to basic medical care. If you have a disability you’re 2Xs more likely to be poor because of a lack of access to support systems such as education, employment, medical care, clean water, shelter, etc. It’s a vicious cycle that sucks whole families into deeper and deeper suffering and need. There are 800 million people in the world who are trapped in the cycle of poverty and disability.