LC Creators, Rachael Lechliter and Elena Baxter with Anthony Mulongo, founder of OHMH | Photo Credit: Jeremy Crews
On May 31st, the LC Socialites headed to a New York City rooftop charity event, hosted by PTL Staffing & Events for the One Home Many Hopes organization. The mission of OHMH is to find, rescue, house, love and educate orphaned and abandoned girls in Mtwapa, Kenya. OHMH is equipping them to be the future agents of change in their community. It was an evening with a beautiful and bustling New York crowd enjoying the terrace views of midtown-Manhattan, sipping wine, and socializing, all to support the OHMH organization.
Thomas Keown and Anthony Mulongo, the founders of OHMH, presented their hearts to the crowd by inviting the charming crowd to learn more about the organization. Not stopping there, they believe that to truly change Kenya and the government, they must equip and invest in the children’s lives holistically, so they may grow up and become change makers, improve their country, and break the cycle of poverty.
Anthony Mulongo, OHMH Kenya Director & Founder, created the organization after realizing that something was amiss while in Kenya. On one afternoon, he was being followed by  5-10 children in the streets with his camera equipment. After attempts to keep away from them, he started to record them on video, and when he showed them the footage, Anthony said, “I had never seen so much joy.” At that moment, he knew something needed to be changed, but how? As he took more footage of where they ate, where they slept, and their living conditions, he only grew a greater affection for them. He knew that just giving money to meet their immediate needs was not going to stop the cycle of poverty, but rather, “start with the children – the surest way to change a country.” Therefore, OHMH takes the most extreme cases of young girls’ lives, whether it is prostitution or regional poverty and cares for every aspect of their development – physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual. This holistic approach is delivered by their Kenyan staff housemothers, social workers and tutors. They also are providing the best medical care and private education in the region.
Since the founding in 2007, OHMH has been growing a network of local men and women leading their neighbors out of poverty in major cities such as: Boston, New York City, Washington DC, San Francisco, London and Belfast. OHMH provides full care for 32 girls in a newly constructed home. They are striving to increase to 60 by the end of 2011. They also started designing a school for 720 children to magnify the impact made by the girls they will house. Today, OHMH children are growing up with aspirations to be the doctors, lawyers, teachers and journalists that will build the schools, tell the stories and dig the wells to improve their country.
Please consider donating to this organization with your time, your voice, and commitment.
Photo Credit: Kristen Somody Whalen Photography
