Help Refugees Thrive
The Shift is a game-changing new way to back refugees to rebuild their lives and tackle the refugee crisis.
Become a Founding Backer and get involved in piloting The Shift
Just in the last year alone, around 17 million people will have been forced from their homes by conflict, disaster, or persecution.
That’s 32 people who’ve had their lives torn apart every single minute.
As ordinary people in Australia, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer scale of this crisis.But when we heard about the ground-breaking ‘self-reliance’ program run by our local partner in Kenya, RefugePoint, we suddenly felt more optimistic. The program was getting incredible results: in just two years, it is helping refugees move from desperately surviving on patchy aid handouts, to earning an income, standing on their own two feet, and feeling hopeful for the future again.
It works like this: RefugePoint begin by providing refugees with food rations and rent support, to stabilise their lives. Then there’s small business training and grants, tailored to each person’s skills and passions, to help them set-up sustainable ways to earn an income. And throughout, refugees receive ongoing mental health and coaching support to help them recover from the trauma they’ve experienced.
Just in the last year alone, around 17 million people will have been forced from their homes by conflict, disaster, or persecution.
That’s 32 people who’ve had their lives torn apart every single minute.
As ordinary people in Australia, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer scale of this crisis.But when we heard about the ground-breaking ‘self-reliance’ program run by our local partner in Kenya, RefugePoint, we suddenly felt more optimistic. The program was getting incredible results: in just two years, it is helping refugees move from desperately surviving on patchy aid handouts, to earning an income, standing on their own two feet, and feeling hopeful for the future again.
It works like this: RefugePoint begin by providing refugees with food rations and rent support, to stabilise their lives. Then there’s small business training and grants, tailored to each person’s skills and passions, to help them set-up sustainable ways to earn an income. And throughout, refugees receive ongoing mental health and coaching support to help them recover from the trauma they’ve experienced.
Just in the last year alone, around 17 million people will have been forced from their homes by conflict, disaster, or persecution.
That’s 32 people who’ve had their lives torn apart every single minute.
As ordinary people in Australia, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer scale of this crisis.But when we heard about the ground-breaking ‘self-reliance’ program run by our local partner in Kenya, RefugePoint, we suddenly felt more optimistic. The program was getting incredible results: in just two years, it is helping refugees move from desperately surviving on patchy aid handouts, to earning an income, standing on their own two feet, and feeling hopeful for the future again.
It works like this: RefugePoint begin by providing refugees with food rations and rent support, to stabilise their lives. Then there’s small business training and grants, tailored to each person’s skills and passions, to help them set-up sustainable ways to earn an income. And throughout, refugees receive ongoing mental health and coaching support to help them recover from the trauma they’ve experienced.
Just in the last year alone, around 17 million people will have been forced from their homes by conflict, disaster, or persecution.
That’s 32 people who’ve had their lives torn apart every single minute.
As ordinary people in Australia, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer scale of this crisis.But when we heard about the ground-breaking ‘self-reliance’ program run by our local partner in Kenya, RefugePoint, we suddenly felt more optimistic. The program was getting incredible results: in just two years, it is helping refugees move from desperately surviving on patchy aid handouts, to earning an income, standing on their own two feet, and feeling hopeful for the future again.
It works like this: RefugePoint begin by providing refugees with food rations and rent support, to stabilise their lives. Then there’s small business training and grants, tailored to each person’s skills and passions, to help them set-up sustainable ways to earn an income. And throughout, refugees receive ongoing mental health and coaching support to help them recover from the trauma they’ve experienced.
After about two years, most refugees reach an incredible milestone – self-reliance, the point where they don’t need to rely on aid and can independently provide for their families.
But RefugePoint’s program can’t solve the refugee crisis on its own. The self-reliance approach, and funding for it, needs to be scaled up, a lot. Secondly, governments need to step-up and give many more people the rights to make a new life in a safe place. And thirdly, to make all that happen, we need to shift public attitudes and create more compassion for refugees.
With millions of people displaced, TACKLING the global refugee crisis is an enormous task. But, from little things, big things grow.
So, we’re starting small and taking things one minute at a time, starting with backing 32 refugees to rebuild their lives and find hope for the future again. We hope that by proving this model works, we can create a blueprint for organisations around the world to follow, enabling the approach to be scaled-up to make change at the global level. But first we have to pilot it.
Becoming a Founding Backer costs $10,200, or $425 per month over two years. This provides enough to cover the full-costs of one of those 32 refugees to become self-reliant. This includes all the stabilisation work such as food and rent support, counselling, and business training.
Your gifts will help support RefugePoint’s self-reliance program in Kenya, as well as Act for Peace’s advocacy work, influencing governments and international institutions to create more ‘durable solutions’. And it’ll also help fund Act for Peace’s work to shift attitudes and create more public support for refugees.
By becoming a Founding Backer and getting involved in piloting The Shift, you will:
- Change lives forever by helping a refugee become self-reliant.
- Be part of the early stages of developing this game-changing new initiative.
- If successful, help scale up The Shift and help make change at the global level.
The Shift‘s work will kick-off in April, once we have enough backers to fund the advocacy, attitudinal change and self-reliance programs (covering the cost of 32 refugees) that make up this pilot.
As one of the first people to join you’d play a crucial role. You’d help road-test this ground-breaking new model, cover a large part of the cost, help build momentum and encourage more and more people to join. Ultimately, you’d be part of bringing to life a new approach that could go a long way to tackling the refugee crisis.
By donating you are agreeing to Act for Peace’s Privacy Policy. Gifts of $2 or more are tax deductible. Your gifts will help support Act for Peace’s work in Kenya, as well as Act for Peace’s advocacy work, influencing governments and international institutions to create more ‘durable solutions’. And it also helps fund Act for Peace’s work to shift attitudes and create more public support for refugees.
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