The Steps Foundation

Steps has has been blessed with the opportunity to help many worthy causes in both the United States and Africa. Keep reading to see how your support of Steps has been felt around the world in the lives of those who have needed it the most.

Kingdom Vision International
Orphan care in Addis Ababa, pioneering domestic adoption and foster care in Ethiopia
Steps has provided grants totaling $35,000

Testimony Feeding Center
Education and after school feeding and mentoring program for at-risk youth in Legetafo, Ethiopia
Steps has contributed $4,500 to this worthy cause

Shamida Ethiopia

Steps has provided grants totaling $7,500 to Shamida Ethiopia to help care for orphans and vulnerable children.

Senegal Maternity Clinic

Providing improved care for mothers and infants

Proper healthcare is critical for the health and safety of a mother and her baby.  In a country where maternal mortality is 1 in every 54 mothers, and infant mortality is 54%, the need was very clear. Steps has provided resources to renovate a maternity clinic in Pout, Senegal that will help reduce maternal and infant mortality in the community.

Before

After

World Vision Ethiopia WASH Drought Relief
In 2016, Steps contributed $25,000 to drought relief in Ethiopia. World Vision’s WASH drought relief program has brought access to clean water to over 900,000 of the most vulnerable people in the affected area. Learn More

Microfinance:  While we (Ryan and Sara) were in East Africa in the summer of 2013, one of the biggest areas of need we saw was giving people a head start to work and get themselves out of poverty.  We saw a lot of people that had a desire to work, but there is just a lack of opportunity often and start-up funds to begin a business.  We love what Kiva is doing all over the world, partnering with local NGOs to provide loans for those in need to start their own businesses.  What is amazing is that there is a 98.97% repayment rate, and you can then reinvest the funds that are repaid into another person to help give their business a start!  Steps has invested $100,000 in micro-lending for East Africa, and made a $5,000 donation to Kiva to keep loans going. (Images provided by Kiva to advance its mission of connecting people around the world through lending to alleviate poverty)

IRIS Ministries

Steps has contributed $66,000 to IRIS Ministries in Mozambique. Thanks to all of you for contributing and making the funding of a water well and construction and completion of the new medical clinic at the Pemba base in Mozambique possible! It’s amazing to think that these projects can change the lives in an entire community, extending the life expectancy, preventing illness, allowing young children to be able to attend school among many other positive benefits.

Well Drilling

Many villages across the world do not have a clean water supply, and people are sick and dying as a result.  When people are thirsty and starving, the best thing we can do is offer a cold drink of water. The IRIS  well-drilling program is moving ahead rapidly making a tremendous difference in the quality of life of many villages. IRIS is one of the few organizations that has the equipment and government permission to drill wells throughout Mozambique. Nearly a billion people have no access to clean water. When they drink dirty water it makes them sick. When a well is drilled and installed, children return to school, businesses begin, and the men begin to work again from not being sick. Water brings health to the food supply chain. This breaks the poverty cycle.

• Nearly 1 billion people don’t have safe water to drink.
• A child dies every 15 seconds from a lack of clean water.
• 115 people die every hour from diseases linked to poor sanitation, poor hygiene and contaminated water.
• 1 in 5 children who die before age 5 worldwide, die of a water related disease.
• Children often walk miles every day to collect dirty water to drink.
• Water related illness kills more people each year than wars and conflict.
• It costs approximately $6,000 to drill a well.

Find these and other facts at:

http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/sanitation/en/
and
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/facts_figures/en/index.html.

Health Clinics

In Pemba, there is a free health clinic that offers medical attention averaging 50 patients a day with a limited small staff. In three months, 3300 patients have been seen with 33% of them children under five. Babies and mothers are assessed twice a month and given powdered milk formula. The clinic covers basic medical attention mainly focusing on public health issues ranging from nutrition and hygiene, to infant care and abstinence. Medications are distributed as needed. As we have seen growth, the need for a larger facility has grown and the groundwork of the new medical clinic in Pemba has begun. Monday through Friday, the clinic strives to meet the needs of the local community with free services. In developing countries, 80% of medical illnesses are related to water and sanitation issues. We see a huge opportunity to help IRIS meet their goals and provide a safe medical environment that impacts many in the region and educates for a better future.

While the cost is high to build a new clinic, it far outweighs its reach into the future and the impact on the local community. The Hall Foundation is committed and excited to help fund these two ongoing projects in Mozambique!

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In 2012, The Hall Steps Foundation donated $20,000 to complete the building of the Kenya Hospital. We also donated $50,000 to Iris Ministries for construction of a health clinic in Pemba, Mozambique and $6,000 to build a well in Mozambique. $2,500 was donated to Girls on the Run Northern Arizona to encourage healthy lifestyles in young girls near where Sara and Ryan train in Flagstaff, AZ.

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In 2011, the Hall STEPS Foundation was thrilled to announce that Kickstart and World Vision were its two grant recipients for the fall.  Our mission in 2011 was two-fold: to contribute to innovative efforts in Kenya that focus on social enterprise and long-term sustainability; and to provide immediate support to emergency relief work in the Horn of Africa, a region which is enduring its worst drought in 60 years. KickStart and World Vision are two wonderful, inspiring organizations committed to helping people in need, and STEPS is grateful for the opportunity to support their ongoing work.

KickStart develops and promotes simple money-making tools that unlock business opportunities for thousands of poor farmers. Thanks to the use of these tools, nearly 600,000 people are no longer living in poverty. By combining the transformative power of technology, the entrepreneurial spirit of the world’s poorest people, and the permanence of the private sector marketplace, KickStart is changing the way the world fights poverty. KickStart is active in Kenya, Tanzania, Mali, and Burkina Faso, and their pumps are distributed by other NGOs in more than 20 countries. Learn more at www.kickstart.org.

World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families, and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. Today, our friends at World Vision are responding to dire needs in the Horn of Africa by supporting interventions involving food aid, health, nutrition, water and sanitation, and livelihood protection. Ryan & Sara Hall have proudly supported the organization’s efforts ever since the couple traveled with World Vision in 2008 to Zambia, a country in Southern Africa. World Vision has a 5X multiplier on all charitable gifts toward the crisis in East Africa, which means that our STEPS grant will be multiplied by five!  Learn more about World Vision atwww.wvi.org.

Also, as part of our “26.2 Challenge,” STEPS committed thousands of dollars in early 2011 to help complete construction of a new hospital in Kenya’s Rift Valley in the home village of Wesley Korir, an elite runner and dear friend of STEPS.

More pictures sent to us from the Rift Valley Hospital project coordinator!

Rift Valley Hospital in partnership with Kenyan Kids Foundation 2011

What they do:

Founded by Wesley Korir, elite marathoner and dear friend of Steps, Kenyan Kids provides education, healthcare, and farming assistance to community members near Wesley’s home village, Kitale, Kenya. When Wesley’s brother was 13 he passed away from a snake bite, an injury that could have been prevented had there been accessible health care in his village. After that Wes made it a life goal to ensure others would not have to endure the pain his family experienced by such a tragic loss.

How we helped:

In 2010 Steps started a 26.2 challenge which raised funds to build a hospital in Kenya’s Rift Valley. We are happy to say the hospital is currently under construction and we will continue this partnership, helping them find ways to staff and supply the hospital upon completion.

The Hall Steps Foundation run/walk mentoring program 2010

What they do:

This was Steps flagship program aimed at increasing exercise through community involvement in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago.

How we helped:

Steps provided a year of funding to get the program rolling. Adults of all fitness abilities came together Saturday mornings at the Garfield Conservatory to run or walk with children from the community.  They worked together to improve their fitness and build relationships to strengthen their neighborhood. After a terrible storm came through and tore down many trees blocking the running/walking path used by Steps and other community members, the program STEPped up and cleared the path for everyone’s use, a project that was many weeks down on the over-worked city’s priority list. This self-supporting program is still running strong today!

Back on My Feet 2010

What they do:

Back on My Feet is a nonprofit organization that promotes the self-sufficiency of those experiencing homelessness by engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength and self-esteem. Back on My Feet (BoMF) does not provide food nor does it provide shelter, but instead provides a community that embraces equality, respect, discipline, teamwork and leadership. All members – regardless of race, education or socioeconomic status – join together to move their own lives forward as well as the lives of their teammates. BoMF is a 6-9 month program that works with individuals living in homeless facilities.

How we helped:

In 2010 as both Ryan and Sara were preparing for amazing performances during marathon weekend, Steps took a moment to make a donation to the newly formed Boston chapter of Back on My Feet.  Steps provided grant money to meet the needs of 6 program participants.

International Justice Mission 2010

What they do:

International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to secure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to ensure that public justice systems – police, courts and laws – effectively protect the poor.

How we helped:

In 2010 Steps provided a grant to support a lawyer’s salary who worked with local authorities to ensure the victims’ rights were cared for and appropriate action was taken against the perpetrators.

World Vision 2010

What they do:

World Vision is a Christian relief, development, and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families, and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. From October 2009 through September 2010, World Vision responded to nearly 80 major disasters and humanitarian emergencies, assisting 15 million people.  In addition to addressing immediate and short-term needs, World Vision seeks to work with national governments, where appropriate, and families on long-term recovery plans.  World Vision believes that finding comprehensive and sustainable solutions will help to minimize the impact of future crises.

How we helped:

Developing countries often face a shortage of clean water which can impact health, food production, economics and even education (teachers are unlikely to move to communities where clean water is scarce and older children will spend hours fetching clean water for families). In 2010 Steps made a donation to help provide clean water to villages in Kenya.

Global Children’s Movement 2010

What they do:

Global Children’s Movement was started in response to the vast needs facing children today.  It istheir passion to provide a holistic approach in providing for, protecting, and restoring children at risk around the world.  Understanding that issues of injustice are closely intertwined, we endeavor to influence arenas of society towards justice and restoration.  Through a variety of efforts, we dare to dream that love can bring a generation back to life.

How we helped:

Global Children’s Movement is in the process of building 4 children’s orphanages in Bungoma, Kenya that will cost $40,000 each to build the house from ground-up and another $900/month to run which includes 8 orphans, house parents and their family, education, food, transportation and medical care. In 2010 Steps provided a grant to help make this project a reality.

New York Road Runners Foundation Young Runners Program 2009 

What they do:

Young Runners motivates elementary-school through high-school students to set and achieve personal fitness goals. Young Runners uses the structure and popularity of a team to help kids learn valuable lessons about how to set goals and make activity part of their daily lives. With the help of their coach, participants learn to run distances from 1 to 6.2 miles without stopping.

How we helped:

New York Road Runners provides this program free to schools, youth clubs, and before/after-school programs in underserved communities in New York City. Steps sponsored a year of programming for a school in an underserved community in each of the 5 boroughs of New York City.