Motivated by Personal Faith. We are not a faith-based organization; we are a collective group of individuals committed to a life of service to others, out of an individual and personal call to action through faith. It was upon this principle and foundation that SFH was conceived; and all other values of our organization were founded upon.
Dignity and Respect. We believe that every individual has the right to be fully protected, self-expressed and honored. In doing so, SFH is conscious and deliberate with the language and imagery we use to communicate the circumstances of the communities we work in as well as document the impact of our programs. We are equal partners with a common goal, and in reaching that are intent not to utilize imagery and language that is patronizing, disempowering or exploitive of our beneficiaries, their families or the current context they live within.
Non-Discrimination. SFH is committed to a strict policy of non-discrimination in service provision, partnerships and networking, employment and any other opportunity of engagement with respect to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or age. We value equity, need-based and rights-based support that is dictated by sound programmatic and technical approaches and not any other subjective assessment, personal or institutional ideology. In fact, we prioritize expanding access of our programs to marginalized groups.
Integrity. We operate upon that principle as individual representatives, and a collective body. Integrity is demonstrated through congruent implementation of our mission, values, programs and policies. In finances, community-partnerships, service provision, reporting and board management, we believe that integrity is the foundation for all workability.
Community Lead and Owned. We are partners in sustainable development, not a charity. This relationship can only be maintained if communities own and lead the response to their needs, and are empowered to do so. This is demonstrated by SFH in various ways. Graduates of our programs hold positions on both the US and Kenyan Board of Directors. Community leaders play key advisory and management roles on our programs to inform the selection of benefitting households or communities, designing sustainable programs with an exit strategy in mind and in routine monitoring ongoing activities. We hold active membership to multiple Government of Kenya lead task forces for health and development.
Quality and Impact Driven Programs. We strive to transform the practice of health and development work in the African context. We focus on developing models of community-based support that are focus on long term impact, integrating a comprehensive approach to vulnerability reduction of the young people we work with. Our programs are based on tested and tailored approaches and best practices, and are designed by a team with years of public health and community development experience with some of the world’s leading organizations.
Learning Organization. Tied heavily to our commitment to be a results and impact driven organization, SFH is committed to ongoing and continual learning to ensure its programs and approaches are responsive to emerging issues and yield results. We are committed to document and share our experiences and models of care in support of building communities of practice that improve the quality of development work in the region and beyond. To do this, SFH participates in international conferences and technical working groups and is committed to ongoing implementation research in the area of HIV, vulnerability reduction, OVC and community health evaluations.
Responsive to Emerging Priorities. SFH exists to be responsive to its beneficiaries and the dynamic variables that affect their ability to access, afford and utilize health and social services. The current priorities for SFH remain as such, as long as they are challenges and priorities to the communities we serve. As their context evolves and changes in the face of public health, economic and social changes, we commit to remain responsive and adapt to ensure the most effective approaches, as long as our support is needed.
