We do not arrive with a plan and leave with photographs. We live in the communities we serve, we are answerable to them, and we are still there long after the emergency has stopped being news.
Our founder did not learn about poverty from books. He grew up in it — walking to school barefoot because there was no money for sandals, and fetching water from the stream in a calabash on an empty stomach.
He was five years old when he began hustling, and still a child when he made himself a promise: that he would work hard enough to wipe the tears of poverty from the faces of the less privileged. That promise became a conviction, then a burden, and eventually a vision.
Help The Poor Initiative is what the promise turned into. It is built on the belief that you do not have to be wealthy before you can make a difference — that a meal, a pair of shoes, a wheelchair or a single act of kindness can change what a person believes is possible for them.
Read The Full Story“I must work hard enough to make sure I wipe the tears of poverty from the faces of the less privileged.”
Mr. Ukpai Eke Michael · Founder & Chairman
At Help the Poor Initiative, we are committed to restoring hope, dignity, and opportunity to vulnerable individuals and families living in underserved communities.
We believe that no one should be deprived of life's basic necessities because of poverty or circumstance. Our mission is to provide compassionate support and practical assistance to the less privileged by delivering essential relief materials and life-changing interventions.
We reach people in both rural and urban communities, identifying those most in need and responding with timely and meaningful aid. Our programs focus on providing food supplies, clothing, medical assistance, wheelchairs and mobility support, and other essential resources that improve the quality of life for individuals facing hardship.
We are committed not only to supporting vulnerable communities but also to protecting the environment. Through the responsible collection, recycling, and redistribution of quality second-hand items, we reduce waste, promote sustainable living, and help minimize environmental pollution. By giving usable materials a second life, we contribute to lowering carbon emissions and building a healthier, more sustainable future for all.
Through partnerships, community outreach, and the generosity of donors and volunteers, we strive to create lasting impact and build stronger, more resilient communities. Our goal is not only to meet immediate needs but also to inspire hope, promote dignity, and empower people toward a better future.
To provide compassionate relief and essential support to disadvantaged individuals and families by delivering food, clothing, healthcare assistance, mobility aids, and other vital resources to communities in need.
A world where every individual, regardless of their circumstances, has access to basic necessities, lives with dignity, and has the opportunity to thrive.
Together, we can make a difference — one life, one family, and one community at a time.
Six commitments we are willing to be judged against.
Nobody queues in the rain for our cameras. How help is given matters as much as whether it is given.
The community names the need. We have been wrong often enough to stop guessing.
Programmes are run by people who live there. It is faster, cheaper, and it outlasts us.
We publish the results that flatter us alongside the ones that do not. Audited, every year.
We are still in every community we have ever entered. We do not leave when it gets slow, or when the photographs stop.
We go where the road runs out. The hardest places to serve are usually the ones nobody else is serving.
A short history, because we are a young organisation — and a long one, because it started decades before we were registered.
Our founder walked to school barefoot and fetched water from the stream on an empty stomach. At five years old he promised himself he would work hard enough to wipe the tears of poverty from the faces of the less privileged.
Our secretary was growing up watching his classmates eat at break time while he had nothing, and praying to be given the means to become a vessel of help. Neither man knew the other existed.
When the two of them finally met and each discovered the other was carrying the same conviction, it stopped being two private burdens and became one shared vision.
Help The Poor Initiative was formally registered as Incorporated Trustees. This is the date the organisation legally began, and the earliest date any of our accounts can cover.
Food, healthcare, clothing, mobility aids, environment and emergency relief, run side by side in the same communities — because that is how poverty actually arrives. The journey has started; there is a great deal still to do.
A small core team, and hundreds of volunteers who do the real work.
Founder & Executive Director
Chairman of the Board
Secretary
Accountable for the published accounts
Every year we publish audited accounts, programme results and the money that did not achieve what we hoped. If something here does not add up, ask us — we would rather answer the question than have you wonder.
Whether you give an hour a week or fund a whole programme, you become part of the same thing that started on that first Saturday.
