Who We Are
Based in Union, IA, The Outreach Program is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation with a mission to provide safe water, food, medical care and education to those in need at home and abroad.
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Based in Union, IA, The Outreach Program is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation with a mission to provide safe water, food, medical care and education to those in need at home and abroad.
A small seed was planted in the hearts of The Outreach Program founders, Floyd Hammer and Kathy Hamilton, on their trip to Nkungi, Tanzania in 2004. At the time, Floyd planned to help convert a leprosy hospital into an AIDS hospice center while Kathy planned to volunteer at a local hospital. Within the first few days of their trip, the fifth child had died of hunger. And their plans changed; the seed grew. However, Floyd and Kathy knew that to truly make a lasting difference in Nkungi, they would need to build up the entire community. After meeting with local villagers and tribal leaders to determine the most critical needs, four themes emerged. These themes became the Four Promises: feed the hungry, clean water, medical care, and education. Nearly twenty years later, that small seed has grown into The Outreach Program today. What was once a small seed to impact a community has flourished and now provides these four critical needs to thousands throughout the United States and abroad.
A child dies every three seconds globally due to food deprivation. Food insecurity and hunger threaten the critical foundation of safety and security in the United States and around the world. Within our US borders, more than one in five children do not know where their next meal is coming from and often go to bed hungry.
More than 650 million people in the world right now live day to day without clean water. Clean water is a necessary first step to improving the health and prosperity of a community. Easily accessible clean water empowers women to focus on providing for their families and children to focus on education. Easily accessible clean water can make the difference in the prevention of the most common diseases including cholera and dysentery.
Medical care is a luxury for more than half of the world. Local healthcare takes the form of shamans and healers instead of doctors and nurses. Preventable diseases take a heavy toll on individuals, communities, and entire nations. The burden of families with chronically sick relatives is heavy. Caring for loved ones prevents healthy family members from working and going to school. Access to vital treatments, prenatal care, and immunizations is critical to the well-being of communities in developing countries.
Education is the final piece of the puzzle to sustainable health and prosperity of a community. Food, water, and medical care are not the only barriers to education. So many children are too far from the closest school to be able to make the trip each day. Those who are close enough may not have the required uniforms to attend. Education provides the necessary groundwork for children to recognize their potential, dream for bigger things, and take steps to reach their goals.