Healthy Things Grow - FY 2022 Annual Report

Have you ever heard the phrase healthy things grow? Makes sense, right? I’m happy to report in Fiscal Year 2022, Hope Walks has continued to grow through God’s provision, a talented international team and donor support. More than 7,200 kids were enrolled in clubfoot treatment in the 15 countries where we serve. And we are well on our way to enrolling 8,000 kids in FY23.

But what do these numbers mean? Each represents a child born with a disability that makes walking nearly impossible. Each represents a child who, with proper treatment, will one day walk, run and play with friends. Each represents a child who will grow into adulthood with mobility, opportunity and possibility. Each represents an opportunity to share God’s love and introduce their families to Jesus Christ. As I said, healthy things grow, and these kids healed from clubfoot can flourish in amazing ways, both physically and spiritually.

We are also growing in the number of locations where we serve. In October 2021, we partnered with KCH in Sudan to expand care for children born with clubfoot in Khartoum, and this year, we plan to add several more partner clinics. More and more children are being treated in Ethiopia, Ghana and Malawi. Each new partner clinic has been done carefully and strategically to ensure the positive growth we are experiencing is sustainable.

So if it is true that healthy things grow, it can also be said growing things change. In FY22, we continued the expansion of our Patient Assessment Toward Healing (PATH) tool. This tool allows us to collect patient treatment data in real-time. Even though our mission of ending disability from clubfoot is simple, we are always thinking about new ways to do it better.

Growing and changing. It is a natural progression for healthy organizations. And, of course, the result of that is kids being healed and lives being changed. We can’t underestimate the impact treatment makes on the child’s life and those around them. Thank you for being part of the growth and change of Hope Walks.

Scott Reichenbach President and Co-Founder

What We Do

Our mission is straightforward. We help treat kids with clubfoot and share the love of Christ with them. But there is a lot that goes into accomplishing those two critical steps. We partner with more than 150 already established local healthcare centers and their amazing local healthcare staff to accomplish this. We train and empower these local providers to use the world-standard Ponseti method developed by Dr. Ignacio Ponseti from the University of Iowa to correct feet. The technique uses gentle manipulation of the feet, followed by casting to straighten the feet. Once corrected, the child wears foot abduction braces mostly while sleeping up to the age of five to maintain the correction.

Not only does this process help ensure kids achieve the best outcomes, but the model also helps strengthen the national healthcare system and keeps our costs low.

During the five-year process, our parent advisors offer education and counseling for these families. Again through partnerships with the local church, our local parent advisors build relationships with each family and comfort them, letting them know their child’s condition has nothing to do with anything they did. We share the love of Christ both with words and in action.

FOR YOU, O LORD, ARE MY HOPE, MY TRUST, O LORD, FROM MY YOUTH.

In addition to training, caring and supporting kids and families with clubfoot, Hope Walks also supports local technicians who make clubfoot braces in country.

growing with possibilities

NEW CLINICS

Hope Walks opened its first partner clinic in Sudan in October 2021. We partnered with Khartoum Chesire Homes (KCH) to enroll 221 kids in clubfoot treatment. We are in the process of opening more clinics next fiscal year. For several years, Ghana and Malawi were two country programs with only one partner clinic each. That’s right, one clubfoot clinic for countries with a population of 33 and 20 million people, respectively. In FY22, we began the process of expanding clubfoot services in these countries to serve more families. We also have expanded the number of clinics in Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia.

AN EVENING OF HOPE

As the pandemic continues to wane, live events are back. More than 140 people attended our first in-person Evening of Hope in Mechanicsburg, PA. Supporters came from as far away as Michigan and Texas. Our special guests for the night were Zambia Program Manager Loice Chipere and Board Member Natalie Weakly, and her daughter Anna, a true

GROWING IN COMMUNITY

In March 2022, we fulfilled our dream of convening our team face-to-face for the first time. More than 40 Hope Walks staff gathered in Kenya for our Global Team Conference. The week was filled with team-building activities, learning, and fellowship. Through these efforts, staff brainstormed ways to work more effectively as a team and better serve families impacted by clubfoot. We are so grateful for the foundation that sponsored this event and for their recognition of the value and importance of teams coming together.

clubfoot superhero.

Every child deserves the chance to walk. Our vision is to ensure all children born with clubfoot don’t grow up with this disability. How do we do that? One child, one clinic, one country at a time.

Nearly 50 members of the Hope Walks team gathered together for the first time at a Global Team Conference in March 2022.

Left to right: Clinical Program Officer Erin Williams and Regional Manager Esperance Uwizeye discuss strategy during the Global Team Conferene in Kenya.

Clubfoot treatment is fairly straightforward, but that doesn’t mean we do the same things year after year. We hold fast to what works consistently, but we don’t fear change. In fact, Hope Walks is always looking for ways to improve our training, care and support so that more kids will walk free from this treatable condition.

changing how we do things

SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH IN ETHIOPIA

Hope Walks has placed a senior advisor on physical rehabilitation within the Federal Ministry of Health in Ethiopia. Ashebir Lakewa is an experienced physical therapist who works closely with the Ministry of Health's senior officials to strengthen the government clinics' capacity to identify and treat children born with clubfoot and lead to long-term sustainability. The fruits of this effort include creating and distributing clubfoot referral catalogs to government clinics and mother and child workers throughout the country, ensuring medical supplies in conflict areas, providing clubfoot and disability expertise, and developing a National Clubfoot Standard Treatment guidance.

TRAINING HEALTH WORKERS

The moment of birth is critical, especially if the child is born with clubfoot. Do the midwives, traditional birth attendants, or maternity nurses know what clubfoot is and where treatment can be found? Too often, the story we hear is no. Our teams have taken a strategic, nationwide approach this fiscal year in partnership with the Ministry of Health to provide Early Detection and Referral (EDR) training to these specialized health workers. Early intervention exponentially increases the chances that the child born with clubfoot will walk free from disability. As front-line workers, we want them to know clubfoot is treatable and most effective when started early. This year our staff trained hundreds in EDR to develop and ensure systems/procedures are

integrated into their work to identify and refer children born with any congenital defects, including clubfoot.

SHARING GOD’S WORD

In FY22, Hope Walks launched a new program to share the gospel message with kids called KIDStory. This interactive curriculum makes learning about Jesus fun. KIDStory equips parent advisors to create conditions where families of children with clubfoot encounter the love of Jesus through telling His story and the working of His spirit. Each lesson involves telling a specific Bible story using costumes and props. The parent advisor will then lead activities, such as musical chairs, drama, music, or art to retell the story. And each includes various discovery and response questions.

PATH TOOL EXPANSION

Can patient treatment be tracked using paper and pencil? Sure, but as part of our efforts to improve care, Hope Walks has embraced technology to make things easier and more efficient for our staff, but more importantly, to offer better service to our families. In FY21, Hope Walks partnered with Akros, a global health data-driven organization. Together we have devoted countless hours to planning, developing, and piloting our Patient Assessment Toward Healing (PATH) tool. PATH is built on DHIS2, a global electronic health platform widely used in public health settings in lowand middle-income countries worldwide. Throughout this fiscal year, Hope Walks trained our parent advisors and partner clinic staff to use this tool to gather patient treatment data in each clubfoot clinic, allowing our team to respond more quickly to patient needs and assess and monitor program outcomes.

Parent advisor using the new PATH tool at a clinic.

IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE WILL MAKE STRAIGHT YOUR PATHS.

Proverbs 3:6 ESV

gROwing for the future Vision 2025

As an organization, our vision is that every child and family will walk free from the disability of clubfoot and encounter the love of Christ. Over the next three years, we expect to enroll more than 25,000 new children in treatment and see more than 23,000 kids complete correction. By 2025, we plan to serve nearly 50% of all children born with clubfoot in the countries we currently serve. It is our vision that clubfoot treatment in Hope Walks partner countries will become more sustainable as we continue to collaborate, partner, and integrate within the Ministries of Health in training, early detection, referral and treatment of clubfoot in policy and practice. In addition to global strategies, each country program has also developed a plan considering their unique needs and situations.

STRATEGIC MANDATES AND PRIORITIES

Increase Reach

Sustainability is so important, especially when it comes to something we can’t prevent but can easily treat, like clubfoot. Vision 2025 has country-specific strategies to work toward national sustainability and international partnership and reach. We plan to further equip health professionals with the knowledge and resources they need for clubfoot care. And we will work with others to eliminate disability from clubfoot globally.

Continuously Improve Care and Treatment

Sadly, most children in the developing world with clubfoot have not received proper care, leaving tens of thousands, if not millions, of kids facing a lifetime of disability, vulnerable and without hope. When families and children come to a Hope Walks partner clinic, we want it to be a happy, hopeful and friendly experience. We do this by training staff on standards of care and treatment, improving our clinical outcomes, providing tools for data collection and patient follow-up, and increasing parents'/caregivers' knowledge of treatment. We support families who are most vulnerable to ensure they stay in treatment and receive the highest level of care in Jesus’ name.

Integrate Christian Commitments

The impact donors make through Hope Walks is more than physical; it's spiritual. Sharing Christ's love with these families is one thing that sets us apart. We plan to do this through more intentional church partnerships, engaging with local faith leaders, and systematic and coordinated integration of our witness to Christ in our work. We are working to build upon our greatest strength; our foundation and assurance of Christ.

Increase Supporter Development and Engagement

Hope Walks' work is impossible without the support of our partners. Recognizing and engaging the resources and talents around us through our donors, churches, foundations and corporate sponsors is essential in reaching all children born with clubfoot in the countries where we serve. In Vision 2025, we will build these relationships and encourage deeper relationships to the glory of God and so that more kids walk free from the disability of clubfoot.

Strengthen Organizational Capacity

If it is true that healthy things grow, we must ensure a strong and healthy organization as the foundation for future growth. We will establish financial standards, structures and systems to help us steward resources well. We will maintain a competent, engaged and productive workforce who are provided the support and resources they need for their families to flourish as well. Finally, we will strengthen accountability at every level.

stories of impact

BURUNDI Jeannette

Imagine having a child born with clubfoot and knowing treatment is possible but realizing you are not healthy enough to get her to the nearest clinic 60 miles away.

Due to seizures, Jeannette’s mom could not carry her daughter for fear of dropping her. But Jeannette had a savior in her older sister Sandrine. Fourteen at the time, Sandrine refused to let her baby sister grow up disabled. Instead, she took on the responsibility of carrying her sister to the nearest public transportation so Jeannette could walk free of clubfoot.

Watch

hopewalks.org/jeannette

Jeannette's inspiring story by scanning the QR code.

Sandrine carries her sister Jeannette on her back to the closest clubfoot clinic.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Yeikol

No one gave Gleimy and Emmanuel an explanation of clubfoot when their son Yeikol was born with this disability. So Gleimy turned to Facebook and uploaded photos of her baby showing his feet to see if anyone in the online community could help.

Someone did reach out to her and told her where to get treatment. All was going well until the pandemic hit, and clinics shut down. Treatment stopped, and Yeikol’s feet relapsed, but during this time, they remained in contact with their parent advisor, who offered ongoing support. Treatment eventually resumed, and now this little guy is getting around on beautiful, straight feet.

hopewalks.org/yeikol-dr/

KENYA Nimrod

Hiding a baby born with clubfoot is only possible for so long.

In Nimrod’s case, this was a good thing. Even though Dennis and Nancy tried to hide their child’s feet out of shame, a visit from grandma soon revealed their secret. At her encouragement, Dennis and Nancy took Nimrod to the closest Hope Walks partner clinic. Each week, as clinicians applied new casts, Nimrod’s feet improved. And each week, the clinic’s parent advisor, Pastor Sereti, would pray over this young family. Dennis and Nancy could see God working in their little boy.

after before

hopewalks.org/nimrod-kenya

Read more about Yeikol’s story of healing by scanning the QR code.

Read more about Nimrod by scanning the QR code.

FISCAL YEAR 2022 STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

JUNE 30TH, 2022 (INDEPENDENT AUDIT)

7,211

*Hope Walks is built on partnerships and our finances are a reflection of that reality. We are grateful for strong relationships with Ministries of Health and local healthcare providers who provide the dedicated space and overhead to facilitate care and partner with our staff to raise awareness and ensure quality outcomes.

Your Impact

SUPPORT FROM 1,493 INDIVIDUALS, FOUNDATIONS AND CORPORATIONS HELPED CHILDREN BE FREE FROM THE BURDEN OF CLUBFOOT AND LEARN ABOUT THE LOVE OF CHRIST IN A TANGIBLE WAY. THANK YOU.

5,707

Children receiving 1st brace

DO NOTHING FROM SELFISH AMBITION OR CONCEIT, BUT IN HUMILITY COUNT OTHERS MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN YOURSELVES.

1,602

90,037

HopeGive

Hope Walks is a group driven by dignity and compassion for vulnerable children and their families, committed to ending the treatable disability of clubfoot through local health partners, and showing the love of Christ with tangible actions, not just empty words.

WE INVITE YOU TO BE PART OF THIS LIFE-TRANSFORMING MISSION THROUGH YOUR PRAYERS AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Leron Lehman, Chair

James Welch, Treasurer

Donald Waardenburg, Secretary

Corey Fuller, MD

Eric Gokcen, MD

John Mitchell

Natalie Weakly

Marlise Streitmatter

Follow us on social media at HopeWalksOrg.

PO Box 1098, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 Phone: 717.502.4400

www.hopewalks.org

Jeannette in Burundi walking free from clubfoot.