How Agents of Change works
Donations to Agents of Change allow families to stretch beyond reducing poverty in their own lives to leading and transforming the communities in which they live and work. Here’s how it works:
- 1. Unbound small groups made up of families of sponsored members (often mothers), sponsored elders or sponsored children (with guidance from adults), identify the community problem they’d like to solve.
- 2. They craft a proposal that is vetted by committees of community members for access to a small grant.
- 3. They receive the grant funds and then work together to put their plan into action.
From handwashing stations to soccer fields to roads, thousands of Agents of Change initiatives have been completed worldwide, addressing needs identified by local groups. The result? Safer, healthier and more productive communities like the ones who benefited from these initiatives.
Agents of Change in Action
Water tank, Guatemala
In a rural Guatemalan village, families once risked their lives daily on a steep, dangerous walk for clean water. With an Unbound Agents of Change grant, local mothers installed a water tank closer to the village. Now, families no longer have to make a treacherous journey, and their children can focus on school and play instead of helping fetch water.
Handwashing stations, Philippines
A group of mothers of Unbound sponsored friends in Manila in the Philippines implemented two Agents of Change initiatives over several years to improve hand hygiene at the elementary school their children attended. Working with school administrators, the group improved two handwashing stations on the campus, improving hand hygiene awareness, health and attendance for more than 500 students.
Improving postnatal care, Kenya
In rural Meru, Kenya, women often walked nearly 5 miles for prenatal and postnatal care, sometimes skipping visits due to distance and cost, putting children at risk of vaccine-preventable illnesses. With support from a health-focused donor, an Unbound parent group used an Agents of Change grant to install a vaccine refrigerator at a nearby clinic, improving access for over 2,000 families.