The HEVIS Center

A place born from hope
In the heart of a sprawling slums and settlement in Kenya, where poverty and vulnerability cast long shadows, the HEVIS Centre stands as a beacon of light. Launched in 2017 by the Neighborhoods Foundation (NF) together with local partners, this center was envisioned as more than a school — it is a civic hub, a job-training workshop, and a supportive home for those often overlooked.

Who it serves
HEVIS is open to young people with visual impairments (blindness) and/or hearing loss, who live in a community where resources are scarce and the chances of economic opportunity even scarcer. According to the center’s Facebook page:

“This is one of a hundred students at the HEVIS Centre that need support to fulfil their dream and change the slums from within.”

Each of these students carries not only the weight of disability, but also the weight of systemic neglect, lack of access and community-barriers.

What happens at the center

At HEVIS, the work is practical, meaningful, and hope-filled:
Education: Blind and hearing-impaired students receive tailored instruction so they can learn and aspire.
Vocational & employment training: Beyond classroom learning, the center provides job-skills and training so that these young people can enter the workforce and sustain themselves.
Community transformation: The mission is not only to uplift individuals, but to revitalize the neighborhood — to help students become agents of change in their own communities. “Change the slums from within” is a phrase they use.

Why your support matters
Here’s the compelling part: when you give to HEVIS through Neighborhoods Foundation, you’re doing more than donating to a charitable cause. You’re enabling lives to be re-written. You’re enabling children denied access because of disability to stand, learn, work, and lead.
These students face double marginalization — disability + poverty + lack of opportunity.
A modest donation can help pay for adaptive learning materials, teacher training, assistive technologies (for hearing or vision), and job-training equipment.

Your gift becomes a magnifier of hope — each student who goes on to work, to contribute, to share knowledge becomes a ripple of transformation in their community.

The ripple effect

When a young person at HEVIS passes on their learning, enters employment, and mentors others, the benefits multiply:

They become role models in the slum, showing other children that there is a path.

They help shift perceptions in their neighborhood of what disability means — from “limitation” to “different ability”.

They contribute economically, reducing the burden on family, increasing dignity, raising a community’s hope.

6. An invitation to give and be part of the story

Here’s the ask: will you stand with HEVIS? Will you partner in this story of transformation?

Every gift, large or small, helps fund student support, adaptive tools, job-training modules, and facility upkeep.

You become a stakeholder in restoring dignity, unlocking potential, and shifting community futures.

When you give, you’re not only supporting one student—you’re investing in an entire neighborhood's evolution.

7. What you can do now: Donate online to Neighborhoods Foundation and note it’s for HEVIS Centre.

Share the story of HEVIS on your social media: the more people who know, the more lives we can reach.

Consider recurring support: when you commit month-to-month, the center can plan better and reach more students.

Pray or reflect: Imagine what it would feel like to be blind or deaf in a place without support — your compassion puts that into action.

In closing:
The HEVIS Centre is more than a building or a program. It is a promise — that no matter how small the neighborhood, no matter how disadvantaged the individual, dignity, learning, work and community are still possible. When you give, you don’t just pay a bill — you fuel a future. You help a young person hear their own worth. You help a young person see their own possibility.

Thank you for considering being part of this journey. Together, we can transform not only lives, but legacies.