Heifer International is celebrating 75 years of empowering families with a hand up, rather than just a handout.

Although Heifer has helped more than 34 million families around the world to pull themselves to self-reliance, the number of people still living in poverty is staggering. We decided that what we were doing was working, but we needed to do it more quickly. We have transitioned to larger-scale projects serving more than 1,000 families at a time. The projects emphasize access to capital and connecting small-scale farmers to formal markets where they can sell their products for fair prices. We focus our work on ensuring that value chains that work for the poor are in place in each country.

Ultimately, our goal has become helping families reach a living income, which is the income needed to allow all members of a household to afford a dignified standard of living. Only when families reach a living income can they lead truly resilient lives out of poverty.

To strengthen our impact, we have aligned our goals with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, particularly zero hunger, zero poverty and gender equality. We know when we work with like-minded groups toward the same goal, we can achieve even more.

Rachel Merrill presents Heifer International.

Topics: Economic Justice