Newman Foundation Awards Shining Hope for Communities

Shining Hope for Communities, a Wesleyan foundation that serves Nairobi, Kenya’s poorest slum, was recently awarded a $750,000 grant from the Westport, Conn.-based Newman’s Own foundation to expand a school for girls in Kenya.

Shining Hope for Communities was co-founded by Jessica Posner ’09 and Kennedy Odede ’12.

Called the Kiberia School for Girls, the school is the first tuition-free school for girls in the community. The expansion of the school effectively doubles its size with 22 new classrooms.

Newman’s Own Foundation has contributed nearly $1 million in grants to Shining Hope for Communities since 2010. In addition to funding for education, some of the funds are used for health and sanitation services as well as job and skills training through its Johanna Justin-Jinich Community Clinic and the Shining Hope Community Center.

Read more about the grant in this Middletown Press article.