Our Story
One Heart has grown to become a unique ‘for-purpose‘ organisation which aims to support local people to address local issues. That’s why One Heart is now a registered NGO with separate and independent boards in Uganda and Kenya which allows us to operate as a series of grassroots organisations which is locally lead and contextually relevant, but supported by the Foundation board based in Australia.
Every journey begins with a first step ...
One Heart Foundation was founded by Melbourne architect Dean Landy after first travelling to Kenya in 2007 and witnessing the dire need of so many children, and realising that he could do something about it.
A board is formed
The Australian team is now a group of volunteering professionals that have come together with the vision to break the poverty cycle and a desire to impact the lives of thousands of the most vulnerable children.
A dream is now a reality
Our first community development started in 2012 when we purchased a 12-acre site in Turbo, north-west Kenya. This is now a village that is home for 100 vulnerable ‘One Heart children’, and is continuing to grow to accommodate boarding for 200 local children and provide an education to 400 children annually.
A second opportunity arises
In 2016 we purchased a second 8-acre property in Soy, approximately 30 minutes north of the Turbo property. Here we have started work on a second One Heart development which currently provides agricultural land and supports livestock, creating a range of income generation streams for the OneHeart Community.
Our reach increases
In 2019 we purchased our first 10-acre property in Uganda which in the long term will become another One Heart Community, but in the short term will be used for farming to help generate a local income. We also started supporting 50 local orphans to start their journey in education with a partnering school.
The future looks bright
Between Kenya and Uganda, One Heart currently provides holistic care for over 160 orphaned and abandoned children…but this is just the beginning.
One Heart’s primary activity is to provide strategic sustainable solutions to help end generational poverty and to raise funds to start initiatives that build self-sufficiency in regional areas.