As a Web Content Editor for Crime Check Foundation (CCF), I witness people troop in and out while I sit behind my computer in the office each day.
These persons come with different problems of health, education, rent, and a plethora of emergencies to seek support.
CCF, which is barely six years old since its establishment, could boast of thousands of people it has helped.
These persons are the underprivileged, acid attack victims, cancer patients, the unemployed, low-income earners facing difficulties, street hawkers, needy students, the homeless, persons with disability, and so on.
On a Monday morning in May 2023, a 60-year-old man, George Anobil Sam walked into the offices of Crime Check Foundation with his daughter to seek support.
The lady, 26, suffered from Lupus, a disease that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs (autoimmune disease).
Sadly, the disease is not curable but the old man cannot watch his daughter die. He has to do anything within his means to keep his daughter alive.
Sam has sold all his properties to ‘buy life’ for his daughter. There was nothing left for him. After failing to get help from relatives and other organizations, his last resort was CCF.
On the first day he narrated his story, he was given over Threewo Thousand-Ghana cedis to enable him to get medications for his daughter who was on admission at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. He has since been frequenting the office, seeking further medical support.
In May 2020, a Dubai-based Ghanaian lady, Memuna Malik was brutally bathed with acid in Riyadh. Her face and other parts of her body were disfigured. She partially got blind.
Crime Check Foundation mobilized Fifty-Two thousand Ghana cedis for her first surgery and since then Memuna has been receiving support to restore her body. CCF has spent thousands of cedis to help Memuna recover.
The days of suffering came to an end for a struggling poor street hawker Enoch Appiah Agyei as Crime Check Foundation surprised him in 2020 with Nineteen Thousand Ghana cedis.
Appiah Agyei had sold car dusters for a decade but still could not make ends meet.
He is not alone, the Foundation, under its General Charity, Street Charity, Village Charity, Health Check Series, Water for Communities, and Prison series have financially supported thousands of Ghanaians across the country.
In the absence of a Non-Custodial In Ghana, the Foundation under its Petty Offenders project has released over a thousand inmates from Ghana’s prisons and re-integrated them into society under its Ex-Convicts Re-integration project.
The work of Crime Check Foundation has become vital to the livelihood empowerment of Ghanaians.
The national empowerment program popularly called LEAP (Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty), is a social protection intervention of the Government with the aim of reducing extreme poverty by increasing consumption and nutrition, as well as promoting access to social services and opportunities among the extremely poor and vulnerable in Ghana.
LEAP, unfortunately, targets a few women in the Northern parts of the country.
Apart from other teething challenges riddled with the implementation of the poverty alleviation program, it has been criticized for the paltry amount it gives out.
Government faces backlash for inconsistencies in the execution of the program.
To further alleviate the suffering of the underprivileged, a common fund for persons living with disability was instituted.
The fund for the disabled also faces similar criticisms.
These interventions struggle to be sustainable.
In the private sector, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) had to complement government’s efforts in eradicating poverty.
CCF was noted for its advocacy on crime prevention and support for prison inmates. It, however, broadened its scope to support the underprivileged in society with the birthing of its programmes, the General Charity Series, Health Check Series, and Village Charity Series.
Arguably, the programmes have attained a national scope as hundreds of beneficiaries are from across the country.
I walk around town and people sing the praises of the Foundation. This is a testament that CCF’s activities are known countrywide and have become the envy of others.
CCF has facilitated the surgeries of patients, and paid fees of senior High School, College, and University students.
After supporting the beneficiaries, the Foundation continues to offer unfettered support to them as many remain on the ‘payroll’ of CCF.
How would these beneficiaries have survived after they are given one-time support?
The continuous support of the Foundation has saved hundreds of the beneficiaries from going to their early grave, raised them from the gutters, and given them hope.
It is therefore important to acknowledge the crucial role Crime Check Foundation plays in society in complementing Government’s efforts in reducing poverty at a time governments in the sub-region are finding it extremely tough in sustaining pro-poor interventions. If you are hearing of CCF for the first time, share its good news for those with the spirit of charity to support this noble organization. Do not be left out yourself. Be a part of CCF.
Rudolph Nandi
