My first real encounter with poverty was at schools in the south of Johannesburg in the early 1990s. Children were given loaves of bread from a large national bakery, and for many of them, that loaf was not just a supplement — it was all they had to eat at home. Some children took the bread home rather than eating it at school, saving it for their families. That is what real poverty looks like.
I remember one teacher in particular who tried to address more than hunger. He taught young boys boxing, not to turn them into fighters, but to help them build confidence and self-belief in lives that offered very little of either. Even then, I saw that dignity and empowerment mattered just as much as food.
Years later, I found myself heading a corporate social investment programme for an international company. I tried to ensure that our initiatives went beyond charity and focused instead on sustainability and innovation. Some of those programmes were, for their time, ahead of the curve. In a country like South Africa, there is no shortage of goodwill. Companies, NGOs, faith-based groups, and countless individuals support the poor every day — through food relief, education, skills training, and quiet acts of generosity that rarely make headlines.
But in recent weeks, I have come across several models that go further than the ordinary. These initiatives do not simply alleviate hardship; they rethink how help is given by restoring dignity, creating agency, and tackling the structural forces that keep people poor.
One of the most striking examples comes from musician Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea Hurley, through their JBJ Soul Kitchen initiative. This is not a soup kitchen in the traditional sense, but a non-profit “community restaurant” built on a pay-it-forward model. There are no prices on the menu. Those who can afford to pay are encouraged to donate a suggested amount, covering their own meal and the next person’s. Those who cannot afford to pay earn a high-quality, three-course meal by volunteering an hour of their time in the kitchen or garden.
What makes this model so powerful is that it removes the stigma of charity. People from all walks of life sit together, eat the same food, and are treated as equals. Beyond feeding people, the JBJ Soul Foundation addresses the deeper causes of poverty through wrap-around services, job training, and permanent housing solutions for veterans and low-income families. It is a reminder that innovation in philanthropy is not about writing bigger cheques, but about designing systems that restore dignity and rebuild community.
Another compelling example comes from Bogotá, Colombia, where the city has introduced a groundbreaking initiative known as “Care Blocks.” This model tackles what is often overlooked in discussions about poverty: time poverty. The programme focuses particularly on women who spend their lives performing unpaid care work for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities — labour that traps them in cycles of dependence and exhaustion.
By clustering essential services such as childcare, laundries, health clinics, and support centres within a 20-minute walking radius, the city enables caregivers to safely hand over responsibilities that once consumed their entire day. The reclaimed time can then be used to complete schooling, attend vocational training, access healthcare, or simply rest. Rather than offering a handout, the Care Blocks treat care as a shared social responsibility and redesign the urban environment to support human potential. It is systemic, structural, and deeply humane.
Closer to home in South Africa, I came across an equally innovative model that turns “waste” into opportunity. Taking Care of Business (TCB) is a social enterprise that partners with major retailers to rescue surplus and returned clothing stock. But instead of distributing the items through traditional clothing drives, TCB uses the stock as the foundation for a two-year business programme for unemployed mothers.
Participants buy the clothing at a nominal cost and are mentored on how to repair, market, and sell it within their communities. In doing so, they build micro-franchises of their own. This approach replaces dependency with ownership. The women are not passive recipients of charity; they are partners in their own economic recovery, gaining skills, confidence, and financial literacy. For the poorest of the poor, this is not about receiving a bag of clothes — it is about becoming a businesswoman.
Another powerful insight came from a broadcast on 91.9FM, featuring research from the Deskless Pulse project. The discussion focused on the world’s “deskless workers” — the vast majority of the global workforce who perform essential labour without offices, laptops, or career pathways. These include security guards, cleaners, servers, and countless others whose potential is often invisible.
One story stood out: a young man with a university degree who, due to circumstance, took a job as a security guard simply to survive. Rather than remaining trapped, he used the opportunity to learn the industry from the ground up. Over time, he launched his own security company and eventually became its CEO, committed to recruiting and mentoring others in similar positions. It is a reminder that poverty often masks talent — and that opportunity, not ability, is the real constraint.
Finally, although not a new concept, it is impossible to ignore the renewed vigour being applied within South Africa’s correctional system. Since July 2024, Minister of Correctional Services Dr. Pieter Groenewald has brought a determined focus to transforming prisons from centres of detention into institutions of rehabilitation. Many inmates come from the poorest communities, where crime was often a desperate attempt at survival.
By turning prisons into productive, self-sufficient environments — particularly through commercial agriculture such as poultry, dairy, and crop farming — inmates are not only contributing to their own sustenance but acquiring practical skills that can sustain them once released. This approach reduces the burden on the taxpayer while restoring dignity through meaningful work. Empowerment, rather than punishment alone, becomes the pathway to rehabilitation.
Taken together, these examples point to a profound shift in how poverty can be addressed. The most effective interventions are no longer about handouts alone, but about agency, dignity, and systems that allow people to participate in their own upliftment. Whether through food, time, work, or skills, the common thread is respect for human potential.
Perhaps the real innovation lies not in the programmes themselves, but in the mindset behind them: a recognition that the poor do not need saving — they need opportunity.
? Watch this community hub in Bogotá
Check out this community hub in Bogotá that brings people together and inspires new ways of building support systems for vulnerable populations:
https://youtube.com/shorts/GIW3EKBgNQQ?si=_WuhbOnz-y8LdvIh
