We’ve heard of team-building exercises, but one organization in Omaha is taking things to the extreme.
The folks at Abide Omaha, a nonprofit that aims to build “safer communities, stronger families, and emerging leaders” in our state’s largest city, have announced their intention to send five community leaders up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise funds for the organization’s Lighthouse program.
With the tagline “5 Leaders, One Purpose,” the fundraising effort will go toward building five new Lighthouses in North Omaha. The Lighthouse program provides housing for emerging community leaders who vow to “live on purpose and love their neighbor,” working within their new neighborhood to reduce crime and build community.
One of the climbers, Nash Mahupete, is a Zimbabwe native and former nursing student who worked his way up the ladder at QLI, one of the nation’s leading rehabilitation centers, to become president and CEO.
“I climb because I know what hope can do for people in crisis,” Mahupete said on the Abide website.
Joining Mahupete, who serves as board chair with Abide, will be Abide CEO Josh Dotzler; Jon Campbell, owner of real estate firm Thrive Street Living; board-certified gastroenterologist Sheeva Parbhu; and Alexi Wellman, CEO of investment firm Altaba. All five climbers are board members with Abide.
Does the Lighthouse program work?
In a year that Omaha Mayor John Ewing has dubbed the “Year of the Neighbor,” Abide touts its role in helping bring down the crime rate in North Omaha and across the city.
The organization reports that neighborhoods that are home to Lighthouse residents have seen drops in crime as high as 75%, which matches the 75% drop in homicides seen across the city as of May.
Speaking with WOWT’s Sydney Babb, five-year Lighthouse resident Abe Idowu explained how he lives up to the program’s expectations by simply being present in his community.
“My role is to connect with neighbors in a very tangible and concrete way, and so I’m engaging with neighbors through basketball, hanging out with the kids, engaging those around me, cutting grass for myself and for neighbors and just intentionally engaging with my neighbors,” Idowu said.
The team plans to climb Mount Kilimanjaro from Oct. 9-18, hoping to summit on Oct. 16. They hope to each raise $155,000, the cost of a single Lighthouse, by raising $3 for each of the 52,000 steps it is believed to take to summit Mount Kilimanjaro.
