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Program 02 · Kids Without a Crew

What one man did
to create change.

A man in Uganda who saved a year for a phone. A quadriplegic in America who couldn't walk. One post. One call. Kids who now have a crew.

Be Part of This → The Story
Jerry Harmon
The Power of One — Multiplied

One post. One call. Kids who now have a crew.

A man in Uganda saved a year to buy a phone. A coworker taught him Facebook. He started posting about children who had no one. That's all he did — he posted. Across the ocean, Jerry — a quadriplegic who couldn't physically go anywhere — found those posts. He couldn't drill. He couldn't fly. But he could make a phone call. He called Jim Forbis at OMW, already in Uganda on a drilling trip. Jim went to see the children. He couldn't walk away. OMW committed that same day.

John Mwase
Saved a year for a phone. Posted about kids who needed help.
Jerry Harmon
Couldn't walk. Found John's posts. Made one call.
Jim Forbis
Already in Uganda. Went to see the kids. Committed same day.
You
Reading this. Share it. Be the next Jerry.
Three Names · One Mission

Different names. Same kids. Same crew.

Transform the Needy Child

What John called his Facebook page. The name that started everything.

Shelter & Care

The local name — because that's what it provides. A roof, food, school, medical care.

Kids Without a Crew

Our name. These kids don't need sorry. They need a crew.

John's Story

One of 18 children. Father to dozens.

Kid dancing — that's the whole point.

From posts on a saved-up phone to a building going up.

John Mwase grew up one of 18 children in Kiige, Uganda. His father was a farmer who believed education was the only bridge out. At 15, John saw a classmate stop writing — her father had just died. That moment changed him. By 20, he was spending everything he earned on kids who had no family.

"These were the first people outside my country who really believed in what I was doing."
— John Mwase
Breaking Ground · Active Construction

Not just a roof. A complete life.

One post led to one call, which led to one visit, which led to a commitment. That commitment is now a building. OMW broke ground to give 72 children everything John's father believed every kid deserved.

$250,000 raised
Goal: $350,000 · Construction underway

$100,000 still needed. Construction is active. 92% of every dollar goes straight to materials, water, food, and care.

The Need

Most people can't picture what 2.4 million looks like.

Numbers go in one ear and out the other. So we put them next to something you already know. This is the scale of what's happening in Uganda right now — and why even the smallest crew, even one kid at a time, matters more than you think.

Orphaned children in Uganda
2.4 million
That's the entire population of Houston, Texas.
Or every man, woman, and child in Oregon — with no parents to come home to.
Street kids in Kampala alone
50,000+
Pack Coors Field in Denver — every seat full of a kid with no bed.
A baseball stadium of children sleeping rough in one Ugandan city.
Households led by a child
15%
In Lincoln, Nebraska, that's 30,000 kids running a household.
No adult. No backup. Younger siblings counting on them for everything.
Better adult outcomes with structured care
6×
Six times more likely employed. Six times more likely housed.
A home, food, school, and a mentor isn't charity — it's the highest-ROI investment in human life.

Sources: Lancet · UNICEF · World Bank · UN Women · Copenhagen Consensus.

Food Systems · The Multiplier

Food first. Everything else follows.

A well helps. A roof helps. But food is the multiplier that turns help into health, health into school, school into work, and work into a community that no longer needs saving. This is the most data-backed intervention in international development — and it starts in the dirt.

01 · Food
Year-round nutrition
60% lower food costs. Kids eat what they grew.
02 · Health
Bodies that thrive
80% less disease. Kids grow up well, not just up.
03 · School
Kids in classrooms
Healthy kids show up. Girls' enrollment +40%.
04 · Work
Community earners
$8.20 returned per $1 invested. Lifetime ROI.
05 · Forever
Generational change
Self-sustaining community. Charity runs out of a job.

The proof, in numbers.

6×
Generational change
6x more likely employed as adults. Stable housing, food, school. Break the cycle.
Lancet · UNICEF
−80%
Health
80% less diarrheal disease — the #1 child killer in sub-Saharan Africa.
WHO · UNICEF JMP
$8.20
Economic impact
Returns $4–$12 per dollar. Highest-ROI development investment, period.
Copenhagen Consensus

Kelly Snodgras. She started it. She built it. She made it last.

Thanks to Kelly, the Food Systems program exists. Three months on the ground in early 2025: planting every seed, mapping every row, teaching staff and kids how to grow year after year. Cabbage, African eggplant, herbs, fruit trees. Food that doesn't depend on donations. Teach once. Multiply forever. Thank you, Kelly.

Kelly and staff planting
Kids in the garden
Garden full of cabbage
Kelly walks through the seeds going in.
Kelly on the trees being planted.
#BeTheJerry

Jerry shared one post. Be the next Jerry.

Jerry proved you don't have to go anywhere to change everything. He shared. He called. Kids across Uganda have a crew. Your turn.

1
Share this page.
Screenshot, story, reel. Post with #BeTheJerry and tag @onemillionwells.
2
Tag 3 people.
3 becomes 9 becomes 27. Three rounds and you've reached a village.
3
Watch it multiply.
People are 3x more likely to act when someone in their network acts first.
#BeTheJerry — Share This →
Be Part of This

Two ways in. Pick yours.

There's no minimum. No tier required. Show up however you can. Time is welcome. Voice is welcome. Money is welcome. The kids don't care which one you bring.

Volunteer your time.

Hands, voices, skills, rooms, networks. The Crew is built by people, not budgets.

  • Drilling trips and on-the-ground work in Uganda
  • Skill-shares: web, video, design, accounting, comms
  • Host a #BeTheJerry event in your church, school, or office
  • Ambassador work — share the story to your network
Get Involved →

Give what you can.

Whatever you give goes to materials, water, food, and care. 92% of every dollar lands on the ground.

  • One-time gift — any amount lands on the ground
  • Monthly support — the most predictable way to help
  • Sponsor a kid, a well, or a wing of the build
  • Employer match — double your impact
Give to Kids Without a Crew →

You don't have to be John.
You just have to be Jerry.

Share a post. Make a call. Small actions build crews.

Take the #SinkChallenge →Give Now →

92% to programs · 501(c)(3) · One post can change everything