Community-driven foundation builds resilience in Limpopo
With empowerment campaigns, GBV initiatives, and school support, Step Ahead is changing lives across Limpopo and inviting businesses and donors to join.
LIMPOPO – The Step Ahead Foundation, a growing non-profit organisation, is steadily making its mark by restoring dignity and building resilience in rural communities.
Born out of life experiences of walking alongside young people who felt unseen and survivors whose voices were silenced, the foundation has become a beacon of healing, empowerment, and unity.
Formally registered on February 23, 2021, the foundation was founded in October 2020 by Themba Confidence Mhlongo. Mhlongo, driven by a vision of change, assembled a diverse board comprising elders, survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), and activists who shared a common belief: the youth should not inherit despair but hope.
“The name Step Ahead came from a simple truth,” explained Mhlongo.
“Progress doesn’t always mean leaps. Sometimes it’s one step towards dignity, towards healing, towards opportunity.”
Since its inception, the foundation has touched more than 5 000 households through its various programmes, including boys and girls empowerment campaigns, GBV awareness initiatives, youth information-sharing sessions, food parcel distribution, and back-to-school drives.
Its latest milestone, the Heritage Day celebration, highlighted the organisation’s philosophy of community-driven solutions. On Heritage Day, the foundation donated shoes to children and families, a gesture that went beyond meeting a physical need.
Looking ahead, the foundation plans to expand its youth empowerment and GBVF response programmes, while also building a community resource hub to serve as a centre for social services. Long-term, Step Ahead aims to influence policy and replicate its community-driven model across Limpopo and South Africa. Mhlongo stressed that the work is a collective effort:
“We don’t see sponsors as donors; we see them as co-dreamers. Every volunteer, partner, and supporter is part of this heartbeat of change.”
The foundation is calling on individuals, businesses, and organisations to join its mission through partnerships, in-kind and financial support, or simply by amplifying its story.
“Dignity is contagious,” Mhlongo concluded. “When one person feels seen, it inspires others to stand up, too. That’s how communities shift from silence to action, from isolation to unity.”
For donations or to get involved, please contact Themba Mhlongo at 065 991 4989.
