Never too old.

Our founder and Executive Director, Kate Fletcher, is about to turn 75. She's an incredible woman with a fierce passion. Her life is proof to other women that you can never be too old, to young, or too far to help.

See the video here:

Kate’s Story

Early Years
Kate Fletcher is a native of Philadelphia, PA who spent five years of her childhood in a girls' home. Blessed by opportunity, Kate received an education and completed her undergraduate degree at Duquesne University where she later worked as an adjunct professor after earning her Master’s degree. These experiences instilled in her a belief in the importance of learning. Now, the love and support that Kate received is being given back 100 fold to the girls of Hekima Place.

Founding Hekima Place
After seventeen happy years, Kate lost her husband Dr. Leonard Fletcher (“Fletch”), to cancer in 2001. Kate was heartbroken. She enjoyed her work, but decided there must be a greater need. Packing up her things, Kate sold her home and car and flew to Kenya where she began volunteering at Nyumbani, a home for children with HIV/AIDs. After two years, Kate asked the question, "Where are the healthy children?" The response: “The boys are at school, the girls are fetching wood and water, mothering their small siblings. Having experienced life in an orphanage, Kate was dismayed to know that the opportunities she was given were withheld from so many others simply because they were girls; she knew this injustice was something she had to change. Inspired, she flew home to Pittsburgh and went from church to church, looking for help to address what she considered to be some of the world's worst problems: a cycle of poverty and illness, children without education, love, or a home, and girls who are not "worth it." With the funds raised in that short visit home, Kate began Hekima Place. Kate's motto is that if you educate a boy, you get an educated man; if you educate a woman, you will have educated an entire village. Since 2005, Hekima has grown from just 10 girls to 70. The young, battered girls that come to Hekima Place are loved and educated with the expectation that they will leave as strong, confident young women, ready to change their country and their world for the better.

The Story Continues...
After graduating from college with a degree in Business Administration, Hekima’s eldest "daughter", Emmaculate moved to Mombasa, Kenya, married, and had a son whom she named "Fletch."