Sterling Homes, in celebration of her 12th anniversary has empowered no fewer than 50 Nigerian widows with start-up resources, shop rental payments and cash gifts.
The leading real estate development company made the donation and resource presentation last week at their corporate head office in River Valley Estate, Lagos as part of a week-long activities that had the company allocate land to subscribers of its housing estate in Eleko, Ibeju-Lekki on Tuesday, and handover of keys of bungalows to homeowners of its housing estate in Mowe, Ogun state on Wednesday, all in celebration of its 12th year in business.
The resources, which included, grinding machines, gas cookers, entrepreneurship capital, rent payment, food and clothing items and medical bills payment amongst others were distributed to over 30 randomly selected widows from across Lagos state according to their communicated need.
The widows who were filled with excitement and gratitude displayed their appreciation with a promise to make judicious use of the resources given to them.
During the resource presentation, Dr. Kunle Adeyemi, Sterling Homes CEO said that the initiative emanated as a way of giving back to the society from the successful achievements of Sterling Homes.
He stated, “Today Sterling Homes is celebrating 12 years of greatness and we are so thankful to God. Our goal of satisfying our customers and giving back to society has always been the driving force. Today we want to spotlight the plight of widows in communities by empowering them to create their own stability.
“Losing a husband or a partner can be an incredibly saddening experience. But for too many women in Nigeria, becoming a widow can also be the beginning of a whole new set of problems and hardships,” Dr. Adeyemi Shared.
“We asked for the nomination of indigent widows after which we screened the received nominees to ensure that those who need these items are chosen and empowered. We have been able to empower 30 widows today and we believe that it’s not going to end today. More empowerment are coming. At Sterling Homes, we recognize the importance of giving back, whether it’s volunteering, raising money for a charity or food drive, this is who we are.”
Dr. Adeyemi went on to urge private organisations to deploy corporate social responsibility and support the needy and less privileged in the country.
He said, “At Sterling Homes we encourage our staff to truly evaluate their own desire to have an impact in the world from how they lead their day-to-day life to how they treat others; in ways that they can contribute to improving their country and community. I also want to encourage private organisations to give back to the community that made them because as little as a percent, can go a long way to change the environment and condition of the underprivileged in the country.
One of the beneficiaries, (name withheld) expressed happiness for the kind-hearted gesture the company has shown. She said, “I didn’t pay any money to qualify for this. God bless Sterling Homes for wiping away my tears. The only money I spent was my transportation to this place and now I’m going back home with money to start my business. I say thank you to them.”
Another beneficiary, whose daughter’s medical bill of over NGN100,000 was cleared by the company, thanked the organization for coming to her aid as a widow who had been suffering for years without help from anybody, saying, “My daughter is my only child and her illness got me scared and worried, we had tried herbal treatment to her ailment and it wasn’t working, she was admitted to the hospital when her illness got worse and I have been running around looking to loan money from friends before I got the call from Sterling Homes, they paid all the medical bills, gave me NGN50,000 for my Shea butter business, and still gave me foodstuff. I can only say God has smiled on me through them.”
This is not the first time the company would give back to the community. Just last year, the company marked Children’s Day by reaching out to primary schools within the Odi-Olowo LCDA where they gave out educational items to over 500 children from multiple schools within the Mushin community.