Ellen Cathers
Longtime member and past President of the Rotary Club of Westerville, Ellen Cathers has had the chance to bring an incredible service opportunity to Westerville and its citizens – a nonprofit organization called Rise Up Now, or RUN, that provides assistance and support for widows in Kitale, Kenya.
“Rise Up Now was started in 2009. It came out of my passion as I traveled different places, whether it be in the community or around the world, to raise people up out of spiritual and economic poverty,” Cathers says.
Over the years, RUN has given Cathers and her fellow Westerville Rotarians not just the chance to help women and families in East Africa, but also the chance to uplift their community right here at home.
A RUNning start
When she was in her 20s, Cathers never imagined that she would leave the country, despite having an enthusiasm for travel. Now, four decades later, she has visited Kenya 23 times and counting.
“(Serving others) has given me a reason to go and see different places and meet new people,” Cathers says. “I think everyone needs to get out of their comfort zone and go see how other people live.”
Ellen Cathers
During her travels, Cathers noticed a cultural pattern of African widows being ostracized from their late husbands’ families, left with little to no resources with which to raise their children. In an effort to help these women regain their voices within their communities, she partnered with an indigenous pastor in Kenya, Pastor Isaac, to form the RUN family. Today, that family consists of 11 widows as well as their 56 children, 54 grandchildren and over 12 great-grandchildren.
RUN assists these widows and their children in many ways, including by providing the following:
- Water well and latrine installations
- Mosquito nets and assistance with other home repairs
- Food staples and fertilizer for a successful planting season
- Health insurance and easier access to medical care
- Assistance with school fees
- Basic financial training
Perhaps most importantly, RUN provides the widows with basic business training. According to Cathers, many of the widows have successfully started their own small businesses thanks to the nonprofit’s business workshops and self-sustaining capital program.
The capital program helps the widows maintain and expand their businesses once established by teaching them how to properly invest their profits. Cathers says the program helps them eventually move their businesses into bigger capital gain, while also allowing them to put more money in their pockets and build up emergency funds.
“We’re not just giving stuff away, we’re trying to create accountability and something that moves people a step forward,” Cathers says. “It’s not a handout, it’s a hand up.”
RUN meets Rotary
Though Cathers has always been involved with the Rotary Club of Westerville, the Club hasn’t always been involved with RUN.
“After COVID, I felt like God wanted me to live my faith out everywhere in my life, not just inside the church,” Cathers says. “I spend a lot of time in Rotary, and wanted to connect my faith to Rotary.”
In response, Cathers brought together a group of Rotarians to aid the efforts of RUN and occasionally travel to Kenya. This group works hand-in-hand with the Rotary Club that’s been established in Kitale to assist those in need whenever there is drought, flood or famine. The Club also helps fund a dispensary there – a small infirmary – to ensure its pharmacy is kept stocked and is currently in the process of renovating the building.
During its most recent trip to Kenya last summer, the group ran small business seminars for men recovering from street life, widows and small-scale farmers; set up medical camps at two prisons and one dispensary; and spent valuable time with orphans. On this trip, Cathers visited each widow in their home and got to know them personally.
“It’s not about just giving money, it’s about building relationships,” Cathers says. “It’s the most important thing.”
Ellen Cathers
Additionally, the Club is working on a second large initiative in Kenya, including installing a lab with over 70 computers in a local high school to encourage computer literacy. Surrounding high schools and community members will have access to the lab as well.
Cathers is thankful for the Club’s help.
“I love the Rotarians,” she says. “Everybody’s very active, just great people. We’re (creating) a community where we lift each other up.”
A race to no end
Whether across the globe or in the Westerville area, Cathers is always looking for more opportunities to help others. Besides her work for RUN, she also works with at-risk youth at Star House, Columbus, a homeless shelter for youth.
Together, Cathers and the Rotary Club are in the process of launching a nonprofit for at-risk youth which will be called Westerville Youth Connection. According to Cathers, it will act as a respite and provide a safe place to get connected with resources, fix a meal, do homework, do laundry, or just relax.
“Instead of shipping off our at-risk youth to Columbus or someplace, let’s keep these kids in our community,” Cathers says. “Let’s develop them so that they’re active, contributing citizens and bring them back into the positive mix so they can be a part of the good things we’ve got going on in Westerville.”
That’s not all, however. Cathers has many future visions for both here in Ohio, as well as overseas. Eventually, she wishes to put up a pickleball facility on the east side of Columbus, but sooner than that, she will be continuing her work in Kenya.
Cathers traveled in February with an organization called Transformational Leadership to assist medical students in Nairobi, Kenya, as well as in Vietnam and Indonesia. She also plans to visit Pastor Isaac in June and take Westerville Rotarians back to Kenya in 2026.
Cathers encourages everyone to seek ways in which they can serve others, no matter how small.
“Small contributions all add up,” she says. “The world gets people looking back. We (want) to get people looking forward.”
Ella Jay is an assistant editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at ejay@cityscenedmediagroup.com.
