Hey BellaNaijarians! Here’s what you should know about The Joy Hub – A Platform Creating Safe Spaces Across Nigeria

On the 18th of February, 2019, after over a year of silent, steady, but ultimately satisfying work, in a small ceremony, we launched the pilot of The Joy Hub in Surulere, Lagos. The Joy Hub is a non-judgmental safe space in Lagos, Nigeria, for NGOs working in the mental and emotional health space to provide services to the public.

The operation of the hub is run by Olamma Cares, an NGO actively working on these issues for years. Our vision is to build a hub within walking distance of every young person across West Africa from now until 2035, to ensure immediate and sustained access to help and support. We want to help a continent in need of healing.

On the 16th of March, we launched a fundraiser, and we would like it if 1000 persons joined us in tackling the modern scourge of depression, anxiety and suicide. The hub is presently run largely by few key friends and mentors, and people who donated last year. The most important gift you can give is to please join us.

This year, we are raising ₦15 million (about $42,000). Here’s how we reached that amount:

₦6,800,000 – To run the pilot Surulere hub.
₦3,342,000 – For a toll free-line for low income youth.
₦5,000,000 – To open a hub in Port Harcourt before the end of 2019.
(All cost includes personnel.)

We want to switch the model and have people who donate amounts monthly to sustain the hubs. We are looking for 1,000 people who will commit to donate from as little as ₦1,000 ($3) to ₦100,000 ($300) every month. We are also looking for SMEs to join us as partners and donate ₦200,000 ($600) every month as SME partners.

Would you, please, join us in creating this network of support? Help us by being one of those 1,000 people. Help do it now. Not later, not this evening, not tomorrow – now that it’s still on top of your mind.

Please go to joyhub.ng and donate. it takes just two minutes.

If you are in Nigeria, you can do a one-off phone transfer via our account number:

EcoBank – 0053065417.

But we’d really like you to donate via the site (joyhub.ng) and make it a recurring donation, every month.

As always, we publish the list of donations annually, except for those who ask to be anonymous. Let’s be human, together.

Joy now has a home. It’s The Joy Hub.

You see, we get it. Maybe not fully, maybe not to the degree to which you feel it, but we do get it.

Life gets overwhelming. Sometimes, we just need a place to scream, chill, catch our breaths, unwind, listen to our thoughts, be alone. Having spent time through our work in mental and emotional health research, through listening to the needs of those who regularly attend our masterclasses, through working with partners both in Nigeria and beyond the shores of Africa, we understand that there is an urgent need for safe spaces of this nature in Nigeria.

This is why we, in collaboration with Olamma Cares, set up the pilot of The Joy Hub in Surulere, Lagos.

The Joy Hub is a non-judgmental mental, emotional, spiritual safe space in Lagos, Nigeria. Walk into The Joy Hub from Monday – Friday (9 AM – 5 PM) to access this space.

The Joy Hub is located at 14 Shofidiya Close, off Ilesanmi Street, Masha, Surulere, or you can also call our helpline: 0700-THE-JOY-HUB (0700843569482)