Our mission and values
Unbound is an international nonprofit based in Kansas City, Kansas, and founded by lay Catholics grounded in the Gospel call to put the needs of the marginalized and vulnerable first.
Our mission is to support families and communities worldwide on their self-directed paths out of poverty.
Unbound offers a practical way for sponsors, donors and volunteers to make a personal and direct impact as partners in our global community. Through walking with a child and family, youth, elder or community on their path out of poverty, our supporters have an opportunity to expand their worldviews and be part of creative solutions to poverty.
At Unbound, we are:
Respectful
We recognize the God-given dignity and equality of all people and foster relationships based on mutual respect and understanding. | Authentic
We work with honesty, transparency, integrity and accountability. |
Innovative
We advance groundbreaking ideas and methods, humbly listening to and learning from the marginalized and vulnerable and putting their needs first. | Optimistic
We believe in the transformative power of community and that, together, we will build a world where everyone can participate in society and reach their full potential. |
Grounded in faith
Unbound was founded by Catholic laypeople based on Gospel values of love, compassion and justice and principles of Catholic social teaching, including: dignity of the human person, solidarity, working for the common good and ensuring decisions are made by those most affected by them. These values and principles shape our programs and the way we work with families and our broader community. Unbound partners with all people of goodwill from all faith traditions and backgrounds to create a worldwide community of compassion and service.
Our founding story
Unbound was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1981 by brothers Bob, Bud and Jim Hentzen, their sister Nadine Hentzen Pearce and their friend Jerry Tolle. Bob and Jerry were former missionaries who, while working in Latin America, met hard-working families struggling heroically to make better lives for their children. They envisioned a program inviting people in the U.S. and elsewhere to partner with families living in poverty to support and encourage them but also to learn from and be inspired by them.
To raise awareness of the realities and capabilities of families living in poverty and show his belief in them, Bob Hentzen completed two extraordinary walks of solidarity. In 1996, at the age of 60, he walked 4,000 miles from our headquarters in Kansas City to Guatemala. Thirteen years later, Bob picked up where he left off, this time walking 8,000 miles from Guatemala to Chile. Together, the walks spanned 15 countries with thousands of families in our programs joining Bob at stops along the way. Bob said he walked to tell the families that “I love you on your terms, I believe in you and you’re not alone.”
The founders’ love for and belief in others, along with their dedicated example of putting faith into action, continue to inform and inspire the Unbound community today.
