RLabs Zlto supports youth and their families in lockdown

19 Jun 2020

Cape Town-based non-profit Reconstructed Living Labs (RLabs) has set themselves the ambitious goal of supporting 40,000 youth, and their families, during Covid-19 and beyond. Using their fully auditable blockchain-based solution Zlto, they are already ensuring that essential items such as groceries, electricity vouchers, airtime and data vouchers, are reaching the intended recipients, quickly and efficiently.

RLabs founder, Marlon Parker.

To continue to instil hope and support the communities in which it operates, RLabs - through its Zlto initiative - launched a Covid-19 Relief Fund to scale the disbursement of vouchers to almost 10x the number of young adults currently served per week. The team has developed a new Covid-19 related platform of content and activities for users to complete to earn digital vouchers.

“We knew this time would be particularly difficult for the youth and their families. Our recent survey completed by some of our members on Zlto showed that nearly 60% of respondents require support with food, finances, and access to masks during the lockdown. It is also clear that there are great concerns about members and their families’ abilities to financially survive post-Covid,” explains RLabs founder, Marlon Parker.

“Our aim is to provide up to 40,000 young adults with access to vouchers through the Zlto app, so that these young adults can continue to buy necessary essential items to support an extended network of at least 200,000 family members, and their community during this time,” says Parker. “In addition, we are also ensuring that they are connected to the Government Covid-19 portal to receive up to date and correct information, and access to facilities and services such as free Covid-19 Online Doctor Consultations, available to all South Africans.”

The launch of the Covid-19 Relief Fund has been boosted by donations from two of the organisation’s partners, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and JP Morgan, which share RLabs’ passion to support vulnerable communities. The grants will contribute to, and enable the disbursement of, the Covid-19 Relief Fund and support RLabs and Zlto on their journey to achieving their substantial target.

Learn more about RLabs by visiting https://rlabs.org/ or contribute to the Covid-19 Relief Fund, which provides vulnerable families with access to food, electricity and masks using.