Like the popular saying, “whoever you have the power and will to help, do it for the person, for he is your next of kin, so take care of him “. This saying applies to Foluso Omosebi, the Founder, Foluso Omosebi Care Foundation, now VSS Foundation, who is fond of helping anyone in need of help irrespective of status, religion or tribe. Her desire is to put smiles on the faces of the less privileged in the society and this prompted her to establish her foundation in 2023.
This graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Osun State, is a philanthropist, and having grown up in Lagos and witnessing the level of poverty in her community was disheartening to her. “I saw the young and old, men and women struggling daily with little or nothing to earn a living,” she remarked in a brief chat with The Daily Monitor’s Society Editor, Ajibade Alabi during the launch of her foundation, VSS which was held in Lagos, Wednesday June 11, 2025, under the chairmanship of Pastor John Adeyemi, CEO, Peniel Group.
Relating her adventure she said, “I founded Foluso Omosebi Care Foundation in 2023 in the Alimosho area of Lagos State to cater for the needs of the less privileged.”
Foluso has kept the foundation running without funds either from individuals or government, in the past two years from the money she makes working abroad. With this, she ensures financial assistance is provided for small business owners such as petty traders and others to assist them. Those with medical assistance are not left behind as she extends her financial assistance for medical treatment, a sign of her long-held desire to put smiles on the faces of the downtrodden.
Some of her beneficiaries were at the launch event and they all showed their gratitude. Dimeji Abdullahi, a Nigerian resident in Ghana, is one of them; he is a visually impaired graduate from a higher institution in Ghana.
According to Abdullahi, he became blind in 2018 when he came to Nigeria to observe the mandatory one year National Youth Service Corps after completing his education in Ghana.
He said he later learnt leather work to support himself due to his visual impairment, but had no money to establish himself in the skill until he met Mrs Olaide Gold, who introduced him to the foundation for financial assistance.
Mrs Bakare simply known as Iya Okiki is another beneficiary but hers is a touching story. “When I gave birth to my daughter, she had no anus,” she began amidst tears. “We started looking for money for her treatment but we couldn’t raise money and, in the process, my husband abandoned me with her and two other children. For four years, my daughter could not go to the toilet because she had no anus. She has not been going to school because schools are rejecting her because of her condition.
“Then, I met Laide Gold who introduced me to the foundation. Mrs Foluso who through her foundation paid for my daughter’s operation at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH and has been paying for her drugs too.”
According to Foluso, the journey has been rough. “But we have been able to do a lot of things despite the financial constraints. I have been doing it alone without support from anyone. All the money has been coming from my pocket. I need collaboration with organizations, individuals and government. This job is tough. I have faced lots of challenges both physical and spiritual. I need financial support from the government so we can do more of what we are doing,” she said.
On the reason for the change of name of the foundation from Foluso Omosebi Care Foundation to VSS Foundation, Foluso said ,”The aim was to give it a more international outlook.
“Today we changed the name to VSS Foundation which reflects the names of my three children; Victor, Steve and Susan. I work with a charity organization abroad and when I told them the name of my foundation in Nigeria, they advised me to change it from my personal name,” she concluded
