501(c)(3) STATUS ATTAINED: happiness hour, ep. 2
Hello and a very Happy Autumn to our dear readers, community members, supporters, potential partners, interested passers-by, and any IRS or state officials who may read this!
Let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: it’s been a LONG time since our last blog post, or really public update of any kind. And we’re so sorry to have left you hanging! It’s been a wild year– here’s what we’ve been up to:
Developing details and rollout plans for all ground programs + testing them through microprogramming
Honing our public messaging and online education strategies
Creating a theory of change map to tailor all activities to our specific goals (more on this in the next blog post!)
Recruiting board members & researching experts in the chronic health, nutritional and poverty/housing academic spaces
Assembling vital information for our Resource Pamphlets
Compiling lists of grants and potential partners in our communities and, finally,
Awaiting the go-ahead from both the IRS and the State of Alabama to begin our work and fundraising as a tax-exempt charitable organization
And great news– we’ve just gotten BOTH !!
Mother Angela’s Foundation for the Pursuit of Happiness is now an official tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization with legal permissions to “charitably solicit” from the public.
Receiving the 501(c)(3) status from the IRS means:
Any donations we receive are now tax-deductible (back-dated through July of 2022)
Mother Angela’s will pay no taxes (or very few) for our charitable activities
An entire world of grants reserved for federally tax-exempt organizations is now available to us (and we’ve already begun applications!)
Local businesses, big corporations and individual philanthropists will be more willing to engage with our work now that we’ve attained this credibility
Receiving charitable solicitations permissions from Alabama means:
We’ve finally been able to add the donation section to our website and can begin online fundraising efforts
We may reach out to individuals/businesses on the ground in Alabama for giving opportunities and partnerships
Our permissions will only expand as we obtain the same paperwork from California and Louisiana
As a reminder, here’s a summary of the ground programs we’ve been working on and will begin launching as we gather the necessary funds (read more at the top of the Programs & Blog page):
Client Program– Originally, I imagined the client program would make up the bulk (if not the sole focus) of our activities. The nonprofit was born, after all, from helping its namesake navigate the intersection of poverty and poor health, and rebuild her family’s stability using the home-health-healing framework (check out the home page of the website if you’re unfamiliar with this trifecta). The idea was to do the same for other families– one at a time to ensure we’d be able to focus on their specific needs, however complex. That was before I read the book Solve, Not Serve by Kelly E. Griffin, though, which was one of the world’s best-timed birthday gifts from my brother. Griffin’s blunt, self-explanatory thesis helped me to reach the conclusion that while we cherish the ability to help families out of tricky tribulations, helping a single family at a time does nothing to prevent future families from falling into the same traps. So while the client program will remain at the heart of our work, the other programs were conceived to give more people more resources in less time– to build toward a future where everyone has the tools for self-sufficiency, and those with a little extra are inclined to share. 🙂
Resource Pamphlets – These hard-copy, multi-lingual pamphlets will list free and affordable local resources that, in combination, might help readers achieve lasting health and stability. Topics covered will range from housing/shelter options to addiction resources, health services and nutritional education/food access. Because lack of income, childcare/youth programs and sufficient legal representation so often hinder lasting health and stability, the pamphlets will also include resources in those areas. As our programs are designed to work together, the pamphlets will be distributed via the Unhoused Support, Community Event & Teacher Aid programs.
Unhoused Support– A main focus of our microprogramming, this initiative involves Mother Angela’s providing meal support for folks staying on the street and in local shelters. This program serves the triple purposes of allowing us to meet some immediate hunger/nutritional needs (especially for those with dietary restrictions); forging bonds with unhoused communities and the organizations fighting for their survival and dignity; and providing another avenue for distributing resource pamphlets to some of the communities’ most vulnerable.
Community Events– We’re all for a traditional fundraiser; anything that channels wealth into our communities is decidedly within the confines of our jam. We think we can do even better, though, by combining the structure of a traditional fundraiser with a block-party-style mutual aid event that makes room for both giving and receiving. Folks attending as donors will purchase tickets and/or provide items for the mutual aid market in advance, and hopefully spend a little money at the event on prizes/auction items/beverages. Families and individuals from the community we’re serving will attend for free and be able to take home vital goods/ produce from the mutual aid market (along with resource pamphlets) after enjoying the free entertainment and activities at the event. [Note: these events will be carefully set up in a manner that does not make an obvious or awkward distinction between those attending as donors vs. community members]
Teacher Aid & Tutoring– Our work is incomplete without including youth, especially if we hope to make lasting changes to the overall health and wellbeing of our communities. Currently, classrooms in America are political (and often physical) battlegrounds, and teachers are caught in the crossfire. The main focus of this program is to provide them some relief by helping to meet classroom needs. Half the program fund will pay local people (who have grown up in the same culture as the students) interested in teaching to act as classroom helpers on a part-time basis. The other half will attempt to close supply gaps between what teachers need and what the school district provides. You’d be surprised how expensive it is to simply keep an elementary school classroom stocked with pencils. We will also be assembling volunteer tutors so that teachers may refer children who need a little extra 1-1 attention to thrive. This is also yet another opportunity to distribute resource pamphlets, which children can take home to their families (the section on local youth programs being especially relevant). It is also our hope that in the future we can help our partner schools develop sustainable, nourishing breakfast and lunch options for students.
We’re well aware that it will likely take years to bring each program into its full capacity. For now, we’re starting with the tiniest possible version of each program and growing them out from there. The order of rollout, as funds come in, will be as follows:
Expansion of the Current Unhoused Support Program in San Francisco
We’ve been conducting “microprogramming” with meal pass-outs and shelter donations since Thanksgiving/Day of Mourning of 2022, when we launched our first annual Holiday Meal by feeding 200+ people.
This year we’ll be hosting the Second Annual Holiday Meal and are hoping to feed around 300 people on Thanksgiving Day. If possible, we’d also like to offer blankets this year when passing meals out to folks on the street.
Neighborhood meal pass-outs and shelter donations will be regular staples of the program following the event, and Resource Pamphlets will be included once they go to print.
Printing of the Resource Pamphlets
We aim to have the San Francisco Resource Pamphlets printed by the New Year to begin distributions in January, so this will be our first priority.
We’ll next print the Birmingham Pamphlets for the first community event, followed by New Orleans Pamphlets ahead of the relevant program launches there.
First Community Event in Birmingham
We’ve begun exploring potential partners and venues, and plan to schedule our first community event for early in the New Year, pending the printing of the Birmingham Pamphlets (note: the SF Holiday Meal will proceed with or without the pamphlets, but we won’t throw the first community event without them).
Choosing of a First Family for the Client Program
We plan to select the first family for our client program from a pool of applicants in New Orleans, but have additional state paperwork to complete before we officially launch on the ground down there. This gives us time to raise the considerable overhead this program will require (the families we prioritize will usually be dealing with some type of complex trauma, making mental healthcare and rehabilitation a necessary expense).
Upon completion of the first round (when the first family is back on their feet), we’ll begin accepting applications in all three locations, but plan to take only a single family at a time in order to give our full attention to their specific needs (and to avoid ever having to choose one family’s needs over another’s to stay within the program budget).
Teacher Aid Testing in San Francisco
The debut of both the teacher aid & tutoring program will take place in San Francisco so that I can personally screen the first paid classroom aids and volunteer tutors in person (there will also be background checks for these positions, as is generally required for any involvement with public schools).
As with the other programs, we will expand these activities to more schools and locations as soon as program efficiency and finances allow.
Continuation of Online Education and Advocacy/ Encouragement (listed last only because it doesn’t require funding)
Social media will function as a mode of announcements and other communications regarding our ground programs, as well as a platform for low-income folks with complex health histories to share their stories of overcoming immense trauma and shed a little light on the scale of America’s health crisis.
We will also continue the online education around chronic health conditions and inequitable health outcomes, as well as our advocacy for
improved housing, healthcare and employment accessibility & conditions
the importance of nutrition, sleep and work/life balance for maintaining health, and
the de-stigmatizing of certain health conditions (like addiction mental illness).
These are issues that cannot go unaddressed if we hope to beget the cultural changes crucial to our mission.
We’re anxious to get the ball rolling, and want to make our supporters aware of opportunities to help us do just that (especially now that your contributions are tax-deductible!):
Donate – Help us out with a traditional cash gift. If you’re able, you can also choose the option for a small monthly contribution that fits your budget. Even $3/month makes a huge difference for us. If your employer offers matching donations for your charitable pursuits, you may also take advantage of that option now that we’re a 501(c)(3) !
Buy Mission Merch – Check out our little store of tees, hoodies and crewnecks featuring our slogan, “Share Whatcha Got.” Not only will we get a few bucks back from your purchase, but you’ll be furthering our mission with the easiest form of activism: fashion! Start conversations about the importance of mutual aid, and let folks know where they can read more about us or get their own Share Whatcha Got clothes! Stickers (etc) with the same message are coming soon.
Volunteer – Live in San Francisco, Birmingham or New Orleans? Have tutoring experience or interested in helping out for community events? Stay tuned for when we post volunteer forms. We’ll let you know when they’re up!
Provide Mutual Aid – One of the best things you can do for your community is to share vital goods, and we’ll give you a platform to do so when our community events start up. We’ll be accepting everything from jackets and shoes to produce and cookware, but more specific guidelines will be released prior to the first event. We may also introduce a mutual aid element into our SF Holiday Meal at Thanksgiving, and will provide an update on those plans in the coming weeks.
Spread The Word– What we REALLY need right now is more people in the loop. If you have access to large numbers of people in any of our locations or are acquainted with any philanthropists, now is your time to shine! Even if you’re removed from our locations but want to support the mission (YOU ROCK), you can do a lot for us just by following/liking/sharing our content on social media, talking us up to your philanthropically-involved friends, forwarding emails, and letting us know if you happen across a business that might make a good partner or event venue.
The road to this moment hasn’t always been straight (or paved, or lined, or properly maintained…), but we couldn’t be more thrilled to have made it this far. If you’ve been following along since we were a one-woman show pleading with the Instagram masses to help relocate Angela and her son, we are absolutely humbled that you’ve stuck it out until now. You, sweet supporters, are the reason we believe our mission is achievable, and we can’t thank you enough for helping us blaze the way.
