My 2011 Donation to Emergency Fund

Every year I set aside a portion of my Etsy shop earnings to donate to an organization that is doing great things for our world. I also like to tell my followers about that organization. In the last few months I haven’t talked about this much but if you were around my blog earlier, you’d know that in 2011, the organization I chose to donate to was the Emergency Fund, based here in Chicago.

The Emergency Fund helps low income Chicago area individuals and families who are struggling with a crisis or life change. EF helps these people get money for the small things that most of us take for granted, things that nonetheless make a huge difference to others. EF doesn’t just help them get money and resources they make it easy to do so. I wrote about my own family’s experience with crisis and how difficult it was for us to get the resources we needed. We were fortunate to have family and friends who were beyond generous. Without them, I don’t know what we’d have done, because the service orgs I went to either had no resources or had near-impossible hoops for me to jump through in order to receive help.

After contacting the Emergency Fund about donating to them this past year (it’s a good idea to get an org’s permission before attaching their name to your personal work, like an Etsy shop donation), I got to know a few of the employees and was able to attend a couple events. I went to their annual reception and got to meet people who work at the partner agencies where EF disburses their funds. I got to hear the stories of people who have been helped by EF, and the stories of people who have been touched by their involvement with EF. I was also invited to go to one of the partner agencies on a site visit. We went to Inspiration Corporation, an organization that helps homeless individuals find housing, job training and resources to get off the street.

I’m excited to share that I’ve just made my annual donation to the Emergency Fund! It’s not much in the grand scheme of things, but it’s my small part, and I know it will be used to help someone. Maybe it will buy a monthly bus pass so someone can look for a job or get their sick child to their specialist appointments. Maybe it will help pay an electricity bill, or help with groceries. Maybe it will help pay for a night in a hotel for someone who went through a situation like my family did.

I’ve decided that instead of looking for a new organization for 2012, I’m going to continue to support the Emergency Fund this year. They’re doing big and exciting things to help those in need and I want to be a part of that!

THANK YOU to all who have supported my Etsy endeavors in any way – this donation is yours, too!

Ready? Set? SHOP!

I decided I didn't want to wait for next weekend's Black Friday madness, so I got all crazypants in my shop today! That's right - today, all the way through Cyber Monday (11/28), you can get big discounts in my Etsy shop!

You're already going to find:

*FREE SHIPPING*

20% off your order when you use coupon code NOVEMBERHOLLA

Super cute cup cozies and headbands

And all throughout next week you'll see:

New items in the shop!

Including discounted packs of items!

And some new things I've never sold in the shop before!

Remember that 10% of all my sales will be donated to the Emergency Fund here in Chicago, which is an organization that provides immediate financial assistance to low-income folks who are going through a crisis or transition. The Emergency Fund helps cut through the red tape and can provide someone a bus pass to go job hunting or mattresses for their new apartment - the essentials that can make a huge difference in people's lives. I'm excited to think about what my small donation will be able to provide for someone in need . . . maybe they'll tell me and I can tell you!

Small Change mattered to Eboni

Hooray! Another great update from Chicago’s Emergency Fund, the organization I’ll be donating 10% of my Etsy profits to this year. I’m posting some of the stories they send to supporters so you can have an idea of what impact they make in the Chicago area.

* * *

Small Change Mattered to Eboni

Small Change Matters

In our day-to-day lives, it's easy to forget that these three words are true.  But here at the Emergency Fund, we know that small change does matter.  It mattered to Joseph.  It mattered to Roxanna and Lashon. It mattered to Charlie.     

And it certainly mattered to Eboni.  

It was a sunny, March afternoon in Chicago, and seven-year-old Desaree couldn’t wait to get outside. It was the first warm day of the year, and she grinned when she heard the familiar music of the ice cream truck jingling toward her grandmother’s house.

As usual, Desaree finished her ice cream before her sisters and ran to her cousin’s blue scooter while her family sat on the front porch. When the bullet struck her head, she didn’t know what had hit her.

Desaree’s mother, Eboni, was startled awake by banging on her front door. Pregnant with her fourth daughter, she was napping before her evening security shift when she awoke to face her worst nightmare. No one could even tell her where Desaree had been shot.

Eboni waited for hours as Desaree’s condition was upgraded from critical to guarded. She kept vigil over her first-grader’s medically induced coma. She was there every time her little girl woke up from surgery. And when Desaree was released a month later, Eboni knew she would do whatever it took to keep her daughter safe from the gang that had begun harassing her family.

Eboni found a new home in a safe neighborhood – she could pay the rent, she just couldn’t afford the security deposit. Small change for some of us, it was an insurmountable obstacle for Eboni.

That’s why the Emergency Fund is here. We provide the small change that empowers our clients to get back on their feet and keep going. With our help, Eboni moved her family away from the violence and into a safe home.

Small Change Matters for people like Eboni. Whether it’s a bus pass to get to a job interview, or a security deposit that helps a family move into a safe home, when someone is close to the edge a small change can make all the difference.

Please, make a donation to the Emergency Fund today. Together we will make the small change that changes lives.

Donate today and your new or increased gift will be matched* by an anonymous donor!

*Double your impact! An anonymous donor is matching all new or increased gifts. That means that 100% of first-time gifts and gifts from donors who have not given since 2008 will be matched. For those who gave in 2009 or 2010, any amount above the highest annual gift amount in 2009 and 2010 will be matched.

John couldn’t wait that long

Hooray! Another great update from Chicago’s Emergency Fund, the organization I’ll be donating 10% of my Etsy profits to this year. I’m posting some of the stories they send to supporters so you can have an idea of what impact they make in the Chicago area.

* * *

Here at the Emergency Fund, we know that our promise to provide help immediately and without red tape is crucial to our clients. It's especially important when the person in need is facing a tragedy so unexpected that they had no possible way to prepare for it. That's what happened to John.

Fifty-year-old John is a hardworking father, a man who had proudly raised his children with his wife, Becky. He thought he was done with parenthood and had happily settled into the life of the doting grandfather when tragedy struck.

John's son, Bill, and Bill's girlfriend were killed in a car accident, leaving their three children, ages 11, 5, and 2, to John and Becky. After paying the funeral expenses, John and Becky had no savings left and were struggling to feed their grandchildren.

John worked with a Fund Manager who helped him sign up for food stamps and enrolled the family in a monthly food pantry program. But it can take weeks from signing up for food stamps to actually receiving them, and the food pantry was still weeks away.

John couldn't wait that long.

With the Emergency Fund's help, John was able to feed his grandchildren until more permanent help was available.

Donate today and help the Emergency Fund be there for people who need help right now.

Content from the Emergency Fund website.

Please, make a donation to the Emergency Fund today. Together we will make the small change that changes lives.

Donate today and your new or increased gift will be matched* by an anonymous donor!

*Double your impact! An anonymous donor is matching all new or increased gifts. That means that 100% of first-time gifts and gifts from donors who have not given since 2008 will be matched. For those who gave in 2009 or 2010, any amount above the highest annual gift amount in 2009 and 2010 will be matched.

Meet Deborah’s Divas!

Time for an update from Chicago’s Emergency Fund, the organization I’ll be donating 10% of my Etsy profits to this year. I’m posting some of the stories they send to supporters so you can have an idea of what impact they make in the Chicago area.

* * *

Lashon at Home in the Courtyard at Deborah's Place

Lashon and Roxanna know what it’s like to have nowhere to go. Like every woman living in the Rebecca Johnson apartments, they were homeless before they came to Deborah’s Place. For Lashon, moving into the apartments three years ago really was coming home, “My grandmother lived in the building across the street when I was growing up, so I knew the area well.” Now, Lashon works alongside Roxanna and the rest of “Deborah’s Divas” to ensure that every woman who moves in feels that she, too, has come home.

Each of the 90, single-occupancy units in the building is small but comfortable. While the layout and size differ, each has a private bathroom and a small kitchenette, leaving enough room for a single bed, a chest of drawers, and a small table.

When a woman moves out of Deborah’s Place – always in her own time, there are no limits to how long a woman can stay here – maintenance goes through to ensure that everything is clean and in working order. That’s when the Divas get to work. “We’re the unofficial welcome crew,” says Roxanna. “We make it feel like home.”

On the day that we visited, the Divas had just finished preparing apartment 403 for a new tenant. Walking into that warm, welcoming room would make anyone smile. The light, white quilt they had chosen for the bed was turned down at the corner to reveal cheerful blue and yellow striped sheets. Pots and pans stood at the ready in the kitchen, and two jade knick-knacks perched on top of a chest of drawers caught the eye. A candle on the bookshelf promised a citrus scent, and the stripes theme continued in the bathroom with a freshly-hung shower curtain.

But without a doubt, the first thing the new tenant would notice would be the table. The napkin-wrapped silverware sat next to the new, cream-colored dishes. Everything was meticulously placed, a perfectly set table for two that promised afternoons of conversations with friends new and old.

As I looked at the Divas’ handiwork, I tried to imagine the woman who would move in. A woman who had had nothing of her own for at least two years – the time it took to move to the top of the waiting list. Living in and out of shelters, staying with friends when she could, forced to sleep on the streets when there was nowhere else to go. Until now.

Finally, finally, that woman would have somewhere to go. She would get her own keys to her own place, open the door, walk into this room, see what these women have done - and realize that that place is home.

“When you’ve been living in shelters or on the street, and then you put that key in the door and see that you already have dishes and towels, that the bed is made – that says it all,” Lashon says.

Content from the Emergency Fund website

Please, make a donation to the Emergency Fund today. Together we will make the small change that changes lives.

Donate today and your new or increased gift will be matched* by an anonymous donor!

*Double your impact! An anonymous donor is matching all new or increased gifts. That means that 100% of first-time gifts and gifts from donors who have not given since 2008 will be matched. For those who gave in 2009 or 2010, any amount above the highest annual gift amount in 2009 and 2010 will be matched.

What difference can $560.32 make?

Here’s another update from Chicago’s Emergency Fund, the organization I’ll be donating 10% of my Etsy profits to this year. I’m posting some of the stories they send to supporters so you can have an idea of what impact they make in the Chicago area.

Lillia knows that Small Change Matters

$560.32

That's how much Lillia, a little girl with nothing but a Small Change jar and a determined attitude, raised at this year’s Annual Meeting and Reception.
What's that? You didn't think the evening was meant to be a fundraiser? Neither did we! But with a little bit of encouragement from her father, Fund Manager of the Year Carl Wolf, Lillia convinced Community members to dig deep anyway.

$560.32

That's enough to buy 249 bus passes, 51 bottles of laundry detergent, 28 IDs, or 11 work uniforms. It's enough to prove that Small Change Matters. Thank you Lillia, for your hard work, and thank you to everyone who contributed that evening.

* * *

I can’t wait to blog more about Emergency Fund’s annual reception and the Small Change Matters campaign!

Please, make a donation to the Emergency Fund today. Together we will make the small change that changes lives.

Donate today and your new or increased gift will be matched* by an anonymous donor!

*Double your impact! An anonymous donor is matching all new or increased gifts. That means that 100% of first-time gifts and gifts from donors who have not given since 2008 will be matched. For those who gave in 2009 or 2010, any amount above the highest annual gift amount in 2009 and 2010 will be matched.

Changing Lives: Charlie and Maria

I’m excited to bring you some updates from Chicago’s Emergency Fund, the organization I’ll be donating 10% of my Etsy profits to this year. I’ll be posting some of the stories they send to those on their email list so you can have an idea of what impact they make in the Chicago area. Below is the first story!

* * *

If you met Charlie, you would see a regular eight-year-old boy. You would never guess that he was born three months early, that he weighed only one pound at birth, or that, as a result, he has permanent breathing problems.

This winter Charlie's mother, Maria, noticed that he was having more trouble breathing than usual, and that his symptoms were at their worst when she turned on the dirty gas furnace. Maria knew that using electric heaters to warm her home would be costly, but with her son's health on the line, she didn't have a choice.

Maria did what any mother would do, but that didn't help her pay the electric bill. With no one else to turn to, Maria came to the Emergency Fund for help. We helped Maria pay her electric bill, and a Fund Manager at Renaissance Social Services provided her with information on furnace cleaning.

Today Maria doesn't have to worry about keeping the lights on, and, now that the furnace has been cleaned, Charlie can breathe easy.

* * *

Next week I’ll be going on a site visit with Emergency Fund staff, and will then blog about the visit. Can’t wait!

Please, make a donation to the Emergency Fund today. Together we will make the small change that changes lives.

Donate today and your new or increased gift will be matched* by an anonymous donor!

*Double your impact! An anonymous donor is matching all new or increased gifts. That means that 100% of first-time gifts and gifts from donors who have not given since 2008 will be matched. For those who gave in 2009 or 2010, any amount above the highest annual gift amount in 2009 and 2010 will be matched.

Storytime . . .

Tonight I have to give a presentation on a fake fundraiser I'm putting on for an organization I don't really work for, the Emergency Fund here in Chicago. It's an group that provides funds and assistance to low-income folks who are faced with a crisis. They want to get around the red tape that so many other aid organizations deal with, because when you're in a crisis, you don't have time to fill out forms.

Last year at this time, my landlord, who was going into foreclosure, allowed our building's heat to be turned off. We noticed it was cold, but the heating was always iffy. We complained to him, turned on our space heaters, and daydreamed about moving when our lease was up.

A day later, frozen pipes burst in our bathroom while we were all away at work & school, and "flooded" our garden level apartment. There was only a couple inches of water in the place but it was continuously running the entire time and being soaked up into anything porous that touched the floor -- the walls, bedding, shoes, bookshelves, tables, cabinets. We came home to a place that wasn't livable, with many of our posessions destroyed.

We were lucky -- we had friends, family and co-workers who bailed us out with money, food, a place to stay, encouragement, prayers. People were extremely generous. Oh, our landlord? He'd just given us notice that the bank would be in possession of the building in a couple days. He refused to pay for any damages, and because the bank had not yet taken over the building, they also would not pay. We didn't have renter's insurance, but after investigating, found that insurance wouldn't have covered our situation anyway.

County inspectors came to our building and immediately condemned it because of the water and soon-to-be mold issue. The other 2 families in the building, whose apartments were simply cold, had to find new places to live, as did we. The state has filed a lawsuit against the landlord but I doubt anything will come of it and if so there will likely be no compensation to us as tenants.

We were so lucky to have a safety net to protect us when this crisis hit. We quickly found a new apartment, moved in, and within a couple weeks, life was back to normal. Before we got stable, though, I called around trying to find some sort of assistance - vouchers for a hotel stay, help with food, anything -- all our money and energy was going into shuttling around the large Chicagoland area (we were staying with family in the city but still working/schooling in the suburbs), trying to find a new place to live, and fixing our car which decided to get in on the fun and completely die.

Guess what - there were quite a few organizations out there to help people who were in situations like ours, but they were tapped out. No money for anyone or anything. They relied on state funding which was late, and they didn't have anything else to give out.

So - that was a long, long story to explain why my group in class chose the Emergency Fund. It was beyond stressful trying to call around to this organization and then that organization, being put on hold, telling our story OVER and OVER and OVER again - just to be told no, we can't help. Or the only person that knows how to help you is on vacation. Can you call back in 2 weeks? The Emergency Fund helps people in crisis navigate the system, helps get their immediate needs covered so they can focus on the long-term strategies to get back on their feet.

Our little group is supposed to be presenting to the EF board of directors, asking for permission to put on a BBQ fundraiser. We have the whole little fake thing figured out - corporate sponsors, in-kind gifts, advocacy to the neighborhood, etc. It should be fun.

Now - on a totally different note, I have some Valentine's Day cozies listed in my Etsy shop. I also have selected a new charity to donate 10% of all sales to: Streetwise, a publication here in Chicago that is written and sold by homeless and near homeless individuals. It's a really inspiring thing and it turns out that many major metro areas in the U.S. have something similar.

I think the next charity I'll be donating to is the Emergency Fund. :)

And, oh yeah - shipping is free for the V-day cozies, through V-day! HOORAY FOR FREE!