The feature below is brought to you by YFC Maine, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. There is a lot of "ugly" in our community of Howland, Maine, and well, in our world, really. Did you know our small city’s hospital is the leading hospital in the United States for delivering drug addicted babies? Or that over half of our town’s school population goes hungry for meals each and every day? Did you know that on average our community’s prison holds a minimum of over 50 more inmates than it is designed to hold? Or that our EMT’s administer more Narcan (a heroin overdose reversal drug) on average more each day than previous years combined? There is a lot of "ugly" in our community. Sometimes it’s easy to get distracted, caught up, if you will, in all of the ugly. But there is beautiful... A whole lot of beautiful... Our aim is to help bring light to that beautiful. Rather than getting lost in the statistics and all of the ugly, we hope to walk through the ugly and fix our eyes to the beautiful. My husband and I spent five years working for a local high school. A baby brought about a job change and we found ourselves running a restaurant in our community. We began to see life from both sides, first our students’ and then what these students were aspiring to do after high school. This dishearteningly opened our eyes to the drug epidemic’s full force. It knows no bounds or social status. Young lives are being ripped apart in an ever increasing force. On more than one occasion, I cried with our community members as they chose to spend their last dollars to feed their drug addiction, instead of their children. It’s not just a statistic to say over half of our students are going hungry everyday. It’s real lives, real children, right here. It was through having our eyes really opened to all of the ugly around us, that we knew we needed to strive to create beauty in the midst. Through law enforcement friends and area organizations, we began to see the generational issues that were at hand. It wasn't just young people, but young and old alike. A sheriff patrolling our town once told me that in the same day he had arrested a grandmother, father, and son all in the same family, for separate crimes. That's when we began to think, “What if we created an avenue were we could reach students before they became a statistic? What if every student we came into contact with knew they were loved, pursued (we were around for the long haul), and that they were beautiful?” We teamed up with YfC a nationally recognized after school program, to create an avenue, an escape for students in need. Our aim is to be there, to place caring adults into the lives of students for genuine relationships, no strings attached - just purely loving on the hurt and broken (and who isn't hurt and broken?) helping them see the beauty in their own lives. We do this through Campus Life nights, which are high energy, everyone come-as-you-are evenings. Where we create a family-like atmosphere, we discuss things like making the right choices and how to navigate hurdles life undoubtedly throws at us. We also hold regular events which are just different ways we have fun with each other! Most recently we teamed up with our local high school to provide much needed meals for our students. While the school works tremendously hard to see that no student goes hungry during the school year, they are left with a loss over the summer months. That's where we were able to step in and continue their food program all summer long ensuring that no child goes hungry in our community. We recently applied for a grant through an amazing organization called See Beautiful. If chosen, this grant will help further our program, help us finalize our building, replenish our food supply, and ensure that our program continues to run. See Beautiful's mission is to help create more beautiful in the world, and they do just that through a tremendous history of giving to nonprofits. You may also purchase clothing, jewelry and more from their site to help them continue their beautiful work. I wanted to paint a picture of our community, how our students are living, what it is like day-to-day to be a student in the Howland area. Although it may seem like the odds are stacked against these students, they are beginning to see the beauty in our community around them, and they are beginning to learn that they have people in their corner. A small town carpenter has donated countless hours to help us prepare our building for the upcoming food program, because he sees beautiful in these kids... The town unanimously voted to sell us the building at a ridiculously low price, even when they could get more, simply because they see beautiful in what we are doing together... A family of 8 living in one small trailer handed me what could possibly have been their last $10 bill to further help those students who are hungry. We see beautiful in their sacrifice. A man whose name I don’t even know backed his truck up to mine and said, “The back end is full of food. Get it to families that need it.” He left without another word, because his thanks was in seeing the beautiful of giving. We are seeing beautiful. Written by Kayla Thompson for YFC MaineEdited by Jannan Poppen for See Beautiful
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The feature below is brought to you by Georgia Steppers League, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. The Georgia Steppers League Creates More Beautiful Youth Step League Highlights Individualism Through Creative Expression The world is just a bit more beautiful when it is colored with the creativity and comradery displayed by the members of the Georgia Steppers League. The Metro Atlanta-based league, now entering its tenth year, has served as the umbrella organization for more than 1,000 male and female step team performers ranging in age from kindergarten to college freshmen. Since its inception, the league has taken pride in providing leadership training, character building workshops, college scholarships and local competitions awarding cash prizes to winning teams from Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida. The Georgia Steppers League’s 2018-2019 initiative, “Bring Back Our Boys,” is in final grant review with See Beautiful and the league hopes to use the funding award to recruit and support more male participants during this year’s competitive season. With the funding, the league will continue its impact in area schools by developing student ambassadors who will provide leadership in their local communities. Any young man receiving funding through this source will be charged to conduct one culminating team event inspiring league members to see what beautiful in themselves and one another. The league’s goal is to provide a lens for students to use to see themselves as the beautiful individuals they are. In addition to serving area young men, the league provides ten months of services to any student wanting to be a part of a step team program. The league has been home to over fourteen teams who hold national titles as the best of the best in the country. As the league continues its mission and vision to Empower, Expose and Elevate is members, it is evident that a partnership with See Beautiful is a perfect, beautiful combination. Written by Clarisse Frazier of Georgia Steppers LeagueEdited by Rachel McLeroy for See Beautiful The feature below is brought to you by CARE for AIDS, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. CARE for AIDS exists to empower people in East Africa to live a life beyond AIDS. We do this through a nine-month program that is focused on counseling and holistic care. We seek to facilitate transformation for our clients in five main areas of their lives: physically, spiritually, socially, economically, and emotionally. David’s story is one of my favorite examples of the holistic transformation that happens in a client’s life. David, a CARE for AIDS clientWhen David came to the CARE for AIDS program in January this year he was completely blind. He’s 47 years old and he barely weighed 100 pounds when he joined the program. In addition to his sight loss and overall declining health, he was experiencing kidney failure. David has known his HIV+ status since 2012, and unfortunately his family abandoned him because of the stigma associated with HIV in Kenya. With no one to take care of him, and without being able to see, he felt completely helpless and hopeless. This wasn’t the first time David had felt this way in the last few years, but this time, CARE for AIDS was there to intervene. Back in 2013, election-related violence in Kenya was rampant. Tension was especially high in the slum regions where armed criminal gangs were fighting. David remembers it as a time of chaos and war in the slum where he lives. Theft and looting was common and David was the victim of a gang that wanted to steal from him. They severely beat him, hitting him hard over the head and damaging his legs so they could take what they wanted and he couldn’t chase after them. Unfortunately the worst was still yet to come for David. One day, on the way to work, his eyes started watering profusely. He had to leave work that day because he couldn’t see. Shortly after that, his eyes started swelling and his vision quickly got worse. One day everything went completely black while he was at work. David had become totally blind. David spent the next two years at home unable to work, unable to pay rent, and unable to buy food. His friends would occasionally show up at his house and buy him food for the week, but he hated feeling like he was a burden to others. Twice during this time David made an attempt to take his own life and twice God intervened so that he didn’t go through with it. During the first attempt, David found a mosquito net to tie around his neck and hang himself from the ceiling banister in his home. He knelt down to pray one final time just before hanging himself and said to God, “I want to come home. I’m about to show up there, so please don’t be mad at me…” While he was praying, a friend knocked on his door and prevented David from going through with his plan. A few weeks later he planned to swallow termite poison before bed so he would die in his sleep. Not long after making this new plan, David's friends miraculously intervened again. They found him a new place to live, bought him food and paid for his first few months rent in his new home. A CARE for AIDS graduate lived nearby this new home and had heard about David’s situation. She took Rose, the Health Counselor at the CARE for AIDS center in Githurai, to meet him. Rose recruited David into the CARE for AIDS program and quickly realized he needed immediate emotional and medical intervention. His face was swollen and he was incontinent and malnourished. Rose immediately accompanied David to the hospital. The doctor drained fluids from David’s head and face to reduce his swelling and prescribed medicine to treat David's kidney failure. He also began treatment for David’s eyes and, after doing a chest x-ray, prescribed medicine for pneumonia. Blood work was drawn and David’s viral load was over 2 million copies. It became clear that David had defaulted on his medication and his strain of HIV was now resistant to the medication he had been taking. The doctor prescribed a new regimen of medication for David to begin taking immediately to get the HIV virus under control and boost his immune system. David also started one-on-one counseling and group therapy at the CARE for AIDS center after joining the program. He has found solace in knowing others who are HIV-positive, and he has worked with the CARE for AIDS counselors to get rid of his suicidal thoughts. Since being on his new medical treatment for over 5 months now, David is seeing great improvement. His weight is up to 135 pounds and he has regained control of his bladder. His stress has decreased and his viral load has also decreased. Wanjiku, a neighbor who often helps to take care of David, makes sure that the food he gets from CARE for AIDS is prepared for him and she ensures that he takes his medicine daily. David's greatest improvement, though, has been in his eyesight. While he still cannot see well, his left eye is seeing shapes, figures, and colors. His right eye has difficulty in the light, but can also see better than before when he is indoors. David told us that he is no longer weak. He has more strength than he’s experienced in a long time. He boasted that he is now able to walk all the way to the market without anyone even holding his hand. David admits that he still has challenges because he can’t work and has to be given everything he needs, but he’s happy that he is making progress and has new hope that he will become self-sufficient in the months to come. David attended his first economic empowerment seminar at the CARE for AIDS center this month. He sat up front so that he could see the instructor and told us in detail all the practical information he learned that day. So far, CARE for AIDS has spent a total of $120 on David’s medical care. As you can see, a small gift to CARE for AIDS can go a very long way in the life of an HIV+ client in East Africa. If we were to receive a grant from See Beautiful, we would be able to reach hundreds of more clients like David and create more beautiful in the lives of our clients in East Africa. Funding from See Beautiful will provide practical medical care and invaluable hope for the future for our clients! Written by Holly Heacock, COO of CARE for AIDSEdited by Rachel McLeroy for See Beautiful We recently received the most beautiful, thoughtful thank you card and gift from our friends at Just One Africa. Now, this is not the first thank you card we have received, and we are grateful for each and every one! But in this season of Thanksgiving, it was a perfectly-timed reminder of the importance of saying thank you. Your acts of kindness and thanks do not go unnoticed. We cherish them! So, in case we haven’t said it enough lately, THANK YOU, See Beautiful family. Thank you for all that you do and give. Thank you for being the beautiful-creating, love-giving, thanks-giving, shiner of brightness that you are. Let the beauty of what you love be what you do. - Rumi This quote exemplifies the See Beautiful community, especially our non-profit friends whose work is a labor of love. Thank you for inspiring us to do what we do, as you all make the lives of those around you just a little (or a lot) better. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! AuthorJannan Poppen Giving to others helps us feel more connected and compassionate toward one another. But, it’s a big world out there, and we cannot personally interact with everyone who needs more compassion. So, how can we continue to increase and cultivate compassion in ourselves and others, especially to those that we do not meet in person? With a foundation in the Buddhist tradition, Loving Kindness Meditation is a practice to harness feelings of pure unconditional love toward ourselves first, and then toward others. Have you tried this practice? Here is the abbreviated version, adapted from The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society: Get comfortable. Take a few deep breaths. Focus on the area surrounding your heart, while continuing to breathe and saying or thinking the following traditional words, or words that most resonate with you. “May I be free from inner and outer harm and danger. May I be safe and protected. May I be free of mental suffering or distress. May I be happy. May I be free of physical pain and suffering. May I be healthy and strong. May I be able to live in this world happily, peacefully, joyfully, with ease.” As you continue the practice, replace the word “I” with the name of someone who you love, then with someone who is more difficult for you to love, and then to “all beings.” Hold the image of that person or beings in your mind as you are practicing this act of compassion. Practice daily or whenever you feel the need or desire.
Reference: http://www.contemplativemind.org/practices/tree/loving-kindness There is little doubt that art is beautiful. That’s why we go to museums - to experience the beauty and inspiration that art offers. But, the process of creating art is perhaps even more beautiful, and thanks to Paint Love, artists and nonprofits can connect to bring the process of creating and experiencing art to young people who otherwise may not have that exposure. The positive impact on youth that Paint Love helps orchestrate goes beyond the initial opportunity to be involved in an art project. Children who benefit from Paint Love get the opportunity to create art themselves, something maybe they didn’t know they could do. At Paint Love, anyone and everyone can be an artist. As the Paint Love founders state on their website, creating art fosters “self-expression, acceptance, and even emotional healing.” And all of this happens with love at the forefront, providing “fertile ground for positive change and growth to happen.” From making books at Ronald McDonald House, to transforming a garden at a primary school, each project that Paint Love supports meets the unique needs of the partner organization. In a recent project at the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy, artist Zully Conde helped students design self-expression boxes, with the box serving as a metaphor of how we present ourselves to the world. Society may “box” us into a certain category, or we may chose to hide away certain aspects of ourselves. While the outside of the box represents how the world views us, the inside of the box reveals our true selves. At See Beautiful, we’ve been lucky to know Paint Love for a while and to work with them through our See Beautiful Clubs. So, we were honored that they wanted to use their See Beautiful Milestone Grant to host an art workshop for 50-300 children in underserved areas. No matter the project or participants, always, always, some serious beautiful is being created with Paint Love involved. Keep it up, friends. AuthorJannan Poppen, Giving Coordinator "Celebrating life & love in the face of grief" - this is what Love Not Lost does & it is a beautiful gift they offer families. Love Not Lost photographs people facing a terminal diagnosis to preserve their memory for those who love them. They were awarded one of our $1,000 See Beautiful Milestone Grants to grow their base of photographers to be able to capture more lasting memories of love for families across the country. Perhaps this is the epitome of seeing beautiful.
This is Love Not Lost, and I invite you to read more about the purpose that fuels their mission by visiting them on the web, but here's how they roll with courage, strength, dignity and hope: "During every session, we create space for people to be themselves to capture personality and love. Sometimes that can take the form of laughter and sometimes it is in the form of tears. Either way, our professional photographers are here to capture and preserve those memories as we enter into that space with people to simply just be present. After each session, we design and print a photo book that's mailed out to be enjoyed the moment it's opened. Our goal is to bring joy and comfort as people see the love that surrounds them with the turn of each page. When that person passes away, the book is designed to be passed along to loved ones to bring comfort and hope through the grieving and healing process. Grieving is not something we do well, and we want to change that. Through the sessions, photo books, local events, online resources and communities, we establish meaningful relationships that are full of love in the midst of suffering. Our desire is for our community to be a safe place where people are loved, known, and understood in their grief. We believe everyone deserves to be remembered." Congratulations, Love Not Lost and thank you for your work. It's a truck, but then it's not. There are wheels, but it's really driven by dedication, passion and love. There's coffee, but it's conversation and refuge that really fills you. It's home is in Clarkston, but the welcome comes in the form of people from around the world - truly, "the most diverse square mile in the United States" (if not the world). "Can we meet at Refuge Coffee Co. is one of my favorite ways to plant the seed for an amazing meeting or catch-up with friends?" I know this because you don't just "have a meeting" when you pull into their parking lot. You get to listen to Leon with his ever-awesome Congolese accent greet anyone like family. You get to meet someone doing something awesome to change the world is some wonderful way. You get to hear the sound of laughter - always - coming from a table close to you. You literally FEEL this broken world healing sitting in the revamped garage. You think you're coming for a cup of coffee and leave with a permagrin because you were just a part of something really special. Your coffee helped fuel their job training for amazing refugees. Your presence provides an even greater welcome for many passersby who are looking to really call this place home. Your conversations will no doubt linger longer because they're special here. You're always welcome and you're never a stranger.
To write that we're honored to award Refuge Coffee Co. with one of our See Beautiful Milestone Grants would be an understatement. They'll use the grant to help make their location in Refuge a home, as they just officially unveiled their efforts to turn a dream into a reality and purchase their space for good. I'd be remiss not to invite you to be a part of their story in case you can't swing by and grab a cup of coffee. You can learn more about their beautiful work here and virtually create refuge: https://www.purecharity.com/a-place-for-refuge Sharing stories brings us together, helps us understand one another, and alleviates fear of the unknown. A story of hope can bring light to darkness and encouragement when there seems to be none. A story of hope can mean everything to someone who has just received a medical diagnosis. helloHope offers that hope to individuals and families trying to understand and cope with a scary diagnosis. When their own daughter was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) shortly after her first birthday, Mary Beth and Andrew Thomas experienced first-hand the fear and uncertainty that can come with a medical diagnosis. With a heightened sense of compassion for other families that face often more difficult circumstances, helloHope emerged. They continue to be inspired by words or support from website visitors that say, “Reading this article and the comments, I feel like I’m reading my own story. It breaks my heart because I feel no one understands what I am feeling and how lost I feel, but on here it’s different.” With the $1000 See Beautiful Milestone Grant, more stories can be told and shared. The funding will support professional writers to craft stories, enhancing the sustainable impact of helloHope’s mission. With more stories being told, more connections can be made. And since 14 million children in the US face special healthcare needs, this has the potential to impact a lot of people. Beyond the stories of hope, helloHope also offers Free Parking Days, provides free popsicles, and delivers meals to families at a local children’s hospital. We, at See Beautiful, can only imagine the look on one’s face, when after a long day caring for a loved one, parking is paid, or a meal is shared. We can only imagine it is beautiful indeed. AuthorJannan Poppen, Giving Coordinator At the Hope Shines summer camp, campers complete arts and crafts activities, practice dance routines, and play games. They get to know the other campers and camp mentors and laugh and build community with one another. They share meals, encourage each other, and gain confidence. All of this sounds like a typical summer camp, but the Hope Shines summer camp is so much more. Every summer, 36 Rwandan kids come together for a special fun-filled week where “imagination meets education.” In addition to the standard camp fare of games and crafts, the kids learn through an ever-changing curriculum that includes everything from Engineering to Global Geography to English speaking. And it always includes a strong focus on health and hygiene. Dan Gladden, Hope Shines’ Executive Director, explains what the health and hygiene curriculum entails, “This year’s curriculum includes oral hygiene, fluoride treatments, annual health checks by a doctor, a science and engineering curriculum, first-aid, a self-esteem workshop, malaria prevention, and HIV/AIDS prevention.” The children also receive nutritionally-fortified meals and clean water to drink throughout the camp. For the camp participants, whose families live on an average of $17 per month, access to healthy food and clean water is paramount. It helps relieve the financial burden on their families and of course, improves their health. One way Hope Shines provides healthy meals is through their sustainable greenhouse project. Once crops are harvested from the greenhouse, they not only go toward the camps’ meals, but they are also sold to provide sustainable revenue. The See Beautiful Milestone Grant funding will help sustain the greenhouse project and will also offset the major cost of running the camp - transportation to and from the camp. Although the grant funding will support the summer camp operations, Hope Shines stays busy year round with their various programs. They provide basic needs for education, such as uniforms and school supplies and run an after-school program to keep students engaged and learning when they are not in school. And the focus on healthy children serves as a tenant of Hope Shines, empowering young people to understand and respect their bodies. With values like healthy living, integrity, sustainability, commitment to children, and expanding impact, it’s safe to say that Hope Shines creates beautiful in the lives of the children and families they serve. And See Beautiful stands behind them every step of the way. AuthorJannan Poppen, Giving Coordinator |
See beautiful in yourself.
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