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Here are a few more stories of See Beautiful Milestone Grant’s impact. We are humbled by the kind words and thankfulness shared by our friends at these organizations. But, the truth is, we are so grateful for them! Love Not Lost See Beautiful's support has continued to help us grow our photographer program so we can serve more people. Without the support of our community and incredible organizations like See Beautiful, we would not be able to carry out our mission to photograph people facing a terminal diagnosis to preserve memories and support people in grief. Thank you See Beautiful - you have helped us show up for people and love them better. Your gift makes a difference! helloHope We are using the grant for spreading hope through stories on our website. Last month we were able to publish this story of a little boy who was given a 5% chance to live and who is now cancer free and growing stronger each day. The next story that we used the grant for will be published next month! :) Little Lambs of Foundation We are truly so grateful to See Beautiful for everything they have done to help these precious children in foster care and escaping domestic violence. Because of the milestone grant we were able to purchase 200 backpacks (each child representing a child) to fill with supplies for when the children are transitioning into foster care and emergency shelters. Thank you for all you do to help people all over the world!  AuthorJannan Poppen, Giving Coordinator
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When we came up with the idea to donate See Beautiful Milestone grants we had no idea the magnitude of beautiful encompassed in the applications we received. What felt like a wish & a prayer that we could create more beautiful in the world revealed a very real, tangible need that could impact thousands upon thousands as we selected each of the organizations to support.  Autism Breakthrough of Knoxville was one of the See Beautiful Milestone Grant awardees and their work is beautiful. They provide "residential services, in-home supports, personal assistance, day services, a Saturday therapeutic recreation program; community based activities focusing on lifelong education, job skill development and community integration; and also host a social group for adults with Asperger’s Syndrome." Breakthrough also serves as a community for adults with autism and their families. One of the cornerstones of Breakthrough is a residential neighborhood where adults can live together in community, with social activities and staff nearby as well. Through our grant, they will be able to enhance training of paid staff to increase knowledge of autism/sensory/language issues and behavior. This training will allow the staff to better empower the adults they serve. We have a feeling this is going to leave so many seeing, feeling and creating more beautiful and we are honored to support your work.  A table allows people to share a meal together. It serves as a place for children to play games and make crafts. It’s a place to gather, to rest, and to share conversation. At Lantern House, which exists to “aid the poor, needy and homeless by providing them food, shelter, and critical emergency services,” delicious, well-balanced meals are served daily to anyone who needs one. And they are served around old, wobbly tables that are sometimes missing legs, or are strategically held together by duct tape or propped up on books. Last year, Lantern House had the opportunity to replace some of the old tables, and the impact could be felt and seen immediately. As Michelle Perry, the Kitchen Manager and Chef at Lantern House explains, “When the new tables were put in the dining area and people came into eat, you could see the smiles on their faces as each person wanted to sit at them.”  With the $1000 See Beautiful Milestone Grant, Lantern House will be one table closer to replacing the old, tired tables. A new table will make way for more beautiful to be created and shared in the dining room and beyond. Lantern House’s core values of compassion, service, dignity, and responsibility shine through around the table. As residents of the center transition from homelessness, they do so with self-sufficiency, independence, and self-confidence. But there always remains a spot at the table. AuthorJannan Poppen, Giving Coordinator When a child has to quickly leave a home due to abuse or neglect, they often are not able to take anything with them. Not only are they experiencing a likely traumatic situation, but they also are not able to keep the most basic of necessities or comforts. Little Lambs Foundation of Utah provides comfort in a bag for children transitioning into foster care or a shelter. In 2016, over 3,200 children across 10 Utah counties received basic necessities and gifts of love from Little Lambs Foundation. The children are given a backpack full of items that serve as a tangible reminder that they are loved. Little Lambs hopes that children will be able to smile a little brighter through a difficult situation, and that they will see beautiful in themselves through this act of love. On June 24, volunteers gathered for a comfort kit party. With the $1000 See Beautiful Milestone Grant, Little Lambs Foundation provided 200 backpacks for community members to come together and fill with everyday items that are often taken for granted. In addition to basic hygiene items, the comfort kits also contain small toys, snacks, and games. They might contain socks or blankets, providing warmth and solace.  Thanks to the amazing See Beautiful and Little Lambs Foundation communities, 200 more children received a comfort bag during a traumatic time. 200 more children were able to brush their teeth, comb their hair, and care for their basic needs. 200 more children were able to play with a toy and simply be a child for a moment, and 200 more children now know that they are loved and uplifted by their community. AuthorJannan Poppen, Giving Coordinator Helping put families back together. It’s a small statement with a huge impact. Through a holistic approach, Foster Care Alliance “creates and completes healthy permanency plans for children in foster care.” To do so, Foster Care Alliance provides wraparound care for the parents, offering everything from transportation to therapy. This type of care allows families to heal from past trauma, while empowering them to make decisions and plans for the future. One beautiful aspect of Foster Care Alliance’s services is the visitation center. The visitation center exists so that parents and children can play and interact together in a safe, creative environment. The $1000 See Beautiful Milestone Grant will allow for the purchase of toys and games to enhance the center and encourage bonding between parent and child. Foster Care Alliance exists without any agenda to push adoption or reunification. They simply support families in the foster care system to achieve health and make decisions that are best for them. Of course, when reunification does occur in a healthy thriving family, it is certainly beautiful. And with Foster Care Alliance filling the gap in care, more families are on their way to being whole again. AuthorJannan Poppen, Giving Coordinator Our See Beautiful Clubs create so much beautiful, and the Cheatham Hill Elementary School club is no exception. Led by Dr. Monica Cann Alicea, the club shares and spreads the vision of creating beautiful in everything it does. The students and teachers of Cheatham Hill form a community that shows that they care for one another, and of course, through the Milestone Grant, they plan to further their love and support for their school community and beyond. Fourth graders at Cheatham Hill sponsor the Must Ministries Save it Forward program, which provides food and toiletries to students in need, by hosting a dinner where guests are asked to pay for their meal in laundry detergent. In order to deepen their impact to the program, Cheatham Hill students have also started a garden. They hope to produce food to donate to the program. That’s already a lot of beautiful being cultivated, but it doesn’t stop there.  With the See Beautiful Milestone Grant, Cheatham Hill students will work together to beautify the space, while sharing positive messages and celebrating uniqueness with classmates. To accompany the garden, members of the See Beautiful Club will also share reminders through the school announcements about the special uniqueness of each person. Through the help of the school’s art teacher, students will then harness their own uniqueness by painting a rock. Each rock becomes an expression of the individual. Together, they will also create a pathway to the garden, and offers a visual representation of what the school community already knows so well - that when we work together, we can do anything. AuthorJannan Poppen, Giving Coordinator 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 |
See beautiful in yourself.
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