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Mission Statement
Food Sovereignty Stimulating Change, Breaking Poverty - providing holistic support to individuals in our community, empowering personal growth, and fostering positive change. We are an African American founded and lead 501(c)(3) non-profit located in the heart of Hilltop Community in Pierce County Washington and the Beacon Hill Community in King County, Washington to create a compassionate and empowering environment, where every individual is valued and supported on their unique journey. Our commitment is unwavering, and our programs are a testament to our dedication to making a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve. We firmly believe that by honoring cultural heritage and encouraging community engagement, we can make a profound impact, constructing a future where all individuals can transcend poverty and realize their fullest potential. Together, we have the power to ignite transformation, shatter the chains of poverty, and forge a more equitable, empowered society.
About This Cause
Our S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Program is a culturally relevant, comprehensive initiative designed to empower individuals and break the cycle of poverty. Our programs go beyond providing necessities SUCCESS MINDSET Success Mindset engages participants in the fundamental aspects of an entrepreneurial mindset. Participants develop entrepreneurial skills that will help them approach changing environments to live effective and successful lives. Challenge One - The Under-Served Low Income Community Many of our country’s lowest-income workers turn to self-employment as a means of creating a job or supplementing a low-wage job. Entrepreneurship can be a pathway out of poverty. Technological advances combined with long-term downward trends in business creation challenge economic development in communities. According to the Economic Innovation Group, new business formation has dropped by 50% over the last 40 years. Further, advances in automation will likely eliminate millions of jobs leaving the need to create new entrepreneurial activity to cultivate job creation. With the growth of a remote workforce in the new world of work, individuals are now place-making in communities that thrive with an entrepreneurial culture. Solution Entrepreneurs are the engines that drive an innovative and dynamic economy and cultivating entrepreneurial activity can help turn around the long-term downward trends in new business creation. In addition to supporting existing entrepreneurs, communities need to cultivate new entrepreneurial members of their society that generate new businesses, contribute to community solutions and positive change, and help cultivate an entrepreneurial culture where individuals want to place-make. This program is designed to inspire and engage aspiring entrepreneurs, existing small business owners, or economic developers in entrepreneurial thought and process. Challenge Two – The Under-Served Low Income Young Adult Population Many young adults are living in poverty with a lack of hope or belief that there is an opportunity for a future. In certain communities, there is a lack of proper information flow. Constituents living in these communities are left working day after day with no end on how to elevate up the economic ladder. Thus, they feel stuck, frustrated, and in an endless cycle of poverty. A living wage income is the first and crucial step to building wealth. But it cannot be the endgame when thinking about building inter-generational wealth. To advance economic equity, we must move beyond focusing on poverty reduction and living-wage job opportunities to focusing on wealth creation and self-determination. Solution An entrepreneurial mindset can provide a viable pathway for young adults, to inspire hope and opportunity for the future as well as the entrepreneurial skills needed to succeed in securing living wage employment or creating one’s own entrepreneurial pathway. This new framework for thinking and acting can empower participants with the resilience needed to overcome challenges and self-doubt as well as the ability to see problems as opportunities to create value while giving them hope for a better future. This model focuses less on formal business development, instead teaching participants how to seize and create opportunities. Challenge Three – The Formerly Incarcerated Population Many offenders enter prison with a lack of hope or belief that there is an opportunity for a future. Upon reentry into society, many former offenders leave prison feeling the same. And, they are likely to struggle with substance abuse, inadequate education and job skills, and limited housing options upon release. As a result, recidivism rates among released offenders remain high, with many being re-incarcerated for relapsing into criminal behavior. Solution An entrepreneurial mindset can provide a viable pathway for post-release offenders to inspire hope and opportunity for the future as well as the entrepreneurial skills needed to succeed in securing employment or creating one’s own entrepreneurial pathway. This new framework for thinking and acting can empower offenders with the resilience needed to overcome challenges and self-doubt as well as the ability to see problems as opportunities to create value. Importantly, an entrepreneurial mindset can prevent an offender from relapsing into old ways of thinking while giving them hope for a better future. This model is less focused on formal business development, instead teaching participants how to seize opportunities to provide marketable and in-demand items and services. According to the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, their study suggests that entrepreneurship can be a response to labor market discrimination, where justice-involved individuals start businesses in part to overcome barriers to employment. This study has four notable findings: (1) returning citizens start businesses at a higher rate than Americans who have never been incarcerated; (2) labor market discrimination is one key reason why returning citizens move into entrepreneurship; (3) returning citizens earn more as entrepreneurs than they do as employees, and (4) returning citizens have lower recidivism rates as entrepreneurs than they do as employees START SMART ENTREPRENEUR EDGE - LET'S GET IT With middle-income jobs in decline, entrepreneurship offers an increasingly promising pathway out of poverty. We help participants work together to explore their ideas through our Canvas, learn how to refine their models through meaningful customer feedback and define the next steps. The #1 reason small businesses fail is a lack of product-market fit. We use the lean startup method to help our Mindset alumni avoid this common pitfall by starting small, failing fast, and doing extensive work on customer discovery before they invest too much money in a solution to a problem no one has. We guide them through this process using our Canvas, our version of the beloved lean startup canvas. Programs are designed to be accessible to someone with zero business background. So while they're beginner-friendly, seasoned entrepreneurs can greatly benefit from our programs. This is because our programs don't so much teach business concepts as they lead entrepreneurs through an active process of testing and refining their business models. We like to say that our programs are for any entrepreneur who is stuck! STUDENT SUCCESS Less than ½ of last year's Sr. class applied for financial aid despite our state having one of the best financial aid opportunities in the Nation. This Campaign is designed to boost college and financial aid application rates in Washington by helping high school seniors and their families complete applications for college admissions and financial aid. Financial Aid Information Sessions, Parent & Caregiver Financial Aid Information Nights, Financial Aid Completion Events High school Seniors who complete the FAFSA are 84% more likely to enroll in post-secondary education immediately. For students in the lowest socioeconomic quintile, FAFSA completion is associated with a 127% increase in immediate college enrollment. Student Success Mindset Course Funding models for higher education are now shifting their focus from college access to completion therefore creating an urgent need to increase completion rates while producing graduates who possess the knowledge and the skills that the workforce demands. The Student Success Mindset Program is designed to equip students with the perseverance and determination of an entrepreneurial mindset at the onset of their academic journey, empowering them to take ownership of their future while helping them develop the knowledge, skills, and behaviors that will enable them to succeed in academics and in life. Student Success Program: Less than ½ of last year's Sr. class applied for financial aid despite our state having one of the best financial aid opportunities in the Nation. This Campaign is designed to boost college and financial aid application rates in Washington by helping high school seniors and their families complete applications for college admissions and financial aid. Financial Aid Information Sessions, Parent & Caregiver Financial Aid Information Nights, Financial Aid Completion Events High school Seniors who GARDEN 2 TABLE We promote food sovereignty, food security, personal development, wellness, environmental management, and economic growth, with a focus on low-income, unhoused, reentry, and the BIPOC community. We aim to address food insecurity and provide essential resources to individuals and families in need. By implementing strategies like utilizing land space in Tiny Homes for Inter-Dependent Living, providing jobs, filling the gap and eliminating disparities of access to healthy, culturally appropriate food, facilitating food distribution as well and supporting direct food distribution programs. We engage participants in gardening, nutrition education, and entrepreneurship. We emphasize cultural importance and challenge misconceptions about fresh produce. Our project benefits individuals by increasing food production knowledge, self-sufficiency, and overall well-being. We contribute to community revitalization, sustainability, and equitable access to nutritious food. Our project extends beyond the distribution of emergency food resources. We place a strong emphasis on education in food preparation and nutrition, recognizing its close alignment with the purpose of facilitating the distribution of emergency food boxes, food box equivalents, and supplemental emergency food. Through comprehensive educational programs, we equip participants with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively utilize the emergency food resources they receive and create healthy and nourishing meals. We highlight the significance of incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables into their diets, challenging any misconceptions or negative beliefs they may have about these essential food items. Our project benefits individuals by increasing food production knowledge, self-sufficiency, and overall well-being.