Stigma

Fooding Cabinets: This Idea is Contagious

You’ve helped us send hundreds and hundreds of Neighborlies (emergency relief food bags) to homeless students in Denver Public Schools. You’ve carried Neighborlies in your cars to hand out to our homeless neighbors on street intersections around Denver. Now, we’ve got a brand new idea to get Neighborlies to the people. Again, we are turning to our loyal Stigma Fighters to help make this happen.

Sarah is a volunteer, a neighbor, and a supporter of our mission to crush the stigma. She saw a news report about a project in a Michigan town to provide food to hungry people. The concept is much like the, “Little Free Libraries,” you see around town. People can take the food they need, and leave food for others as they are able. Small, two-drawer filing cabinets are used to house the food. The filing cabinets become fooding cabinets! It is a simple and creative idea, and Sarah wants to bring it to Denver. We want to support her efforts by stocking the fooding cabinets with Neighborlies to get this project successfully launched.

Hundreds of Neighborlies Delivered to Homeless Students

Neighborlies Waiting for Delivery to DPS

We have delivered just over 500 Neighborlies (emergency relief food bags) to the Denver Public School’s Homeless Education Network so far. That is just over halfway to our goal of getting food into the hands and mouths of 1,000 homeless and food-insecure students.

Feeding Denver’s Homeless Students

Neighborlies Out the Door Heading to Homeless DPS Students

Earlier this week, we delivered our first shipment of 160 Neighborlies to the Denver Public School’s Homeless Education Network. These emergency relief food bags have already made it into the hands, and mouths, of food insecure kiddos supported by the program. Thank you to all of you who have donated to our annual Stigmattack fundraiser to help make this happen.

Last Day of Donation Match Grant Funding

Today is the final day you can contribute to Stigmattack and have your donation make double the impact. Donations received through the end of the day today will be matched by grant funding. Every dollar you donate will buy two dollars worth of food. If you donate $100, you will buy $200 worth of Neighborlies for DPS students experiencing homelessness. The dollar match grant funding ends today, so a donation today will have the maximum possible impact.

Beat the COVID Blues

Howdy stigma fighters. I know how much you care about your neighbors and our community. I also know how isolating and lonely it feels to do the right thing to prevent the spread of the virus. Nothing beats the loneliness and constant negativity like helping others. Here at Stigma, we challenge you to get involved in our Denver community. Below are four ways to participate. Please pick at least one, and make a difference in the lives of others (cause it will help you beat the COVID blues, too!).

Grant Funding Received

We have so much big news to share with you, our loyal supporters. We are making some significant progress in our efforts to crush the stigma!

Let’s get seriously Neighborly!

We have been approved to receive emergency relief “donation match” grant funding that we will use to supply Neighborlies to homeless students in Denver Public Schools. Thanks to all of you who have helped us distribute our new emergency relief food bags called “Neighborlies” to our homeless neighbors around Denver. Now we are going to need your help to supply potentially thousands of them to the DPS Homeless Education Network!

Neighborlies – Round 2

It’s a helpless feeling, isn’t it. We’ve all been impacted by COVID. Many of us have had our income trimmed, but we know that so many are suffering so much worse than we are. It’s so hard to know of the suffering, to feel it in our bones, and to sit helpless doing nothing.

So don’t be helpless. Be neighborly!

It’s Time to get Neighborly

These are our emergency relief food bags. Here at Stigma, we call them “Neighborlies.” We give them to our homeless neighbors, because it seems like the neighborly thing to do. And now, we want to give some neighborlies to you. You’re not homeless. You’re not food insecure, but still, we want you to be the recipients of our Neighborlies, and for free. We are not asking for a donation. There are no strings attached. By taking some Neighborlies off our hands, you will be helping us in our mission to crush the stigma associated with addiction, homelessness and food insecurity. Please let me explain.

3 Ways to Fight the Stigma from Home

You’ve seen them in your social media feed – an endless supply of posts about day drinking and using wine as the cure for all that ails us during stay safe, stay home orders and recommendations. Pretty funny, huh.

You’ve also surely seen the news reports about the impact of excessive quarantine drinking. Alcohol sales were up 55% right from the start of the lockdown according to Nielsen.

Let’s Help SAME Cafe Feed Our Hungry Neighbors

When our bread baking days were through, we donated lots of our bakery equipment, thanks to your generous support, to Denver’s first nonprofit restaurant called SAME Cafe. I’m pictured here with Letisha Steele, Operations Officer and Chef from SAME Cafe.

SAME is an acronym for, “So All May Eat,” but it is also at the core of their mission to treat all people, regardless of economic situation, the SAME. They make it their business to love everyone.

Normally, SAME Cafe serves a healthy lunch to anyone who is hungry regardless of their ability to pay. They accept donations from people with the means, and encourage others to contribute time or produce in exchange for their meals. That’s what they normally do. But these are not normal times.

Good News from the IRS – What?

It’s official! We received our tax exempt letter from the IRS. Stigma has received our 501c3 status. That means all of your generous support, all of your donations in 2020 and into the future, are fully tax deductible as you help us fight the stigmas of addiction, homelessness and poverty.