Winter 2022 Newsletter
“Still, at the end of every hard-earned day people find some reason to believe.”
As we turn the calendar from 2022 to 2023, I thought this would be an opportune time to look back on what “Just One Dash” has been able to do since we received our 501(c)(3) status and offer a glimpse of what we are hoping to do going forward into the new year.
We officially became a recognized public charity on October 23, 2020 - - the same day that Bruce Springsteen released his 20th studio album “Letter To You” recorded with the E Street Band. Talk about a good omen!!
COVID-19 cases were still spreading in record numbers. This was not a good omen as it made it challenging to go out and meet face-to-face with families that we might be able to assist. Challenging to say the least.
Fortunately, as the world began to re-open we were able to partner up with Breakthrough Urban Ministries and Saint Malachy’s School on the West Side of Chicago and were introduced to a number of families who could use our “bumpers.”
Today, we are assisting 14 families. They are all led by single moms. Our stated mission is to forge a relationship that will make a difference in someone’s life and change their narrative. We meet with these families every 90 days to replenish their “wish list” and get an update on the household. I feel like we are on our way to fulfilling our mission with these families, but there is work to be done.
One of my biggest challenges going forward is to be able to introduce and share the stories of the families we are working with. Fortunately, we have been blessed by a few donors who have given JOD an opportunity to survive and take on these families. JOD is an all volunteer organization. 100% of any funds or donated items go directly to our families. Obviously, as we continue to take on new families, we have to figure out a way to increase our fundraising.
In the next year, hopefully I will be able to share the story of one mom who broke down in tears when we first met, who was overwhelmed with life, going through a divorce, trying to raise two young boys and at her wits’ end. When I asked her if she had an idea what she was looking for employment-wise, she said her goal was to get her CDL license. This was about a year and a half ago. Today she has obtained her CDL license, is driving a school bus, and has a goal of getting a license to drive a semi-truck and own her own business one day. Her kids are doing great and her divorce is closing in on the finish line.
I will hopefully be able to further update the story of a mom whose conditions were so dire that some nights she and her three children were relegated to sleeping in her car, a victim of COVID-19 corporate layoffs and a shady landlord. Today, she is signed up for nursing school and has a two-year grant that will pay 100% of her rent while she works toward her goals. This Christmas, instead of sleeping in a car bundled in jackets and blankets, she was able to host her mom, brother and sister in her new apartment. Her kids, who spent the summer of 2022 and the first month of the school year in a homeless shelter, not only have a roof over their head, but their own bedrooms to boot.
These are just a couple of the stories. We have another mom who wants to be a nurse and is starting on-line classes in January. We have one mom who has secured steady employment at the United States Postal Service. We have another mom who is trying to start her own cleaning business. Stay tuned to our Facebook and Instagram pages if you would like to follow along.
But challenges remain. Most of these moms are getting little to zero child support. They are living month-to-month so hiring and paying a family lawyer isn’t in the budget. Trying to establish and maintain a career while raising young children often with very little in the way of familial support is not easy. These are proud people, who love their children, want to do good, and live their best life but perhaps have had a few more challenges and obstacles put in front of them than you or I. But as our name reflects, they have the same DASH as you and I. At the end of the day we are all in this together. We come into this world the same way, and we will all leave this world when our time has come. We will all be left with a start date and an end date separated by the same “—“.
Hopefully 2023 will be a year of continued growth for “Just One Dash.” On February 1, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will kick off another World Tour. Undoubtedly, this is a good omen!! For those that have been a part of our journey, I sincerely thank you. For those that would like to get involved, as Mr. Springsteen proclaims in his song “Land of Hope and Dreams”, “grab your ticket and your suitcase..thunder’s rollin’ down this track….dreams will not be thwarted….faith will be rewarded.” There is plenty of room on this train to get aboard and get involved.