Winter 2024 Newsletter
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.”
The mission of “Just One Dash” is not just to give away stuff. Don’t get me wrong, we do give away stuff. We meet with our families every 90 days and deliver to them their unique “wishlist” of household goods and toiletries. Our ultimate mission though is to forge a relationship that will make a difference in someone’s life and change their narrative. We do this by providing continuing support and encouragement in their vocational and educational pursuits. We acknowledge that just giving items to the household, while definitely helpful, is more of a Band-Aid than a cure.
In that vein, we asked each household we work with to come up with a goal that they want to achieve in 2024. I am also coming up with a goal. As we continue our relationships with our families throughout the year, we will hold each other accountable as we strive to meet our objectives and change our narrative for the better
I wanted to share with you a sample of our goals so you can follow along our journey this year:
Kierra - a terrific single mom of two (soon to be 3) children, she wants to go back to school at Malcom X to study nursing with an ultimate goal of becoming a registered nurse.
Antwonett - a single mom of two-month-old boy and a preschool age girl, Antwonett wants to get her GED which will enable her to get a better job.
Tierra - a single mom of two young girls, she is aiming to pass her CDL exam and work for the CTA.
Taquoia - a single mom of a five-year-old boy and a newborn girl, she wants to start a program to be certified as a phlebotomist (draws blood!).
Nakiyah - a single mom of one, she is determined to get accepted into college and work towards a career as a paramedic or an ultrasound technician.
Porscha - a single mom of two energetic boys, she aims to find a higher paying job than her current job as a school bus driver. Her ultimate goal is to buy, not rent, a home for her and her boys.
Krystal - a single mom of four, Krystal is determined to save $100 out of each paycheck. Come December, she wants to use the savings to take her children on a vacation- possibly to Jamaica.
Angelecia - a single mom of four and currently working in a post office, she wants to go to school to learn the plumbing trade.
Levetre - a single mom of two boys, Levetre wants to find a job that pays more than her current one.
Terry - as the Founder and Executive Director of “Just One Dash,” my mission is to help these moms achieve their goals. To continue to do this, I have to sharpen my fundraising skills. Currently, we do not have the funding to take on any new families even though there are families out there that could use our help. If we want to continue to work with the families we have now and be introduced to new households, we need to be funded. We are an all-volunteer organization. We pass on 100% of all donations to our families. We have no revenues or expenses. Everything is about helping our families prosper.
My goal is to find 100 families to join us in our mission. I want to find 100 families that are willing to donate $10 a month (or $120 annually). This would allow us to further help our current families and take on new households. We are all in this together. We all have the same dash. I can personally attest that each family we work with wants to succeed. They want their children to succeed. They are good people. They are grateful for our help and encouragement. As we enter the 4th year of our journey, I know we have indeed started to change the directions of the families we have aligned with. I also know that our journey is only just beginning. But to get to where we want to go, I am on a mission to find our 100 families that can spare $10 a month. I know they are out there. Will you be one of them???
In order to help us with our mission, please visit https://www.justonedash.org/get-involved