Why So Much?

Whew! If you haven’t been following along the last couple of weeks, you’ve missed A LOT!

Last Tuesday, our new fairy godmother Glennon Melton announced a Love Flash Mob benefiting Project Home Indy and then chaos of the best possible kind ensued. The Monkees (Glennon’s online love posse) met their goal  – a whopping $83,000 – in five and a half hours! And they did it through maximum individual donations of $25 each!

It didn’t stop there… the Monkees kept on giving and when the dust settled the total amount raised reached $110,000. $83,000 will go to PHI and the rest will benefit other families through Glennon’s charitable organization Monkee See – Monkee Do.

The flash mob was a sight to behold. Glennon provided the play-by-play via Facebook. Here are some of the highlights starting with Tuesday morning’s flash mob announcement including a link to the blog post on momastery.com containing our own Sarah Nielsen’s beautiful request for help:

It’s LOVE FLASH MOB time!!!! Let’s make some Miracles today, Monkees! http://momastery.com/blog/2013/03/05/love-flash-mob/

Ok. TEN THOUSAND IN THIRTY MINUTES. Sweet Little Sister and Your Precious Precious Baby – Just breathe and hang tight. We’re coming for you. SHARE SHARE GIVE PRAY!!!!!!

TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS IN ONE HOUR. What if this Little Mama was praying for a home for her baby last night? What if Sarah could go to her TONIGHT and tell her that those prayers were heard and answered? SHARE SHARE HOPE PRAY GIVE!!!

THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS IN 85 MINUTES.

40 THOUSAND IN TWO HOURS. WE ARE HALFWAY THERE. Little Mama- Know you’re not alone. Cause we’re gonna make this place your home.

WE’RE AT FIFTY THOUSAND. It’s noon. Momentum slows now. Let’s reach out to our friends who aren’t on Facebook… And remember this: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful people can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

We are at SIXTY THOUSAND DOLLARS. In four hours. Please listen. I just spoke with Sarah from Indy. They are in shock. They have been watching the numbers closely. And they are BELIEVING that we will hit our goal. Tonight. And so our Mama… they just called her. And they told her what was happening. And she is getting ready. SHE and her belly are packing up. TONIGHT, MONKEES. If we get there – she will lay her head on her own pillow, in her own room, in her HOME…TONIGHT. Please BELIEVE. PLEASE SHARE. PLEASE GIVE. IT’S ALL HAPPENING.

And finally, five and a half hours after the flash mob started...

There is no greater honor than participating in the lifting up of another woman. None.

Today, you raised 85 thousand dollars in five and a half hours. THAT’S MORE THAN $250 DOLLARS PER MINUTE. I just received this message from Sarah:

********************

Glennon,

We called her and told her that it’s REALLY going to happen. She’s packing faster now. She doesn’t have much, so it will be easy. I heard Jamie, our case manager say on the phone, “YES, REALLY”, “I REALLY MEAN IT” several times. We get to say yes. Because of you and the Monkees.

Love, Sarah

*********************

She’s packing. She’s crying and packing.

GOD SAID YES TO HER TODAY.

GOD SAID YES.

THROUGH YOU- GOD SAID YES. YES- this world cares for you. YES- you are worthy of becoming a mama and a good one and YES you are not only worthy of that but worthy of HELP. Because you matter. Your baby matters. What happens to the two of you MATTERS. You matter to women all over the WORLD who have NEVER even met you, sister. Because you and that baby – you belong to us. And we belong to you.

We Belong To Each Other.

She comes home tonight. It’s done. It’s done.

We will end this Flash Mob tonight. Don’t stop giving. We have more sisters to help. These are some of the women waiting for our help from Monkee See – Monkee Do. They are hoping and praying that we will have room.

– a woman whose husband has left her and her kids

– a family who needs to travel for treatment for a bi-polar child

– travel for a Monkee sister to meet her soul-Monkee-sister to hold her hand as her child goes through a bone marrow transplant

– mama who is bed-ridden and needs surgery to be able to care for her daughter with special needs

– mama who is drowning in stress and worry over how to pay for surgeries that gave her son fingers and -toes and more surgeries needed in the future

– mama and daughter who both have cancer

LET US CARRY ON, WARRIORS.

I’ll update you every hour.

I do not care what anyone says. It cannot ever, ever get better than this.

Love Wins.

With Love and Gratitude –

Glennon

___________________________________________

Each one of the status updates was met with hundreds of comments and thousands of “Likes”.

On Wednesday, the Indianapolis Star and RTV6 featured stories on the flash mob, further shining a spot light on Project Home Indy and our efforts. Thursday, WTHR followed suit. The publicity is invaluable for ensuring that we continue to garner the support we need in order to continue our efforts far into the future.

As the support poured in from around the country and more and more people became aware of our work, a logical question emerged: Why So Much? Why does it cost $83,000 to house one client and her child for a year? 

We get that. It’s a good question. Here’s the answer:

It’s not just a bed. It’s also professional services, counseling, medical care, the home itself, maintenance, transportation, childcare, healthcare, and education. It’s steep – but it’s complete, wrap-around services. We’re not just giving these families a place to sleep, we’re giving them everything they need to break the cycle of poverty from which they’ve come.

Our largest budget item is in meeting the state staffing requirements that come with housing children (all of our clients are under the age of eighteen) and infants. We are required to have one or two staff members (depending on how many clients we have at any given time and the age of their babies) on duty – 24 hours a day, seven days a week! 

We are a small, compact not-for-profit. We run on the leanest budget possible with every dollar raised goint directly towards supporting client services.

The outpouring of love and support has been overwhelming and PHI is beyond grateful to Glennon, the Monkees and everyone else who jumped on board and helped give another family a chance at a happy, healthy life. Thank you all so very much.

On Tuesday night, Glennon posted a personal letter to the PHI client that befitted from the flash mob. This is what it’s all about…

Dear Warrior Mama,

It’s been a day, huh? We know you’re settling into your new room. We’re glad you’re home. We’re so very, very glad you’re home. Please nibble that baby boy’s toes for us. Snuggle his neck. Kiss the top of his head and tell him that the Universe must have found him pretty special to do this for him today. Tell him that he is going to great things. Or even better- tell him that he is going to do small things with great love.

And to you, mama. I needed to tell you something before you went to sleep. After we raised the money to bring you home, we raised more. We have $100,000 now, mama. Which means that it’s not just you who’s getting love mobbed today. Lots more mamas are going to get the help they need and deserve. So THANK YOU, mama. Today you’ve been helped but your story and courage and life have helped other mamas just like you. You received a miracle but you also gave one. Just by being you.

Thanks for giving me one of the best days of my entire life. 50 days till I get to meet you. I can’t wait.

Love, G and All The Monkees

There is still much work to be done. As they say, onward and upward! The fundraising continues. This week we are neck deep in Brackets for Good. Click here or visit our Facebook page for more information about how to get involved in that! Thanks again for your continued support.