This is Priceless
3 Ways You Can Help #hamo
Dear Friends Old and New,
HAMO was started a little over two years ago when we became alarmed by media reports about the number of women and children falling into poverty in the Great Recession. We learned there was a dire need for diapers and decided to invest $100 and start a Mother’s Day diaper drive. To date we’ve given out over 625K diapers and endeavor to create a safety net where none exists. We’ve also raised a lot of grassroots awareness and are working with other advocates for long term change in the social safety net.
Every week we receive requests for help from agencies like WIC, Early Head Start programs, food pantries, and family resource centers telling us that their clients are increasingly coming to them for help with basic needs, like diapers. Sadly, many must turn away families due to lack of resources. The other day I received an email about a child who was taken away from their family in part because they had sever health problems related to the family unable to afford diapers. The fact is, the need far outweighs our current resources and there is much, much more work to be done.
Our work is in partnership with you, our AMAZING community. We reached our first big milestone goal of raising $25K this spring and looking forward to amplifying our efforts exponentially in the future.
But we can’t do it alone.
Below are THREE WAYS YOU CAN HELP this summer or later this year. No one can do everything, but if we all pitch in, we can do A LOT TOGETHER. I hope you’ll consider joining us in amplifying our efforts in putting women and children first.
How You Can Help:
1) Host a diaper drive
Hosting a diaper drive is super easy and a convenient way to help. Whether it’s corralling all your friends together to contribute in person or virtually, or making it a group effort.
2) Become a Fairy Godmother
We’re not going to be coy. Funds GREATLY help support our efforts to bring diapers to children who would otherwise go without. And as a mom-powered organization we will make your monthly contribution count to a family who is lacking in basic needs.
3) Host a fundraiser
Consider sharing the cause with your network by hosting a fundraiser. However large or small, fundraisers are incredibly helpful (not to mention fun!) to rally your network and make a lasting impact on this important work. So whether it’s charging a cover for an event you are already throwing, or hosting a gathering in your private home – your efforts will make an amazing difference with our families.
We’re excited to be creating a future in partnership with you. Thank you for putting a value on our work and for helping to create this important safety net.
Got questions? Want to help make things happen? Contact us.
SF: a.Muse to Benefit Help a Mother Out 6/18
a.Muse, aka Lori Shantzis, would like to invite you to join in a special evening of solo performance to benefit Help a Mother Out.
Saturday, June 18th, a.Muse will perform a 30 minute version of her autobiographical piece, “Loved by You…a Self-Love Story,” chronicling her childhood and early adulthood trying to make sense of a violent and dysfunctional household. With humor and a bit of song and dance, the muse paints a picture of the effects of growing up in a home that was nothing like the happy and elegant family of her best friend, Laura.
Ms. Shantzis will be donating 100% of the ticket proceeds to HAMO, as a way of honoring her mother and the scores of mothers who stay with violent husbands because they have no place else to go. While she realizes that society now has a better understanding of the needs of victims of domestic violence, she also recognizes that there is a hidden epidemic of children growing up in dangerous homes, not because their mother’s don’t want to make a change, but because there are so few options.
The evening will start with a piece by comedian and story-teller Silvio Menendez (www.silviomenendez.com). There will be a 15 minute intermission.
Awake 7:30 pm
Loved by You…a Self-Love Story 8:15 pm
Doors open at 7 pm.
$10 (to benefit Help a Mother Out, an organization improving the lives of families in need, many of whom are homeless mothers.
Refreshments will be served.
a.Muse Gallery
614 Alabama St.
SF, CA 94110
info@yourmusegallery.com
*Loved by You:
Refusing to act her age, a 40-something woman grapples with some difficult questions about her past. She decides the best way to share her story is through burlesque, exposing more than her D cup, and a few sordid details from her crazy childhood. Will she take it all off, or just drop enough clothes and dirty laundry to leave the audience wanting more?
*Awake:
Silvio, a Spanish Interpreter at a major hospital, never knows what to expect when his beeper goes off. Called to the Operating Room, he realizes he might need something more than his knowledge of Spanish Medical terminology to face this call of duty.
The more he tries to prepare, the more he realizes how little he really knows about his own possibilities, on and off work. Will he be able to stay present and awake, or will he go back into his daily dramas?
To have a.Muse perform at your next function or to have a fundraiser at a.Muse Gallery, contact:
Lori Shantzis: 415.279.6281, lorishantzis@mac.com.
Silicon Valley: Las Madres Diaper Drive – Through July 8th
Thanks to Las Madres Neighborhood Playgroups who are hosting a diaper drive for our families starting today through July 8th. We’re super grateful to all the neighborhood captains who are organizing their playgroups in order to make a difference.
Those who live in the valley know how HOT it can get in the summer months. We’re super excited Las Madres wants to make sure more bottoms are covered, more frequently this summer.
If you are local and not familiar with Las Madres, do check them out. Not only do they have a vibrant and supportive community of families that get together often, they also do a service projects that help families in need throughout the valley.
Thanks Las Madres!
Sonia Says Thank You
We’re still riding high on the love you all sent to us in April and May. Here’s a video interview of Sonia Luevanos, manager of the community health worker program at Homeless Prenatal Program.