Opposite Day

Yesterday. I was having a conversation with a 7th grader from the East Coast about Benevolent and something she said really struck me. She said that what she thought was cool about Benevolent was that the people who needed support got to say what they needed and actively seek it out. From her perspective, this is like flipping giving on its head – rather than givers giving to nonprofits who then figure out what their clients and communities need, Benevolent offers a platform for those with needs to seek out support, with the nonprofits as their background supporters. 

It was an interesting lens on our work and made me think about a couple of things that came to light last week – both instances in which the funds that had been raised for someone’s need wound up being spent slightly differently than had been thought originally.

Jenny requested help with car repairs, 

but wound up needing a new used car.

Al thought he'd need a tuxedo to work 

as a banquet waiter. As it turned out, 

the required uniform was different.

In the first instance, Jenny had requested support to repair her car so that she could get herself and her sister to and from work, her kids to and from school, and her sister to and from chemo and dialysis. As it turned out, the car she had been driving broke down completely, so she plans to use the funds raised through Benevolent to help buy a new used car.

In the second instance, Al, who had sought support to purchase a tux-like uniform for work as a banquet waiter, wound up getting the job and found out that the uniform he would need was not a tuxedo – it was somewhat different. So when Al and Eva – his caseworker – went shopping for the uniform Al needed, they had the latitude to get what was required.

What this speaks to is the level of control that we’re trying to provide for those who have needs met through the Benevolent site. To us, it’s all about agency:

• Personal Agency: The awareness that one is initiating, executing, and controlling one's own volitional actions in the world.

In so many instances, those living in low-income circumstances have little or no agency in the determination of how they receive support. On the Benevolent site, we try to be all about agency and dignity – respecting the self-determination intrinsic to any person’s success.

So perhaps my 7th grade friend was right. Maybe we are turning giving on its head. I strongly believe in the power of philanthropy and active benevolence in all its forms – giving, voting, speaking up for ourselves and others, advocating, and acting to change circumstances.  Benevolent fits in as a sort of “opposite-day” form of delivering support – a form in which those who need something hold the reins.

- megan kashner, founder & ceo

It’s a Big Deal - Time to Shout it from the Rooftops

This past week marked the introduction of Benevolent’s new website at benevolent.net. Our new system, new look, and a batch of new member needs made their debut on Thursday, December 1st.

As an early adopter of the Benevolent model, you can make it a really big deal. We’re loading more new needs into the site this week, and the holidays are approaching. It’s time to shout it from the rooftops and spread the word. At the bottom of this blog are all the links you’ll need.

In the five days since we launched the Benevolent site at benevolent.net, I’ve been envisioning what will have changed in some lives when we’ve met the needs of these first Benevolent members. Here are a few highlights I’m looking forward to seeing…

When Tori’s need for a computer is met, her kids will be able to come home after school, sports practices, and after-school activities to have dinner, do their homework, and be together as a family rather than waiting in line at the library to use a computer for homework, unsupervised and without their mom’s help.

When Luis gets the money to have an eye exam and get glasses, he’ll be a better and safer taxi driver and will be able to read and study for his GED. Luis wants to improve his English, learn computer skills and get a better job – perhaps a job during the day rather than at night.

When Jose’s need for winter clothes and gear for his kids is met, he’ll be able to bundle his kids into winter clothes that fit, buckle and zip in all the right ways. Jose is raising his kids on his own since his wife left them several years ago. Making sure his kids have the clothes and gear they need is only one of his many concerns and responsibilities as he works for a food distribution company and struggles to make ends meet.

The people who’ve listed their needs on the Benevolent site are putting themselves out there. The nonprofit professionals who have stepped forward to help their clients get the help they’re seeking have also put themselves on the line. Our Benevolent donors have started putting themselves out there as well, stepping up to meet people’s needs.

Now we’re ready to ask you to get the word out. Please:

• Email your friends, family, and coworkers – tell them to check out www.benevolent.net
• Post a link to your facebook page –www.benevolent.net
• Share our facebook page www.facebook.com/benevolent.net
• Tweet about us - @benevolentnet

Spread the word in your own way.

- Megan Kashner, Founder & CEO

The word to spread is...

If you’re wanting to spread the word about Benevolent, here’s the word to spread:

“Starting in mid-November, you and I will have the opportunity to connect directly with individuals who are facing hurdles, opportunities and challenges, and who are open to receiving our help as they strive to overcome and succeed. There will be a new platform, www.benevolent.net and it will be our chance to make a difference, one to one.”

Here’s how we’re getting there…

Next week, the Benevolent team will start our work in nonprofits across the Chicago community, talking with staff members and clients of local social service organizations. We’ll be listening to the stories of individuals living on very low incomes, each one facing a hurdle on his or her path to stability and greater success. We’re looking forward to sharing some of these stories in future blogs and on the pilot of our website.

In these initial weeks of our work in the “field,” we’ll be capturing the stories of people at a moment of need or opportunity in their lives, through our partners at the Cara Program, the Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C-4), Family Focus, and Bethel New Life. As our work unfolds, we’ll extend to other nonprofits in other neighborhoods across our area. We’re aiming to get our site up, with several dozen individuals represented and ready for help, by mid-November. When that happens, our members’ stories will speak for themselves.

Why here? We chose Chicago as our pilot site for many reasons, the first of which is that Chicago is our home – both professionally and personally. We’ve built strong partnerships with these first few organizations and their staffs, people who believe in our mission and the work we are gearing up to do. At Bethel, for example, the leaders and staff would happily have helped us fuel the pilot site with the needs of fifty, one hundred, two hundred clients and families currently served by their various programs.

This tells us a great deal. That the need is great and immediate: individuals living on very low incomes are striving for more for themselves and their families, and they need their community – us – to help them realize their goals and dreams. That the nonprofits who know their communities’ needs in the greatest depth are excited to introduce a new resource into the mix, one which will help their clients voice their own stories. That people are seeking connection, affirmation and dignity in their work and in their lives.

What we’ll find out in the coming weeks is how best to provide a meeting ground between people who need help surmounting specific obstacles and others who want to help steady them on their paths, in a way that is within their reach to do. We will find out what resonates and what doesn’t; what the snags are, and how we can overcome them. We’ll come closer to our goal of getting help and support to people at critical moments in their lives.

We’re glad to have you along with us for this journey and to explore these new steps together. As we do, we hope you’ll start to spread the word about this pilot across your networks.

- Megan Kashner, Founder & CEO

The ‘us’ of America

Some of my best friends are___________!

You are part of a minority. Fill in the blank here – it could be gay, black, Mexican, hearing impaired, dyslexic, divorced, tone deaf…anything. The implication, of course, is that, while clearly you are a member of a negatively-perceived group, the speaker wants you to know that he/she thinks that you’re all right in spite of this.

Some of my best friends are poor!

Have you ever heard anyone say this? I haven’t. In fact, I think most of us would think it gauche to utter such a thing (actually, it’s gauche to utter any of the some of my best friends are… statements as well, but that’s a musing for another blog).

How, then, would we – should we – increase the acceptance of low-income individuals and families as valued and valuable members of our society? We certainly know how to demonize the poor – in television shows, on the news, in political posturing. Do we know how to un-demonize? I’d say not.

Has public opinion shifted over time with regard to Italian-Americans (mobsters), Irish-Americans (drunk cops), Gay-Americans (angry/flamboyant), Disabled-Americans (pathetic/grotesque), Immigrant-Americans (unintelligent, parasitic), Black-Americans (dangerous/unmotivated)? To some extent. Unfortunately, though, the overall answer is that those stereotypes and judgments continue to linger. We’ve made some progress, but not as much as one might hope.

If progress in changing public opinion for the better is so incremental and so painfully slow, it seems to be sadly easier to change it for the worse. Look at how our country turned on Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor. Think about the Willie Horton story. Similarly, in the last 30 years, our national perception of poor Americans has shifted. General public discourse now holds that these people are undeserving, lazy, unscrupulous, and cannot be trusted to improve their own lives and those of their families.

On the whole, we seem to have bought it – hook, line and sinker. We’ve come to view workfare as preferable to welfare, since it forces those lazy welfare moms to get up, get dressed, and get a job. We’ve come to believe that subsidized childcare is better than stay-at-home parenting because poor parents should be earning their keep. We’ve come to believe that poverty is not an unfortunate and temporary situation but reflects indelible character flaws.

So how do we turn the tide of popular sentiment? How can we promote inclusion of individuals and families living in low-income situations in the “us” of America? Remember the United Colors of Benetton? Their billboards were like the Noah’s ark of retail advertising. We were drawn in by the happiness, the glow, the togetherness of the young people in those ads. We wanted to be near them, to associate ourselves with them, to be them

Individuals living in poverty and in low-income situations look, of course, like everyone looks. How would you show them in a Benetton ad? Some of the most poignant of all American photography was, of course, that of Dorothea Lange whose photographs of the Great Depression moved even the most stolid of hearts. Those images, however, elicited pity and hopelessness from viewers, rather than empathy and respect. The passive subjects were silent and unidentified, left mired in their dire situations. In fact, one quote attributed to a now-adult family member of one of Lange’s subjects asserts: “That photo may well have saved some peoples' lives, but I can tell you for certain, it didn't save ours." (Open Photography, 2011)

Here at Benevolent, we intend to put the control in the hands of those who have their own stories to tell, photos to share, and needs to meet. We believe that by providing the right medium, a respectful context, and an opportunity for people in tough situations to seek help in taking important next steps along the path out of their current situations and to greater sustainability, we can help change Americans’ impression of those whose lives are touched by need and who strive to change their circumstances.

Benevolent will make it possible for ordinary Americans to ‘meet’ people who need help. We believe that hearing the stories of individuals striving to take the next step, we can shift opinions, touch hearts, and deliver direct help to our fellow Americans – our friends -- whose stories bear telling and whose efforts deserve celebration.